“Merchanting in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century: The Liverpool Timber Trade”

Summary

Our knowledge of the commercial history of Liverpool before 1850, apart from a few very general studies, is confined to one commodity. The majesty of “King Cotton” and Liverpool's dominance of the trade which was so vital to the nation's industrial well-being, has fascinated present-day historians just as it did contemporary commentators. This preoccupation with cotton, though understandable, has however given rise to a very one-sided picture of Liverpool's commerce. The purpose of this paper is to redress the balance in some degree through a study of Liverpool's timber trade during the first half of the nineteenth century.

Timber became a commodity of national importance during this period, not merely because of the increased demands of the expanding home economy, but because the trade mirrored many of the country's commercial problems. The question of timber duties was an important feature in the struggle for Free Trade; the large number of ships engaged in the import of timber became a highly relevant issue in the eighteen thirties and forties when the shipping industry was suffering from overcapacity, and the increased Governmental concern about the safety and condition of ships, was a direct result of heavy losses in the shipping of timber where old, unseaworthy vessels were often grossly overloaded. Furthermore, the timber trade was closely linked with the emigrant trade, vessels returning to N. America providing a cheap form of transport for the poorer class of emigrant.

Liverpool was one of Britain's major timber ports, her imports of the commodity in 1850 outstripped those of London in both volume and value, and represented over ten percent of the national value, a surprisingly large proportion when one considers that ports and creeks along the whole length of the coast imported timber for local consumption. Within the commerce of the port itself, timber was of vital importance. In terms of volume, it was the most important import apart from cotton and corn and a large portion of Liverpool's registered shipping was engaged in this trade. It is proposed to examine the trade in this sequence: early origins and growth; statistical evidence of growth; the timber merchants; shipping; market organisation.