Shipwrecks and the Bounty of the Sea is a work of social history examining community relationships, law, and seafaring over the long early modern period. It explores the politics of the coastline, the economy of scavenging, and the law of 'wreck of the sea' from the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth I to the end of the reign of George II. England's coastlines were heavily trafficked by naval and commercial shipping, but an unfortunate percentage was cast away or lost.
Shipwrecks were disasters for merchants and mariners, but opportunities for shore dwellers. As the proverb said, it was an ill wind that blew nobody any good. Lords of manors, local officials, officers of the Admiralty, and coastal commoners competed for maritime cargoes and the windfall of wreckage, which they regarded as providential godsends or entitlements by right. A varied haul of commodities, wines, furnishings, and bullion came ashore, much of it claimed by the crown. The people engaged in salvaging these wrecks came to be called 'wreckers', and gained a reputation as violent and barbarous plunderers. Close attention to statements of witnesses and reports of survivors shows this image to be largely undeserved. Dramatic evidence from previously unexplored manuscript sources reveals coastal communities in action, collaborating as well as competing, as they harvested the bounty of the sea.
Author(s): David Cressy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 325
City: Oxford
Cover
Shipwrecks and the Bounty of the Sea
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Contents
List of Figures
Epigraph
Introduction
Shipwrecks and Scholars
Chapter 1. Ships at Risk
Chapter 2. The Perils of the Sea
Chapter 3. Wreccum Maris: The Law of ‘Wreck of the Sea’
Chapter 4. ‘The Barbarous Country People’
Chapter 5. ‘The Great Profit of the Lords of Manors’
Chapter 6. The Lord Admiral’s Droits and His Majesty’s Profit
Chapter 7. Shipwreck Tales from Sea and Shore
Chapter 8. The Bounty of the Golden Grape
Chapter 9. Mariners in Distress
Chapter 10. Material Bounty Brought Ashore
Chapter 11. Deep Recovery
Chapter 12. Eighteenth-Century Wrecking Revisited
1: Ships at Risk
Numbers and Values
Levels of Loss
2: The Perils of the Sea
Ancient Mariners
Renaissance Wrecks
Shipwrecks of the Soul and State
Shipwrecking Storms and Tempests
Lost Sailors and Faulty Charts
Unskilfulness and Insufficiency
Leaky Vessels
3: Wreccum Maris: The Law of ‘Wreck of the Sea’
Statutes and Cases
The Admiralty and the Common Law
Commissions and Consequences
Crimes and Remedies
4: The Barbarous Country People
Moral Reproach
Petitions and Complaints
Inhumane Dealings
5: The Great Profit of the Lords of Manors
The Bristol Channel
Cornwall
Devon
Dorset
Sussex
Kent
Norfolk
Yorkshire and the North
6: The Lord Admiral’s Droits and His Majesty’s Profit
Wardens and Admirals
Admiral Buckingham
The King’s Admiralty
Restoration Bounties
Customs Demands
7: Shipwreck Tales from Sea and Shore
Northumberland, 1559 and 1565
Pevensey 1569 and 1575
Bishopstone, 1578
Goodwin Sands¸ 1585
Stokenham, 1601
Goodwin Sands, 1616
Seaford, 1633
The Essex Sands, 1634
Sidestrand, 1636
Seaford, 1637
Littlehampton, 1654
The North Sea, 1660
The Isles of Scilly, 1665
Cakeham, 1676
8: The Bounty of the Golden Grape
Commissioners and Deponents
Pieces of Eight
Men of Authority
Raisins Galore
The Wreck Economy
Wrecking and the Social Order
9: Mariners in Distress
Shipwrecked Sailors
Ship-Broken Men
10: Material Bounty Brought Ashore
Goods from the Sea
Mixed Cargoes
Pieces of Ships
Ordnance
Wine
Oil
Textiles
Clothes from the Sea
Culinary Delights
Seaborne Wood
Varied Findings
Coin and Bullion
Shipwrecks and the Economy of Makeshifts
11: Deep Recovery
Intrepid Divers
Fishing for Guns
Fishing for Treasure
12: Eighteenth-Century Wrecking Revisited
The Shipwreck Environment
Barbarous Shores
New Laws
Customs versus customs
Shipwreck Episodes
The Anna and Helena, Devon 1738
The Boscawen, Cornwall 1745
The Nympha, Sussex 1747
The Hope, Dorset 1749
Conclusion
APPENDIX: Two Centuries of Shipwrecks
Bibliography
Manuscript Sources
Newspapers
Printed Primary Sources
Modern Sources
Index
