William de Visscher.
[1137]From Mr. Bovey:—William de Visscher, merchant in London, borne at Emden in East Frisland in Germany, a Hans-towne—now under the Dutch. At 2 yeares old was brought into England by his father, an eminent merchant; lived 55 yeares in one house at St. Mary Hill, and dyed in the 74th yeare of his age. He lived there till the fire of London; he dyed about 3 yeares after—he did not enjoy himselfe afterwards.
In the last great dearth of corne in England, which was in anno[XC.] ..., when there was a great complaint and cry of the poore, he bade them bee of good comfort for they should not starve, for he would give them his labour and the use of his estate for that yeare. He being a man of vast credit, gave his factors order that what corne they could buy at such and such rates beyond sea, to hire flye-boates and send them over to the port of London, of which he bought in one yeare two thousand five hundred sayle. The corne that cost him 12s. per bushell beyond sea, he sold here for 14s.; and some of the places from whence he had corne (they selling it by reason of the greatnesse of the price) afterwards wanted it themselves and were faine to be supplied from hence, i.e. in some places, for which they were faine to pay halfe value more then the first cost, or els must have starved.
[XC.] + Quaere annum. About 30 years since. I beleive it was 1647, or 1648—quaere.
Many disasters happened to many of the shippes that were bound for London (some that never arrived were destroyed by foule weather; some wind-bound so long till their corne fired for want of ayering, and was faine to be throwne over-board) that in the whole matter, after all the adventures runne, he did not gaine five and twenty hundred pounds. The fly-boates caryed 800 tunne, and some more.
He left two sonnes and <one> daughter behind him, named Isabella (who was maried to Mr. James Bovey, by which he haz one sonne and one daughter).
He was a very eminent merchant, as most was of his time; and was valued by common reputation (when he maried his daughter) to be worth sixscore thousand pounds.
He stayed in London during the whole time of the plague, and had not all that time one sick in his family. He was a temperate man, and had his house very cleanly kept.