| Ton 100 | Ton 110 | Ton 120 | Ton 130 | Ton 140 | Ton 150 | Ton 160 | Ton 180 | Ton 200 | Ton 220 | Ton 240 | Ton 260 | Ton 300 | Ton 350 | Ton 500 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 10 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Bristol | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Chester | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Newport | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Chepstow | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Barnstaple | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Fowey | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Looe | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Plymouth | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Dartmouth | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Exmouth | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Weymouth | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Poole | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Southampton & Portsmouth | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Dover | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Harwich and Ipswich | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Woodbridge | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Orford and Aldborough | 3 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Walderswick | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Yarmouth | 4 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Lynn | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Hull | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Newcastle | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
The total is 135 and the report says that there are 656 more between 40 and 100 tons besides ‘an infinite number’ of small barks. Yet this return can hardly be complete as it does not correspond, in many instances, with the tonnage measurements of a list of March 1576 which is a schedule of such vessels built since 1571.[790] This list is of value as showing the rapid progress now being made in the construction of comparatively large vessels, a progress which could only be the result of a demand caused by increasing trade:—
| Tons 100 | Tons 120 | Tons 130 | Tons 140 | Tons 150 | Tons 160 | Tons 170 | Tons 180 | Tons 200 | Tons 240 | Tons 260 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Lee | 2 | 1 | |||||||||
| Exmouth | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Kingsbridge | 1 | ||||||||||
| Bristol | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Plymouth | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Hull | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| Newcastle | 2 | 1 | |||||||||
| Southwold | 1 | ||||||||||
| Cley | 2 | ||||||||||
| Yarmouth | 2 | 1 | |||||||||
| Orwell | 1 | ||||||||||
| Chester | 1 | ||||||||||
| Ipswich | 2 | 1 | |||||||||
| Looe | 1 | ||||||||||
| Fowey | 1 | ||||||||||
| Aldborough | 2 | ||||||||||
| Harwich | 1 | ||||||||||
| Wells | 1 | 1 |
In the year ending with Easter 1581 there were 413 English ships, of 20 tons and upwards ‘coming from ports beyond seas’ and discharging in London, but no doubt many of the smaller of these, making short voyages, were reckoned more than once.[791]
The authorities encouraged merchants and shipowners not only by legislation but with that personal interest to which the human heart responds more promptly than to legal enactments however profitable the latter may promise to be. When the Levant Company was founded its promoters were called before the Council, thanked and praised for building ships of suitable tonnage for the trade, and urged to go forward ‘for the kingdom’s sake.’ The Levant Company returned at first 300% profit to its shareholders but in the sixteenth century ‘the kingdom’s sake’ was a factor, always more or less present, in the action of the merchant class, nor was the commendation of the lords of the Council considered a matter of small importance. In a national as well as in a private sense it was fortunate that most of these chartered Companies were originally successful. The next certificate is of 1582 and gives:—
| Ton 100 | Ton 110 | Ton 120 | Ton 130 | Ton 140 | Ton 150 | Ton 160 | Ton 180 | Ton 200 | Ton 220 | Ton 240 | Ton 250 | Ton 300 | Ton 500 | Between 80 and 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 10 | 5 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 23 | ||||
| Harwich | 6 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Lee | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Cley | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Wiveton | 4 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Blakeney | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Lynn | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Yarmouth | 3 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Wells | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Aldborough | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||||||
| Ipswich | 8 | 6 | |||||||||||||
| Southampton | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| Bristol | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| Hull | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |||||||
| Newcastle | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||||||
| Poole | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Topsham | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Southwold | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Orford | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Fowey | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Exmouth | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Kenton | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Cockington | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Northam | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Weymouth | 1 | 1 | 1 |
The number of vessels of 100 tons and upwards is therefore 177, a very respectable increase from 1577, allowing for wrecks and other sources of loss. Besides the 70 vessels between 80 and 100 tons there are 1383 measuring from 20 to 80 tons. Another return, a year later, is made out on the same system as regards division of tonnage, but by counties; it will be observed that the results do not altogether coincide:—[792]
| 100 tons and upwards | Between 80 and 100 tons | Between 60 and 80 tons | 100 tons and upwards | Between 80 and 100 tons | Between 20 and 80 tons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 62 | 25 | 44 | Dorsetshire | 9 | 12 | 51 |
| Essex | 9 | 40 | 145 | Bristol | 9 | 12 | 327 |
| Norfolk | 16 | 80 | 145 | Isle of Wight | 29 | ||
| Suffolk | 27 | 14 | 60 | Southampton | 8 | 7 | 47 |
| Cornwall | 3 | 2 | 65 | Kent | 95 | ||
| Yorkshire | 11 | 8 | 36 | Cinque Ports | 220 | ||
| North Parts | 17 | 1 | 121 | Cumberland | 12 | ||
| Lincolnshire | 5 | 20 | Gloucestershire | 29 | |||
| Sussex | 65 | Lancaster and Chester | 72 | ||||
| Devonshire | 7 | 3 | 109 |