Foreign Trade of London Jews in the Seventeenth Century

<plain_text><page sequence="1">Foreign Trade of London Jews in the Seventeenth Century* MAURICE WOOLF In any study of the mercantile activities of London Jews in the seventeenth century full consideration must be given to the data contained in the London Port Books. These books, preserved in the Public Record Office,1 contain the particulars of cargoes imported and exported by denizens and by aliens, together with the owner's name and in most instances with the port of origin or destination and the amount of duty or subsidy of tunnage and poundage charged. In some of the early seventeenth-century entries the actual value of the shipment is given. The Port Books, unfortunately, do not form an unbroken sequence and moreover some are damaged and, in parts, illegible. It is, therefore, not an easy task, and for some purposes impossible, to extract reliable statistics. In any case, widespread smuggling together with the dishonesty of some Customs officials are two further reasons why we must view with reservations any analyses or conclusions that have been drawn solely from these books. In this particular essay neither the books covering the outports?that is to say, Liverpool, Bristol, Southampton, and the like, nor those confined to coastal trade have been examined. They could well contain valuable Jewish material and should provide a basis for another study. Cargoes in and out In spite of the imperfections and reservations mentioned, the London Port Books yield an enormous amount of factual material that gives a day-to-day picture of cargoes coming and going and although we have long had some knowledge of the leading Jewish merchants in seventeenth-century London, we can fill in many gaps and by so doing obtain a clearer picture of the extent and nature of their trade and their problems, the variety of their mer? chandise, and their growing significance, within the national context, as a trading force. As we know from Lucien Wolf's 'Jews in Elizabethan London,' published in Volume XI of our Transactions, there was at the dawn of the seventeenth century a handful of Marranos living and trading in the capital. Of these we can find four in the early seven? teenth-century Port Books: Gomez d'Avila, Gabriel Fernandez, Jeronimo Lopez, and Fernando de Mercado. Brazilwood Monopoly The first entry of interest to us2 is dated 24 September 1600, when Jeronimo Lopez, who, according to Lucien Wolf, was a cousin of the ill-fated Dr. Rodrigo Lopez, physician to Queen Elizabeth, is shown importing a cargo of fourteen hundredweight of brazilwood. Brazilwood, a red dye-wood, was imported throughout the seventeenth century from Portugal and the Azores and by the 1660s, as we shall see, became the near-monopoly of Fernando Mendes da Costa and his son Alvaro da Costa. Brazilwood, or, more speci? fically, Pernambuco, is today the wood used for making violin bows. Incidentally, the country of Brazil takes its name from the wood and not, as might be supposed, vice versa. 'Terra de Brasil' means 'Red dye-wood land'. On 27 September 16063 we find Lopez exporting 92 pairs of worsted and 200 pairs of silk stockings to Stade and in October and November of the same year two substantial cargoes of pickled oysters to Dunkirk and Bremen respectively.4 * Paper delivered to the Jewish Historical Society of England, 9 June 1971. 1 Public Record Office [hereafter referred to as P.R.O.] E.190. 2P.R.O. E.190 11/3. 3 P.R.O. E.190 12/7. 4 Ibid. 38</page><page sequence="2">Foreign Trade of London Jews in the Seventeenth Century 39 The export of hose to Stade, on the River Elbe, is of some significance. Stade, or Stoade, was, as early as c. 1585, the official mart of the English Merchant Adventurers and remained so, with intervals, until 1611, when it was supplanted by Emden and subsequently Hamburg. Whatever city in Northern Germany the English merchants chose to set up establish? ment for their trade in cloth would always become *a magnet for traders from all parts of Germany'.5 There was a community of Jews trading in Stade at that time, who, seven years later, in 1613, were to receive a patent of protection from Johann Friedrich, Archbishop of Bremen.6 It is, then, hardly surprising to find Lopez and another of our four Elizabethan Jews, Gabriel Fernandez, who lived with him, in touch with their agents in Stade. Fernandez in October 16047 and again in 16068 shipped calico to this North German port. It was the Portuguese who had introduced calico to Europe from India and the Fernandez trans? actions were, no doubt, just two of many similar re-exports. In 1605 he exported fifteen pieces of perpetuana to Rouen,9 and in 1606 thirty pieces to Cadiz.10 Perpetuana was a coarse and, as its name implies, a durable wool fabric, one of England's staple exports, which we find traded in later in the century by, among others, several merchants of the expanding Jewish community of the 1670s. Ambassador's Report Mr. Edgar Samuel, in his 'Portuguese Jews in Jacobean London',11 has brought to light much valuable detail concerning Lopez and Fernandez and has also disclosed considerable biographical data on our third Elizabethan Jew, Fernando de Mercado, who, by 1610, had fallen on hard times, been exposed as a Jew, and, according to report, ordered to leave England. Mr. Samuel quotes the Venetian Ambassador in London writing to the Doge and Senate in August 1609: 'Many Portuguese merchants in this city have been discovered to be living secretly as Jews. Some have already left and others have had a little grace to allow them to wind up their business, in spite of the laws which are very severe on this subject.' As Mr. Samuel comments: 'The strange thing about the whole affair is that while Gabriel Fernandez and Jeronimo Lopez apparently left the kingdom, Fernando de Mercado, the denunciation of whom seems to have started all the trouble, was still living in London at the end of 1610.' This was indeed so, because in January 1611 he shipped perpetuanas to Lisbon12 and an assorted cargo of cloth, amber and crystal beads, tarred rope, hats, and aqua-vitae to Guinea.13 The cargo to Guinea is of some interest in the light of a letter dated August 1610, part of a unique batch of Marrano correspondence discovered by Edgar Samuel in the Brussels Archives.14 The Guinea Trade It was written by Fernando de Mercado to his brother Simon in Amsterdam and tells of a conversation he had had with one Gabriel da Costa, who was about to depart for Guinea and who had painted a glowing picture of the substantial profits to be made in the Guinea trade. There must be little doubt that the cargo of January 1611 was destined for Gabriel da Costa. These, however, are the only entries against Mercado's name. Of our last Elizabethan there is but one entry. On 12 June 1609 Gomez d'Avila imported a small cargo of sugar from Lisbon.15 D'Avila does not appear among Mr. Samuel's Jacobean Jews and the reasons are fairly obvious. In 1593 he had been deeply involved in the proceedings against Dr. Rodrigo Lopez and had been imprisoned on suspicion of 5 See G. D. Ramsay, English Overseas Trade during the Centuries of Emergence: Macmillan, 1957. 6 Jewish Encyclopaedia. ? P.R.O. E.190 12/3. 8 P.R.O. E.190 12/7 30 March. 9 P.R.O. E.190 ibid. 21 February. i? P.R.O. E.190 ibid. 10 April. 11 Transactions J.H.S.E. [hereafter referred to as Trans.JHSE], Vol. XVIII, 1958. '2P.R.O. E.190 16/8 15 January. 13 Ibid. 18 January. 14 'Portuguese Jews in Jacobean London'. Trans. JHSE, Vol. XVIII. is P.R.O. E.190 14/5.</page><page sequence="3">40 Maurice Woolf conspiracy. He no doubt lay very low after Rodrigo Lopez's execution but here, on the evidence of the Port Book, we find him fifteen years later still trading in London. We must now turn our attention to two more of the Marranos in Jacobean London listed by Edgar Samuel: Antonio da Costa and Francisco Pinto. Of Pinto, Mr. Samuel states, there is only indirect evidence of secret Judaism and of da Costa we know comparatively little. There is, nonetheless, enough to encourage the belief that these two Portuguese were indeed crypto Jews, and Mr. Samuel, in the case of Pinto, cites the carrying of his body overseas for burial as seemingly strong evidence. Varied Exports The Port Books, which more than likely do not tell the whole story, yield enough to confirm that these two men were among the leading London merchants of their day. In 1609 between them they imported sugar, tobacco, spices, and dyestuff to the tune of some ?6,500; one shipment alone by da Costa of sugar, sumach, ginger, and brazilwood was valued at ?1,300.16 In 1611 they imported, inter alia, two tons of cinnamon, which cost them ?743,i7 and by 1613 they were trading in tobacco on an increasing scale. *8 In 1614 Pinto's dealings in tobacco, pepper, ginger, sugar, and cinnamon totalled over ?8,000, and da Costa's over ?3,000. i? In 1617 the growth was more than main? tained and between them they imported enormous quantities of sugar.20 Their ship? ments, which also included tobacco, ginger, silk, and diamonds, amounted to more than ?14,000; ?9,000 to da Costa and ?5,000 to Pinto. These figures indicate the landed cost of the cargoes excluding duty and it can be reasonably assumed that the combined ship? ments in 1617 realised something in the region of from ?20,000 to ?25,000. In 1611/161221 we find the two men export ing tin, pewter, and cloth, the last-named mostly single and double bays, which they shipped to Amsterdam and Lisbon. Bays were a kind of coarse open-weave stuff woven largely in and around Colchester by a colony of Dutch? men who had settled there in 1570. This cloth enjoyed a good market in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, where it was worn by monks and nuns and used as linings for military uniforms. In the 1613-1614 Port Books22 we come across George Rodrigues and Antonio Fernan? dez, who, with fifteen other Portuguese merchants resident in Amsterdam, had, in 1601, entered plea for repossession of cargoes taken by a Sir Robert Mansfield. This plea, which is among the Naval and Maritime Caesar Papers in the British Museum, has been fully documented by Edgar Samuel.2* By 1614 Rodrigues and Fernandez were living in London and five years later we find Rodrigues exporting three cases of wind instruments to Lisbon.24 The late Wilfred Samuel's list of persons endenizened and naturalised25 included one Diego de Silva, who was endenizened in 1615. This man, who was born in Spain, was living in London certainly as early as 1609, when in June of that year he imported 79 cwt. of sugar from Lisbon.26 In the same Port Book we meet with Simon Rodrigues,27 who, as we know from Edgar Samuel's Belgian documents,28 was in Antwerp in October 1610. His imports of sugar in 1609 came to almost ?1,000 and in 1614 his pepper and sugar imports were valued at ?800. Francisco Pinto died in 1618 and his widow, Anne Lopes Pinto, continued trading in London, from where, in 1619, she was exporting perpetuanas, double bays, and Norwich stuffs to Lisbon.29 "Ibid. 17 P.R.O. E.190 16/5. 18 P.R.O. E.190 18/3. "Ibid. 20 P.R.O. E.190 21/4. 21 P.R.O. E.190 16/8. 22 P.R.O. E.190 18/3 31 January, 5 July. 23 'Portuguese Jews in Jacobean London'. Trans.JHSE, Vol. XVIII. 24 P.R.O. E.190 23/1 2 November. 25 Ed. R. D. Barnett and A. S. Diamond. Trans. JHSE, Vol. XXII, 1970. 26 P.R.O. E.190 14/5 3 June. 27 P.R.O. E.190 ibid. 9 August. 28 'Portuguese Jews in Jacobean London'. Trans.JHSE, Vol. XVIII. 29 P.R.O. E.190 23/1 23 April, 27 September, 23 October.</page><page sequence="4">Foreign Trade of London Jews in the Seventeenth Century 41 Edgar Samuel30 has given us some interesting and amusing details of a case heard in the King's Bench in 1624 in which Anne was sued by two Italian shipowners, whose vessel had, in 1616, been chartered by Francisco Pinto and Antonio da Costa to take on a cargo of sugar at Lisbon. The Italians were claiming ?400 damages from Anne for breach of contract and hoped for a settlement out of court but the widow proved a doughty opponent and entered a persuasive, if some? what tortuous, plea. She died in 1626. Before we turn away from the handful of Jews trading in Jacobean London, mention must be made of three merchants whose names appear in the 'Exports by Aliens' Port Book for the year ending Christmas 1619.31 They were Simon Lopez and Harman and Fernando Lopez da Costa. They exported cloth to Spain and Flanders and it seems probable that they were Marranos. Finally, there is one entry dated November 162132 in the 'Export by Aliens' book for Francisco Lopez Franco, making a small shipment of English cloth to Venice. Lopez Franco, as we know from Edgar Samuel's researches, was, in 1610, sending sugar from Oporto to Mercado's brother Simon, and in the 1640s was to supply Antonio Fernandez Carvajal (whom we shall be discussing in a moment) with great quantities of bullion.33 From 1621 there is no trace of known Jewish merchants in the Port Books until 1637, when we find the first mention of Carvajal exporting buckram to Corunna, woollens, ointment, and whetstones to Rouen, re exporting Normandy canvas to St. Lucar and Malaga and gum arabic to Bilbao.34 Carvajal's Trading Records This particular Port Book is unfortunately badly damaged, with some of its pages partially missing. There are, however, five entries against Carvajal's name in the 'Exports by Aliens' book for 1639/1640,35 where we find him sending cloth and coney hats to Dunkirk, looking-glasses, Sheffield knives, brushes, and pewter to Tercera; making two shipments of Normandy canvas, double bays, and hose to Madeira, and sending calico, taffeta, and drugs to Venice. Carvajal, whom Lucien Wolf called 'The First English Jew',36 was, of course, a great merchant. The earliest records of his trading from London are to be found in the High Court of Admiralty Examinations37 under date 10 November 1637. A London vessel, the Mary Anne, carrying CarvajaPs goods to the Azores, was prevented from off? loading her cargo by the Governor of Terceira, who spoke of 'the sickness in London' and was presumably nervous of a plague being introduced into the island by the English crew. The Mary Anne was forced to set sail for home but, when off the Lizard, she was boarded by pirates and Carvajal's merchandise, together with the rest of the cargo, was plundered. Cargo Seized In May 163938 a Scottish vessel, the Margaret, of Leith, was carrying a cargo of linen and other goods from Newhaven (Havre le Grace), in France, to Malaga. She put into Plymouth, where she, together with her cargo, was seized by the Port Authorities, and Carvajal under examination insisted that the cargo was his and not Scottish-owned. On 12 July 163939 we find Carvajal giving evidence as to the authenticity of signatures on four bills of lading and various letters. He told the court that he had 'come from Rouen about four or five years since' and had lived in the French city for three years prior to that. While there he 'did converse with Diego Henriques Cardozo, there living', and said that Cardozo had shown him 'divers letters from one Simon Dyas of Antwerp, and the four bills of lading', and he vouched for their authenticity. He added that he was giving 30 'Portuguese Jews in Jacobean London'. Trans. JHSE, Vol. XVIII. 31 P.R.O. E.190 23/1. 32 P.R.O. E.190 25/2. 33 See Trans.JHSE, Vol. II, pp. 17, 25. 34 P.R.O. E.190 41/3. 35 P.R.O. E.190 43/3. 36 Trans JHSE, Vol. II, pp. 14-46. 37 P.R.O. High Court of Admiralty [hereafter referred to as H.C.A.] 13/53 ff. 408/9. 38 P.R.O. H.C.A. 13/55 ff. 31/32. 39 Ibid. ff. 173a, b.</page><page sequence="5">42 Maurice Wool/ evidence merely at the request of the court and that he 'favours this [case] indifferently and wishes victory to him that hath most right to it'. In the course of his evidence he spoke of his trading connections with Diego Henriques Cardozo, of Rouen, and Symon Dyas and Belchior Rodrigues, both of Antwerp. Dispute over Bullion In May 164140 Carvajal was again giving evidence to the High Court. A vessel called The Dorset had carried a cargo of bullion from Cadiz and a dispute arose over some twenty or thirty pistolets of gold that had been presumably extracted by the master of the vessel and sold to one Townly, a goldsmith living at the sign of the Fleur de Lys in Lombard Street, and to a Mr. Robert Day at the same address. Don John de Aguilar, the sender, had, according to the captain, agreed to pay only 1% freightage but had given him 'a small matter for a gratification over and above that rate'?presumably the gold coins in dispute. Early evidence of Carvajal's wine trading is brought to light by a suit heard in February 164341 between Don Balthazar de Vergara Grimon and two brothers, Edward and Adam Bland. All three were wine producers in the Canaries and in 1642 a vessel, the James, of London, had taken on a loading of wine at Teneriffe; 185 or 190 pipes on the account of Don Balthazar de Vergara Grimon and 200 pipes for Edward Bland, whose brother Adam had sailed to London with the cargo. Carvajal, who was Don Balthazar's correspondent in London, gave evidence that in December 1643 he had received letters from Vergara Grimon in the Canaries intimating that 190 pipes of Canary wine had been laden aboard the James 'to be brought to the Downs and from there, if the troubles continued so that they could not be sold in London, to be trans? ported in the said ship to Edinburgh in Scotland and there sold by Gonsalo Ways, his factor whom he had sent with those wines and upon the said ship and had ordered to remit about ?800 of the first money made of those wines to (Carvajal) in London to be by him remitted to Madrid in Spain to the corre? spondent there of the said Don Balthazar de Vergara Grimon for the said accompt of the said Grimon but if there be a quiet and a good market to be had for the wines here in London then to bring them hither to be sold and the money remitted as aforesaid and the rest of the proceeds thereof to be deposited by the said Gonsalo Ways according to his order.' The next news to reach Carvajal was a note from Ways aboard the James, now off the Isle of Wight, asking him if it were safe to bring the wines to London. Misfortunes with Wine Cargo Carvajal assured the Court that of the wine aboard the James 185 pipes belonged to Grimon and 200 pipes to Edward Bland. In April 165042 a vessel, the White Tower, carried a cargo of wine, tobacco, ginger, and sugar to be delivered to Carvajal in London or, if there were difficulties, to Diego Rodrigues Arias in Holland. The cargo, it was alleged, had been interfered with at Teneriffe 'to the great damage of Diego Rodrigues and Antonio Fernandez'. Carvajal, who was seen to sell the wines in London at prices ranging from ?19 to ?22 a pipe, refused to pay the freightage demanded by the master of the White Tower until the latter had delivered to him his full complement of goods. In the same case there is evidence given by John Bellamy, Carvajal's cooper, confirming the embezzlement of wine and sugar43 by Claus Peters, the captain of the White Tower. Carvajal's trading from London was, by 1650, considerable, and by no means confined to the western sea routes; Pedro de Guevara, Jeronimo Nunez d'Acosta, and Lopo Ramirez, all of Amsterdam, corresponded regularly with Antonio Fernandez, who by now had been a London citizen for fifteen years.44 ?o P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/57 f. 81. 4i P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/59. 42 P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/62. 43 P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/63 f. 65b. 44 P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/64 12 December.</page><page sequence="6">Foreign Trade of London Jews in the Seventeenth Century 43 The traders in London were often at the mercy of unscrupulous or truculent sea cap? tains and were inclined to show some unity whenever one of their clan was being vic? timised. In November 165145 Carvajal came to the aid of one Roger Kilvert, who claimed that an unwarranted delay in unlading his cargo of wines had cost him ?500. The captain, Christopher Petersen, had brought his ship, the Esperanza, from Teneriffe into London but for some reason had refused to offload the cargo for several days and wines normally fetching up to ?28 a pipe were eventually sold for no more than ?20. In April the following year4* Kilvert joined with Carvajal in testifying on behalf of some traders whose cargo of bullion from Spain had, to avoid confiscation, borne 'colourable' bills of lading. The Wool Trade Any student of the history of the wool trade would doubtless find much of interest in the evidence given by Antonio Rodrigues Robles in October 1652.47 This appears to be the first mention of Robles in the High Court records and he was styled as 'of Madrid in Spain'.48 The case in question was one involving a cargo of Spanish wool and Robles's evidence is concerned with its comparative value as merchandise here and in Flanders. He claimed he had been privy to several letters and papers which concerned the wools 'lately brought into England in the ship the St. Peter', which he said were 'coarse, of the growth of Castile and not so currently vendible here in England as they are in Flanders'. He added that any wools from Castile, Segovia, and other parts in Spain were perishable if 'laid up wet' but 'in case they be laid up dry they will keep two years or more and grow better for clothing which is the principal use they are commonly put unto'. He insisted that were these wools sold in London their value would be 'exceedingly abated and almost a third part thereof lost to what they would yield in Flanders, Holland and other parts'. Robles claimed to have seen and perused several letters or certificates that these wools had been laden by Merchant Assientists of the King of Spain and that the proceeds of their sale were designed to pay the Spanish army in Flanders. He also said he had seen 'certain letters from the King of Spain to his Ambassador here whereby the said Ambassador is by His Majesty desired to look after and see to the clearing of the said wools to ye end that he might not be disappointed of the proceeds thereof, wherewith to pay his army in Flanders'. He added that he had been credibly informed by dealers of repute that 'divers parcels of wools being sent from Spain to England and not finding vent here, have been exported into Flanders to much advantage'. Robles's evidence was given in Spanish and translated for the Court by Alonzo de Fonseca, Carvajal's bookkeeper. In February 165349 we find Domingo Vas de Britto, then of Lisbon, claiming goods on board the St. Jacob, which had been seized by ships of the Commonwealth. De Britto, who had since settled in London, had, in March 1652, asked Francisco de Medina, at that time a Merchant Stranger in Amster? dam, to freight a ship from the Dutch port and send it to St. Michaels in Portugal to take on a large mixed cargo of woad, sugar, oil and tobacco. De Medina's Bookkeeper Evidence in this case was given by Manuel Perera, late of Rouen, but at that time (1653) residing in London. Perera, whose sister had married de Medina, worked for his brother in-law as bookkeeper. He told the Court that the cargo belonged entirely to de Britto and that no Dutch or French subjects had any interest in it. Augustine Coronel, whose name is famous in Anglo-Jewish history, gave evidence for de Britto and de Medina,50 during the course of which he said he had known de Medina by sight for six years and by correspondence 45 P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/65. ^ Ibid. 47 P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/66. 48 He was later to claim Portuguese origin. See Trans. JHSE, Vol. I, pp. 51/68. 49 P.R.O. H.C.A. 13/69. so Ibid.</page><page sequence="7">44 Maurice Woolf for ten or more and described him as a Portu? guese by birth and that he had 'resided in Holland as a Merchant Stranger only, and as ye rest of ye Jewes and Portuguese merchants do there inhabit'. Carvajal's Evidence To return to Carvajal. Giving evidence in 1653 in a case involving a cargo claim,51 he stated he was born c. 1598/1599 and had come to London in 1635 or thereabouts. He declared that he had lived in Spain many years and 'had traded there and thither for these thirty years last past'. The case, in the High Court of Admiralty, concerned shipments of silver from Cadiz that had been seized in the ships Samson, Salvador, and St. George, all of Amsterdam. They had been chased into Ostend and relieved of their cargo, which must have been of considerable value because when news of this reached Amsterdam there was, according to one witness (Alonzo de Fonseca Meza), 'much sorrowing and lamentation there'. The bills of lading for the plate had borne fictitious names and had, in some instances, been left blank. Carvajal stated that this was because the exportation of plate?silver or gold?from the Spanish kingdom was forbidden and, if discovered, the cargoes were confiscated and the senders punished. He further stated that it was quite the usual thing for senders to put fictitious names on the papers accompanying the cargo and for the true bills of lading to be sent overland to the consignee. He went on to say that a considerable quantity of such plate was regularly and illicitly exported from Spain to Holland, England, and Flanders. He also spoke of the 'great and constant trade' that thrived between the merchants of Antwerp, Ghent, Lille, Dunkirk, and other places of Flanders and Brabant, thence for Cadiz and St. Lucar and other ports in Spain, where the Spanish factors 'make them returns in silver'. Some further light is thrown on Carvajal's trading ramifications when we study pro? ceedings52 he brought against one Marcus de la Rumbida, who, according to the plaintiff, owed him a large sum of money. From the evidence of Alonzo de Fonseca Meza, Car? vajal's bookkeeper, we learn that in 1644 Antonio Fernandez purchased on Rumbida's behalf ?3,000 worth of linens in Rouen and shipped them direct to Spain. Carvajal no doubt engaged to a considerable degree in this kind of direct shipment, which, in by-passing London, avoided both import and export subsidies and the risk of delay inherent in twice navigating the often wind-locked Thames.53 This particular transaction also serves to underline the limitations and in? adequacies of the Port Books if used, as it were, in isolation to provide statistics. Trading Ramifications According to Fonseca Meza, Carvajal's business dealings with Rumbida were of long standing and had involved him in attending to shipments of silver and gold bullion from the West Indies and the discounting of bills of exchange drawn on Rumbida, who owned a vessel called the St. Mary and on occasion sailed in her as captain. In October 1656 a ship called The Peace had been seized by Commonwealth sailors, who suspected enemy ownership.54 On this occasion Samson Gideon, of Amsterdam, grandfather or great-uncle of the eighteenth century financier who was to bear the same name, gave evidence to the effect that he had bought the good ship Peace for Carvajal in Holland and had paid 3,500 Dutch guilders for her. (Gideon stated that he was (in 1656) 64 years old.) Another case that provides us with consider? able information on Carvajal's trading activi? ties is dated July 1656.55 Giving evidence in an insurance claim after the French had seized 51 P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/70 (see Appendix I). 52 P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/70 1655. 53 See F. J. Fisher's 'London's Export Trade in the early XVIIth Century,' Economic History Review, 2nd series, Vol. Ill (1950), also published by Methuen &amp; Co. Ltd., 1969, in The Growth of English Overseas Trade in the 17th and 18th Centuries. Ed. W. E. Minchinton. 54 P.R.O. H.C.A. 13/71. Ibid.</page><page sequence="8">Foreign Trade of London Jews in the Seventeenth Century 45 a vessel called The Irish Merchant, Carvajal said that in December and January 1655 he had received in London several pipes of Canary wine from Teneriffe, which he had sold for ?38 a pipe. Establishing Owners' Identity A certain John Lopez de Miranda, of Cadiz, giving evidence in the same case,56 said that Carvajal, about a year previously, had freighted The Irish Merchant sailing from London to the Canaries with several sorts of French linen and other merchandise to the value of about ?1,200 to be delivered to his factors in Teneriffe, there to be disposed of by them and the proceeds to be invested in wines and West India hides, these to be returned to him. Miranda had personally assisted at the loading of the goods in The Irish Merchant, anchored in the Thames, and was to have sailed with the cargo to Teneriffe acting as Carvajal's factor, being, as he said, 'well acquainted with such proprieties and with the design of the whole voyage'. Apparently Carvajal's claim to ownership of the return cargo, which had been seized by the English, had been difficult to substantiate because of the 'colourable' bills of lading. As we shall see, Jewish marine litigation in the seventeenth century is littered with similar evidence of struggles to establish the true identity of an owner against a background of falsified bills of lading. Dr. G. D. Ramsay, in his English Overseas Trade during the Centuries of Emergence,57 remarks on this point (p. 202), 'We know that it was normal throughout the XVIIth Century for English, Dutch and French merchants to cover each other's goods during the frequent periods in which one of them filled the embar? rassing position of representing a nation at war with the King of Spain.' Dr. Ramsay com? ments, somewhat drily, that this is 'an example of co-operation to which it would be hard to find a parallel in legitimate trade'. In the case of The Irish Merchant, Carvajal even produced his barber to testify on his behalf. This worthy said he had known Antonio Fernandez for eighteen years and that the latter had kept house first in Creechureh Lane and had since lived in Leadenhall Street for about seventeen years?that is, since 1639. He told the Court that he knew Carvajal to be a great trader in wines and a merchant of good account. Lucien Wolf, in 'The First English Jew',58 published a document from the State Papers Domestic covering the case of the The Irish Merchant and at this point it is important to remember that almost all our previous knowledge of Carvajal has come to us through Lucien Wolf's classic research. Newfoundland Fish Early in 1657 Carvajal hired a vessel called the New England Merchant to sail from London to Dartmouth and there to take on a load of Newfoundland fish, for which he paid ?1,050.59 The fish was then transported to Oporto, where Carvajal's agent and factor there, Polycarp d'Oliveyra, was under instructions to dispose of it and invest the proceeds in a lading of sumach, sugar, and tobacco, which, it was intended, should be consigned either to Newhaven (Le Havre) or to Rouen to Antonio Rodrigues Morais and Jeronimo and Raphael Rodrigues Lamego, merchants there who had been Carvajal's factors since 1655 or earlier and were already in his debt to the tune of ?3,500. In the event, the sugar, sumach, and tobacco were seized in Oporto by the officers of the Inquisition as belonging to d'Oliveyra, whom they accused of some unspecified crime. The goods were carried ashore and Carvajal, who had already laid out ?800 for the freight and hire of the ship, found himself liable for demurrage occasioned by its detention at Oporto, which, at ?4 a day, totalled ?200, and he was, he said, 'committed to bear the whole hazard and adventure.' Indeed, when all went well, profits from these round voyages must have been enormous but the attendant risks were many. Piracy was a danger in virtually every sea-lane and, as we have seen, the seizure of ships and cargoes for one reason or another was a common enough occurrence 56 Ibid. 57 MacmilJan, 1957. 58 Trans.JHSE, Vol. II, p. 37. 59 P.R.O. H.C.A. 13/72.</page><page sequence="9">46 Maurice Wool/ not only on the high seas but in ports, home and abroad. In fact, in 1658,60 just a few months before he died, Carvajal was laying claim to a small vessel of 60 tons called the George and Angel, which he had bought six years previously from the Commissioners for Prize Goods. He was using the ship for trading to the Straits when she was seized by Commonwealth forces. In 1655 a vessel called the Orange Tree had been seized by ships of the Commonwealth. The goods laden aboard her were the property of Joseph Perera, of Amsterdam, agent in that city for Antonio Rodrigues de Morais, Carva? jal's factor in Rouen. The Orange Tree was on her way with a cargo to Oporto, there to lade oils, the price of which was very high in France and would therefore, according to Carvajal, 'be a good commodity there'. The case of the Orange Tree61 is especially interesting because of the further references in it to Augustine Coronel62 and Domingo Vas de Britto. Coronel, in evidence, stated he was 28 years old (in 1655) and had lived in London since 1653. He was born in Lisbon and prior to coming to London had lived in Rouen for nigh on ten years. He had, he said, traded in consortship with Domingo Vas de Britto in London. De Britto, who at that time was about 40 years old, was born in Oporto and had lived in London since 1651 and before that in St. Michael, one of the Azores, for about four years. According to his cashier, Manuel Perera, a native of Rouen, de Britto owned a ship called the St. Michael, which had left Pern ambuco in Brazil in August 1653 for Portugal, the vessel and cargo having been insured by brokers in London, and while on her course from Tercera bound for Lisbon she was seized by a Dutch privateer which escorted her to Zealand. 'Allowing Average' Coronel, in 1656, was called to give expert evidence on the maritime practice of allowing average?a co-operative compensation against loss or damage to owners of ships and cargoes.63 He claimed he had been well versed and practised in merchandising affairs in Lisbon ever since he had reached what he called 'years of capacity', by which he apparently meant the age of 17. He said that the voyages from Portugal to Brazil and back were hazardous owing in large measure to the hostility pre? vailing between the Portuguese and Hollanders. The question in this particular case turned on the definition of 'average' as against 'primage', which latter was an allowance to the captain in recognition of his care in superintending the loading and unloading of cargo. Goronel, obviously quite expert in the matter of average, admitted complete ignorance of primage. Coronel gave evidence in yet another case in 165664 involving bills of lading for goods actually bound for England and France but which had been made out as destined for the United Provinces, then at peace with Spain. He stated that he had never lived in Holland or Flanders save only as a foreigner for a month or so when he stayed in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Brussels. Vouching for Jewishness It is in 1655 that we find early reference65 to Manuel Martinez Dormido, known within the Greechurch Lane congregation as David Abrabanel. He was born in 1600 in Antiguera in Spain and came to London in 1654 to set up home in Great St. Helens. Three years later we find him laying claim66 to a vessel called the Three Cranes, together with her cargo, which had been seized by Commonwealth ships, and it was necessary for Dormido to prove he was a Jew, and not an enemy alien, in order to repossess his property. Evidence on his behalf was given by three witnesses, Solomon Franco, Duarte Enriques Alvarez, and Simon de Souza, all London Jewish merchants, who vouched for the fact that Dormido was indeed 60 Ibid, (see Appendix III). ? P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/70. 62 For Coronel's biography see Lucien Wolf's 'The Jewry of the Restoration*. Trans JHSE, Vol. V, pp. 17-18. ? P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/72. 64 Ibid. ? P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/71. 66 P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/72 (see Appendix II).</page><page sequence="10">Foreign Trade of London Jews in the Seventeenth Century 47 a Hebrew, that he traded with Brazil to great value, and had large sums of money owed him by 'diverse persons dwelling in Pernambuco\ There are a few Port Book entries for Dormido which tell us that by 166167 he was exporting double bays and serges to Cadiz and in the following year importing Canary wine, sugar, and tobacco;68 all of these commodities he re exported to Cadiz. Use of Fictitious Names In July 1658 Antonio Rodrigues Robles was encountering the London Jews' perennial difficulty of claiming cargo that had, in order to avoid confiscation by the Spaniards, been laded under a fictitious name.69 Robles used the alias Adrian Turin and when a vessel, the Mary and Joyce, had been captured by the Spanish he had had 40 pipes of Canary wine on board. The ship had since been retaken by the Commonwealth, and Robles required the usual witnesses to vouch for him as an English subject. He found them in Domingo de la Cerda.70 his accountant and manager; John Bellamy,71 his cooper; Augustine Coronel, and Antonio Fernandez Carvajal. Robles, accord? ing to de la Cerda, had constantly traded from the Canaries to London and his factors in Teneriffe sent him 300, 400, and (in 1657) 600 pipes of Canary wine annually. Robles, according to Coronel, had been living in London since 1648. In September 166172 and in July 166373 there are two Port Book entries showing that he exported double bays, serges, cottons, Norwich stuffs, and kersies to the Canaries but not in any large quantities. He was importing wine from the Canaries in 166074 but his name does not appear again in the Port Books until 1671,75 when he received a small quantity of Normandy canvas from Rouen. His trade in Canary wine, however, seems to have improved again in the 'seventies and from 1675 to 1679 he averaged over 85 pipes, worth annually about ?2,500.76 Records of Robles' exports are infrequent and unimportant and one is left with the impression that, in his case, the Port Books give us a totally inadequate indication of the trade he did. Economic Awakening One other of the London Jews to give some details of himself in the course of legal pro? ceedings in those days of the Interregnum was Simon de Caceres.77 He stated he was born in Madrid in 1615; that he had lived in Barbados and, from 1647 to 1654, in Hamburg, whence he had come to London. The Restoration heralded a kind of economic awakening for England. From the 1660s onward her foreign trade developed in dramatic fashion and took on a new air of aggressiveness. 'Above all, the transatlantic traders came to account for an increasing proportion of imports and re-exports.'78 Aided and abetted first by the Navigation Act of 1651 and, after the Restoration, by various statutes, the main object of which was to restrict the West Indian trade to Englishmen, England, with a fast-growing merchant fleet, was ready to take full advantage of the fact that, as the North American and West Indian settlements spread, 'so the whole of Europe's centre of economic gravity was shifting westward'.79 Experienced Merchants It was, then, into this promising milieu that a small but growing number of Jewish merchants came from Spain, Portugal, Holland, Germany, Flanders, and France, most of them 67 P.R.O. E.190 48/4 25 October. 68 P.R.O. E.190 48/7 24 April, 4 June 1662. 69 P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/72. 70 De la Gerda appears, trading on his own account, in 1662 P.R.O. E.190 48/7 22 August, 2 September. 71 Bellamy was associated with Carvajal's famous raid on the Customs. See Wolf's 'The First English Jew', Trans. JHSE, Vol. II, pp. 38, 41, and Jewry of the Restoration,' Trans.JHSE, Vol. V, pp. 6, 9. 72 P.R.O. E.190 48/4. 73 P.R.O. E.190 49/3. 74 P.R.O. E.190 47/6. 75 P.R.O. E.190 53/4 4 July. 76 P.R.O. E.190 63/1, 66/4, 66/7, 81/2. 77 P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/71. 78 Charles Wilson, England's Apprenticeship 1603 1763, Longmans, 1965. 7* Ibid.</page><page sequence="11">48 Maurice Wool/ scions of families long steeped in mercantile practice, well established and prosperous in the lands from which they had come. Several of them, after leaving Europe, had first spent some years in the Canaries or West Indies before returning eastward, this time to England, where religious freedom and the promise of an ever-thriving trade must have shone like twin beacons. Although we must guard against over? emphasis, there can be little doubt that the trading skills and overseas connections they brought with them were factors that helped to establish England, and more particularly London, as a great world entrepot. In 1663, thirty London Jewish merchant houses had accounts with Alderman Edward Backwell, the goldsmith-banker, and by 1672 some seventy-seven Jewish names had appeared in the pages of his ledgers.80 Among them they traded with Spain, Portugal, Holland, Italy, Flanders, Germany, and France; with Jamaica, Barbados, the Canaries, and the Azores, and with India. Wide Dealings Prominent among them were the Francias. George and Domingo Rodriguez Francia were brothers, born in Almeida, in Portugal, but who, before their* arrival in London in 1655, had lived since their youth in Malaga. They were in their early forties when they began trading in Leadenhall Street; both brought their sons into the business and their activities were widespread. Judged solely on the strength of their trade in Canary wine they were im? portant operators, but wine was only one of a variety of interests in which they engaged and their total turnover must have ranked high among City merchant houses. The brothers were familiar figures at the East India Company sales, where they acted as buying agents for Continental firms. In August 1664 George and Domingo attended a sale of East Indian merchandise in London, where they purchased calico to the value of ?5,500 to be carried to Bordeaux and delivered to Gaspar Gonzales, whose daughter was married to Domingo's son, George.81 Gonzales had in fact been living in London in 1655 and 1656 and, as Abraham Coen Gonsales, was one of the signatories to Menasseh Ben Israel's petition to Cromwell. He was a member of the Creechurch Lane congregation in 1664 and certainly as late as 1678. A key figure in the Francias' trade to Bordeaux, he was a big buyer of East Indian cloths not only in London but also in Amsterdam, Middleburg, and elsewhere in the United Provinces. This one account alone was worth in turnover more than ?6,000 annually to George and Domingo. Although the Port Book for 1661/166282 has seven entries showing the Francias re-exporting calico to Bordeaux, presumably to Gonzales, it is very obvious that this book discloses a mere proportion of their trade. They bought emeralds in Cadiz, which they shipped to India83 and their dealings in wine, almost all of it from the Canaries, were, as already stated, an important part of their business. They received shipments from various senders and from one man, a Spaniard named Don Thomas di Nova Grimon, who owned several vineyards in Teneriffe and elsewhere, the brothers took his entire output, which in 1660-1666 was in the region of 800 pipes annually.84 A pipe, that is, 126 gallons, of Canary wine at that time sold in London for ?30 to ?40. Similar associations between producers and agents in England were later to develop on a large scale into the 'Commission System' of the sugar trade. Hamburg Ship Seized by English The Francias also acted for Don Thomas in Germany. On one occasion, in 1665, he ordered them to instruct Manuel di Mattos, their factor in Hamburg, to freight a ship there and send her to the Canaries for a lading of wine to carry back to Hamburg.85 This they did but the vessel and cargo were seized by some English frigates and taken into Plymouth. 80 Preserved in the archives of Glyn, Mills &amp; Co., London. si P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/75 f. 243b. For further material on the Francias see Lucien Wolf's Jews in the Canary Islands, J.H.S.E., 1926. 82 P.R.O. E.190 49/2 (a badly damaged book). 83 Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 40701 f. 168. 84 P.R.O. H.G.A. 13/75 f. 505b. ? Ibid.</page><page sequence="12">Foreign Trade of London Jews in the Seventeenth Century 49 The adventure had been insured by brokers in Hamburg and Antwerp, and Simon Francia, George's son, assured the judges at the inevit? able London court proceedings that 'no person subject of the French King or of the States of the United Provinces had any share in the lading'. Two other Canary vineyards with whom the Francias did business were those belonging to Vergara de Grimon and Pasquill de Attochia.86 The latter had been an eminent Madrid merchant who left Spain for the Canaries and had been sending wine to London since 1656. Until 1658 his cargoes had gone to Carvajal and from then on to George and Domingo. In 1666 a ship, the St. Joachim Emanuel, was carrying 423 pipes of wine to the Francias in London from the Canaries, 377 pipes from Vergara de Grimon and 46 from de Attochia and his wife, Donna Gratiosa. Young Simon, again in court, said that Vergera di Grimon 'manures, as he believeth, his own vineyards at his own expense' (to manure in the seventeenth century meant 'to manage') 'and hath returns of such wines as he sends to George and Domingo most times in goods, other times in exchange.' Donna Gratiosa, who in her husband's absence abroad looked after his affairs, was, according to Domingo Rodrigues, pleased to receive bays, serges, and other English manu? factures for whatever she or her husband shipped to London, which in 1666, in addition to wines, included a shipment of 4 tons of whalebone and 20 bags of vigonia or vicuna wool. The vicuna alone was worth ?1,000.87 Canary Company's Claim The cargo on board the St. Joachim Emanuel was actually the subject of dispute between, on the one side, the Francias acting on behalf of their Spanish senders and, on the other, the short-lived Canary Company, which, jealous of its supposed monopoly, had questioned the legality of the vessel's discharging her cargo in London. Simon Francia argued that the producents being native Spaniards should, on account of the articles of peace that had been concluded between England and Spain, be allowed 'to bring their goods hither'. He said if they were, upon this occasion, prohibited from doing so, he would seek permission for the boat to proceed to Ostend or another Flemish port and deliver her lading there. In the five years 1675-1679 the Francias averaged, according to Port Book entries,88 350 pipes of wine with an annual value in London of ?12,000-? 14,000. This was entirely Canary wine, with the exception of 140 pipes of French wine that they imported in 1675?apparently for the first time?and 80 pipes in 1677. During these five years, Gomez Rodriquez, Antonio Gomez Serra, and Antonio Rodrigues Robles were the only other Jews who imported wine to any extent and between them they brought in 160 pipes yearly, less than half the Francias' imports. It is important to remember that of the 800 pipes the Francias were receiving annually from Di Nova Grimon in the 'sixties there is, in the Port Books, hardly a trace. Bearing in mind their direct shipments to Hamburg, we can assume that a considerable proportion of the vessels carrying cargoes on their account in the 'sixties and 'seventies never sailed up the Thames, and it is therefore impossible for us to gauge the full extent of their trading. Concentration on Importing The tiny immigrant community in 1660, although eager and, in most respects, well able to develop their overseas trade, were, for a few years, to concentrate on importing. They were, for the time being, still feeling their way with English cloth and when they did ship goods overseas these were predominantly re? exports. Much of the textiles, spices, and other merchandise auctioned at the East India Company's London sales were bought for re-exporting and at one sale in 1663 Fernando Mendes de Costa purchased the enormous amount of 1,000 quintals (50 tons) of pepper and shipped it to Leghorn. The price of pepper fluctuated greatly in the seventeenth century but in 1663 the notional price on which duty w P.R.O. H.C.A. 13/75 f. 562b. ? Ibid. f. 592b. 88 P.R.O. E.190 62/4, 63/1, 66/4, 67/6, 73/3, 81/2, 88/1.</page><page sequence="13">50 Maurice Wool/ was paid was 8d. a lb. or ?75 a ton. This particular shipment was worth, in Italy, probably more than ?5,000 and was important enough for its passage to be traced with concern by Fernando in a letter to his brother George dated April 1663.89 Referring to the cargo, he wrote: 'this week we heard that it had reached Genoa, please God it is now at Leghorn, we trust in Him that it may be of some profit to help our three ordinary sources of expense'. In 1661/1662 Manuel Martinez Dormido, Manuel de Fonseca, Diego Rodrigues Aries, Domingo Francia, and Gomez Rodrigues were the only Jews in the 'Exports by Aliens' Port Book,90 and of the twenty-four modest cargoes they shipped abroad that year all but four were re-exports: calico and sugar to Bordeaux, Canary wine to India, and tobacco to destina? tions that, because of damaged folios, are illegible. Their imports, however, at this time followed the general pattern and indeed were, in comparison to their exports, of great bulk and value.91 Contract with Portuguese King Ozenbriggs, a coarse linen woven at Osna? br?ck, was shipped to London via Amsterdam; broad and narrow German linen from Holland and Flanders; sugar and ginger from Barbados; and by way of Tercera and Portugal came the brazilwood to the da Costas. Apart from one or two trifling exceptions, all brazilwood imports into London in the 'sixties and 'seventies found their way to Fernando Mendes da Costa and subsequently to Alvaro da Costa. In 1666-166992 they were averaging 77 tons annually and ten years later the yearly cargoes to Alvaro amounted to over 80 tons.93 By the 'seventies logwood, another dye source, was being imported from Jamaica and the Canaries by the Francias, Michael Levy, Gomez Rodrigues, Antonio Gomez Serra, and others in considerable bulk; 100 tons were imported by four Jewish traders in 1670 1672,94 more than half of the total by Michael Levy, and, after a lull lasting three years, Antonio Gomez Serra, by then the only Jewish importer of logwood, brought in 95 tons, with a dutiable value of some ?1,300.95 It is an intriguing fact that, although Fernando Mendes da Costa and Alvaro appear in the Port Books as both aliens and denizens, their brazilwood imports after 1667 are, without exception, to be found only in the 'Aliens' books. This might well indicate that Charles II had given a monopoly to one of the merchant companies, which would have forced the da Costas to import the dye-stuff as aliens, but there are few, if any, indications in the London Port Books of other brazilwood importers during the second half of the seven? teenth century. In any case, as is evidenced by the Patent granted to Sir William Davidson in 1661-1662 and published by Wilfred Samuel (Trans.JHSE, Vol. XIV, p. 46), the entire brazilwood output of Brazil appears to have been the monopoly of the King of Portugal. It would therefore follow that the Da Costas, as sole importers, must have had a contract with the Portuguese King.96 4The Book of Tables' There is a document in the British Museum97 entitled 'London Exports and Imports for the year Michaelmas 1662/3 and 1668/9'. It was compiled, probably in 1679, by Charles Davenant, of the Inspector-General's office, and is well known to economic historians as the 'Book of Tables'. Davenant's figure for 1669 of 106-4 tons of brazilwood imported into London confirms that Alvaro da Costa was virtually the sole London importer, because 89 Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 29868 f. 1. See Trans. JHSE, Vol. V, p. 31, for English translation. 90 RR.O. E.190 49/2. 91 P.R.O. E.190 48/7. 92 P.R.O. E.190 51/4, 52/2, 52/5, 52/4. m P.R.O. E.190 63/7, 66/2, 73/2, 88/9. P.R.O. E.190 53/4, 53/9, 53/7, 57/7. 95 P.R.O. E.190 W4/1. 96 Mr. Edgar Samuel, in a letter to me, suggests that, if this should prove to be the case, it may have had something to do with the remitting of Queen Catherine's dowry. 'At times', he writes, 'it might have been easier for the King?or more profitable for the merchants?to remit brazilwood to London rather than silver, or it may simply have been a marketing arrangement which suited the Portuguese Crown, with its tendency to sell monopolies to the highest bidder.' 97 Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 36785.</page><page sequence="14">Foreign Trade of London Jews in the Seventeenth Century 51 the relevant Port Book,98 which although admittedly dated from Christmas to Christmas, gives the da Costa total as 107-8 tons?a marginal differential. When we compare other entries in the 1668-1669" Port Book with the Book of Tables, we find Gomez Rodrigues and Alvaro da Costa between them importing 1,638 cwt. of white sugar (worth ?4,095 and accounting for 11-6% of the total London import of this particular commodity). In the years immedi? ately following the Fire of London, in addition to the da Costas, it is Michael Levy, Gomes Rodrigues, and the partnership of Anthony Gomeserra and Moses Baruh Lousada trading as Serra &amp; Lousada, that are the most pro? minent among the Jewish importers. Linen from N.W. Europe and sugar from Barbados and the Azores formed the bulk of their trade.100 Growth of Exports It was in the 'seventies that exports by the London Jews began to show some volume. Shipments of treasure in the form of gold and silver bar, emeralds, and pieces of eight to India and elsewhere are listed and will be considered separately,101 but we find Alvaro da Gosta's trade in double bays, mostly to Spain and Portugal, gathering momentum and in 1671-1673 he exported about 2,500 pieces, worth in all approximately ?15,000.102 During these two years da Costa dominated the Jewish exporting scene but Antonio Gomez Serra, Gomez Rodrigues, and Simon Francia were all prominent, many of the Francia cargoes going, not surprisingly, to the Canaries. There is, fortunately, an unbroken sequence of London Port Books for the four years Christmas 1675-Christmas 1679.103 During this period twenty-six Jewish mer? chant houses figure as importers and nineteen as exporters; seven firms, however, dominate both lists. These are: Alvaro da Costa, Anthony Gomeserra, Domingo and Simon Francia, Francisco de Pavia, Alvaro da Fonseca, Gomes Rodrigues, and Peter and Piers Henriques. Among them these seven brought in almost 700 of the 800 cargoes imported by Jews and exported over 400 out of a Jewish total of 500 shipments. The 1675-1679 Books contain details of large bullion shipments by Alvaro da Costa, Gomes Rodrigues, and Anthony Gomeserra to India and Holland and disclose the emergence of Peter and Piers Henriques as considerable exporters of lead. In 1679 they shipped104 (all of it to France) 581 fothers (or tons) of lead, almost 9 % of the total London export of 6,711 fothers and worth, according to the duty paid, at least ?6,400, and no doubt considerably more at destination. 3,000 Jewish-owned Cargoes At this point we must break off from what is, in any case, merely the first part of work in progress. The extraction of the details of some three thousand Jewish-owned cargoes has entailed the scrutiny of more than four hundred thousand entries in the London Port Books and there remains much still to be done before we can obtain a complete survey. We have, however, traced some of the trading activities of London-based Marranos in the early years of the seventeenth century; we have been able to learn a little more about that most intriguing of characters, Antonio Fernandes Carvajal, and of some of his contemporaries in Cromwell's London, and, most important of all, we have followed the fascinating history of the tiny community of the Resettlement strengthen? ing its mercantile roots in London during the 1660s and '70s. *8 RR.O. E.190 52/4. 59 Ibid. loop.R.O. E.190 51/4, 51/8, 52/3, 52/2, 52/5, 52/4. 101 To be incorporated, it is hoped, in a later essay. 102 P.R.O. E.190 54/1, 55/1, 59/1, 59/6. i?3 Imports: P.R.O. E.190 62/4, 64/1, 63/7, 63/1, 69/1, 66/2, 66/4, 67/6, 25/1, 73/2, 73/3, 85/1, 88/9, 81/2, 81/1, 90/1, 88/7, 88/1. Exports: P.R.O. E.190 62/1, 62/2, 67/3, 70/1, 67/4, 63/8, 66/3, 71/1, 66/5, 76/1, 73/5, 74/1, 87, 82/5, 88/6, 94. 104 P.R.O. E.190 87.</page><page sequence="15">52 Maurice Woolf APPENDIX I P.R.O. H.C.A. 13, 70 21st November 1653 Examined upon the first allegation ANTONIO FFERNANDEZ CARVASHALL of London Merchant aged 57 years or thereabouts. Sworn and examined saith and deposeth as followeth: To the first article he saith and deposeth that by the hands of Spaine the exportation of plate from any of ye Ports of that country and kingdome was and is absolutely forbidden and that noe man may by these lawes lade and export any without special licence first had and obteyned and that whatsoever parcells shall be found laden without licence are lyable to be confiscated, being seized by any of the King's Officers authorised in that behalfe which he knoweth having lived many yeares and having as a merchant trader there and thither for these thirty yeares last past and saith that while hee soe lived in Spaine hee sawe and took notice of many parcells ojf silver seized and confiscated for being laden without registering and licence obteyned but never sawe or knew any put to death for ye same. And otherwise he cannot depose. To the second and third articUs he sayth that in regards of the danger and hazard of ye Lawes of Spaine made against exporting of plate it is usuall and frequent to put in feigners names and not ye true owners or laders names into the bill of ladeing for plate laden without registering to the end to conceal the laders from discovery, he being if discovered liable to the punishment ordayned by the said lawes to the which lawes he referreth himselfe and lest any discovery should be made by the writings sent in the shipp it is usual to send the true dispatches (mentioning the true laders) overland to the persons for whome the plate is laden and many times the bill of lading (as to the lader) is left with a blanke. And otherwise he cannot depose. To the 4th and 5th hee saith that hee believeth that there is [sic] good stores of silver exported from Spaine for the accompt of Hollanders and subject of the United Netherlands since the peace betweene Spaine and Holland. And otherwise he cannot depose. To the first he saith that it is usuall and frequent for Merchant Strangers of England, fflanders and many other countries to lade silver at Cadiz and St. Lucare and transport the same thence to ports beyond the seas and into other countries and that great quantities of plate are from tyme to tyme and have been exported from Spaine without licence or registring for England, fflanders and other countries which hee knoweth having as aforesaid lived many years in Spaine and ever since useing the trade of Spaine. To the second hee saith that hee well knoweth that the merchants of Antwerp, Gaunt, Lile, Dunquirke and other places of fflanders and Brabant subjects to the King of Spaine doe drive a great and constant trade thence for Cadiz and St. Lucare and other parts of Spaine and sending goods thither and that their ffactors in Spaine doe usually make their returnes in silver. To the third he saith that the names both of laders and those for whose accompt any silver is laden are well enough knowne to those con? cerned therein albeit the names in the bills are left with blankes or otherwise obscured such fictitious names being only prevention of discovery as afores'd. 4. 5. ?he saith hee verily believeth that severall persons living in Antwerpe, Gaunt, Dunquirke, Lile and other Parts and Places of fflanders and Brabant subjects of the King of Spaine ? the voyage in question severall and great quantities of silver and plate laden and seized in the Shipps the Sampson Salvador and St. George in question and otherwise saving as afores'd he cannot depose saving hee hath several tymes heard merchants of good worth and quality saye and affirme that many of the merchants of Gaunt, Lile, Antwerpe, Dunquirke and other Parts of fflanders and Brabant subject of the sayd Kinge had much plate in the sayd Shipps. Signed ANTONIO ff. CARVAJALL</page><page sequence="16">Foreign Trade of London Jews in the Seventeenth Century 53 APPENDIX II H.C.A. 13/72. The claime of Manoel Martines Dormedo for the shipp the Three Cranes (William Harris, native) seized with her lading by Cayterius Minges[?] The 27th of October 1658. Examined upon an allegation and sched &gt; ules on the behalfe of the said Dormedo. Solomon Franco of London, Merchant, aged 42 yeeres or thereaboutes, sworne and examined. To the first article hee saith hee well knoweth the producent Manoel Martines Dormedo and hath soe donne about tenn yeeres last, and knew him living at Amsterdam where this deponent hath bin severall times at his house, and saith that about foure yeeres since hee, the said Manoel Martines Dormedo (who hee saith is an Hebrew and for such commonly accompted) came from Amsterdam to this citie to live and settle here and hath ever since lived and fixed his habitacion in this citie in a house in St. Hellens where this deponent hath often bin with him, and shortly after his said comming hee alsoe transported his wife and familie hether, where they have ever since continewed, and upon his first comming over about foure yeeres since hee told and acquainted this deponent and severall other of his friendes and acquaintance that hee came with a purpose to fix his dwelling here in this citie, and that if hee liked it hee would send for his wife and familie (which hee shortly after did accordingly and tooke the said house) and would end his dayes here, and hee hath severall times since declared that now hee was setled for all his life time, and would spend his life here or that effect. And saith this deponent was imployed and did assist him in taking the said house in Greate st. Hellens, and knoweth that hee undertooke to pay and did pay after the rate of 28n. per annum rent for the same, and from time to time hee hath bin and is taxed as a subiect of this Commonwealth for the armie and all other duties, as a parishioner and Inhabitant of the parish, and lastly that continually since his said comming and Inhabiting here hee the said producent hath bin and is a subiect of this Commonwealth and for such commonly accounted. And further hee deposeth not, saving hee knoweth the premisses being alsoe an Hebrew and familiarly acquainted and con? versant with the said producent, and using to assist him in many thinges by meanes of this deponentes speaking the English tongue, which the said Dormedo cannot but with much difflcultie understand or speake. To the third article hee saith that the said Manoel Martines Dormedo before hee came from and while hee soe lived at Amsterdam was com? monly called by the name of David Abrabinell, and sometimes David Abrabinall alias Manoel Martines Dormedo, and had two sonnes, the one named Solomon and the other Daniel Dormedo, one whereof videlicet Daniel is since dead, and the other hath lived here with his father and bin often here, and came over with his mother. And saith hee hath seene letters purporting diverse debtes to a greate valew to be due and owing to the said Dormedo and his sonnes in Brazil by diverse persons dwelling in Farnambuco and others subiectes of the king of Portugall. And further he cannot depose. To the Interrogatories. To the first Interrogatorie hee saith hee doth not know ought of the shipp the Three Cranes or voyage interrogated nor knoweth the said shipp and further he cannot answer. To the second hee doth not know the interrogated William Harris, and further hee cannot answer. To the 3 hee cannot answer. To the 4 hee saith that hee hath knowne the said producent by the said name of Manoel Martines Dormedo for soe long as hee hath knowne him as aforesaid being tenne yeeres, and alsoe by his other name of Abrabinell which is his Hebrew name as the other his name of trade and merchand? ize. To the 5 and 6 negatively for his hart and other? wise he cannot answer. To the 7 hee referred himselfe to his foregoing deposition and further cannot answer. To the 8, 9, and 10th hee cannot answer saving as aforesaid. Repeated before Dr. Godolphin. Salamon Franco. The claime of the said "] The 28th of October Dormedo. &gt; 1658. Examined upon J the said allegation. Duarte Enrique Alvarez of London, Merchant, aged 40 yeeres or thereaboutes, sworne and examined. To the first, second and third articles hee saith hee well knoweth the producent, Manoel Martines Dormedo, and hath soe donne aboute five yeeres</page><page sequence="17">54 Maurice Wool/ last or thereaboutes, and well knoweth that som what above foure yeeres since hee, the said Dormedo (coming from Amsterdam) came to this citie of London where this deponent met him upon his first comming, and upon discourse betweixt them the said Manoel declared and told this deponent that hee was come to dwell and fix his habitacion here in this citie, and that hee was come before, and if he liked after some stay hee would send for his wife and familie to come from Amster? dam, and saith that in some short space after the said Dormedo declared to this deponent and other his friends and acquaintance that hee liked the Place well and therefore had sent for his wife and familie, who he saith came shortly after over, and then the said Manoel tooke a house for them in greate st. Hellens where hee and they have lived and fixed habitacion ever since, and that the said producent (as he hath often heard) payeth eight and twenty pounds per annum rent for the said house and hath bin from time to time taxed to the Army and other taxes and payeth the same as a parishioner and Inhabitant there, and hath ever since his said comming and taking the said house bin accompted and is a subject of this Common? wealth, wherein (as hee hath often said) hee would dwell as long as hee lived. And saith the said producent hath bin and is frequently stiled or called by the names sometimes of David Abrabinell, which is his name of his Tribe and as hee is an hebrew (which hee saith hee is) and sometimes of Manoel Martines Dormedo, whereby hee is most commonly called, that being his secular appellation and name in trade and commerce. And further that this deponent knoweth that the said producent hath a sonne named Solomon Dormedo, who came over with his mother (the producents wife) and when hee is not abroad and voyaging, liveth constantly with his said father. And lastly (as this deponent hath heard and beleeveth) the said producent hath many debtes and moneys owing to him by Portogeses in Brazil and to his said sonne. And further hee cannot depose. To the Interrogatories. To the first, second and third hee cannot answer, not knowing either the master or shipp in question, or anything of the voyage. To the 4 hee referreth himselfe to his foregoing deposition, and cannot otherwise answer. To the 5 and 6 hee cannot answer. To the seaventh hee saith the producent is older then this deponent, and that this deponent knew not his father, mother, or where hee was borne, and otherwise referreth himselfe to his foregoing deposition. Repeated before Dr. Godolphin. Duarte Enriquez Alvarez. The first of November 1658. Examined upon the foresaid allegation. Simon de Souza of London, Merchant, aged 55 yeeres or thereaboutes, sworne and examined. To the first, second and third articles hee saith and deposeth that hee well knoweth the producent, Manoel Martines Dormedo, and hath soe donne for theise five yeeres last or thereaboutes, and saith that in or about the moneth of September 1654 the said producent comming from Amsterdam came to this citie and meeting with this deponent (who is an hebrew as the said producent is) declared unto him (as hee did to many others of his friends and acquaintance) that hee was come to see the place and countrey, for that hee had a desire to settle here with his wife and familie, and that if hee liked it, hee would send for his wife and familie, and shortly after the said producent, declaring his good liking for this citie for habitacion, did accordingly send for his wife and familie, who came shortly over, and the said producent tooke a house in st. Hellens and fixed his habitacion there, having taken a lease of it for seaven yeeres, and ever since the said producent hath lived in this citie, and paid taxes and duties as a subiect of this Commonwealth, and bin from time to time accounted a subiect thereof and an Inhabitant of London. And saith further that the said producent his Hebrew name is David Abrabinel and by that name hee is commonly called amongest the Hebrewes, but his name of trafhque and commerce is Manoel Martines Dormedo, and by that name hee is commonly written and called in matter of com? merce. And saith that the producent hath a sonne named Solomon, who when hee is at home liveth here with the producent. And lastly that hee hath heard and beleeveth that the said producent hath many debtes owing to him in Brazile. And further hee cannot depose. To the Interrogatories. To the first, second and third hee saith hee doth not know the shipp the three Cranes interrogated nor the master William Harris, nor ought of the said shipps voyage. To the fourth he referreth himselfe to his fore? going deposition. To the 5 and 6 hee cannot answer. To the 7th negatively for his hart and otherwise referreth himselfe to his foregoing deposition. To the 8 and 9 hee cannot answer. To the last hee cannot answer. Simon de Sosa.</page><page sequence="18">Foreign Trade of London Jews in the Seventeenth Century 55 APPENDIX III H.C.A. 13/72. The eighteenth of October, Affidavits touching 1 1658. Manoel de Fonseca of the George and I London, Merchant, aged 21 Angell ex parte [ yeeres or thereaboutes and Fernandez. J William Tucker of the same, mariner, aged 35 yeeres or thereaboutes, sworne before the right [blank] Charles George Cock, Esq., one of the Judges of the High Court of the Admiraltie of England, and examined upon an Interrogatorie ministred on the behalfe of Antonio Fern? andez Caravajall, free den? izen and subiect of the Commonwealth of England, say and depose by vertue of their corporall oathes. That they well know the shipp the George and Angell interrogated, whereof hee this deponent William Tucker is master, and well know that about six yeeres since the said master Antonio Fernandez Caravajall bought her here at London of the Commissioners for Prize goodes with his owne money, and really paid for the same, and that ever since such buying of her hee the said Farnandez hath bin and is the true, lawful and sole owner of her and of her tackle, apparell and furniture, and that ever since such buying of her hee this deponent William Tucker hath gonne in her in the service of the said Fernandez, and is now master of her, and is now bound out with her on a voyage for the Streightes, and thence to retourne immediately to this port of London for finishing the said voyage, and that the said master and all his company intended to saile the said voyage are Inhabitantes of this Commonwealth of England and subiectes of the same, and that the shipp is of 60 tonnes burthen or thereaboutes. Manuel Fonseca. William Tucker. APPENDIX IV IMPORTERS (in order of their appearance in the London Port Books) I600-1621 Jeronimo LOPES* Francisco PINTO* Fernando LOPES da COSTA* Diego de SILVA Gomes d'AVILA Simon RODRIGUES George RODRIGUES* George LOPES Anthony FERNANDES Manuel RODRIGO Galipulus PINTO Emanuel PINTO Manuel FERNANDES Anthony LOPES Harman LOPES da COSTA 1660-1680 Manuel da FONSECA* Antonio Rodrigues ROBLES* Domingo Rodrigues FRANCIA* Manuel Martinez DORMEDO* Diego Rodrigues ARIES* Simon MENDES Gomes RODRIGUES* Sampson GIDEON (the elder) Domingo DELACERDA* Isaac de GASTRO Judaeo MAES Moses BARROW (LOUSADA)* Anthony RODRIGUES Aaron de VEGA* Alfonco RODRIGUES* Fernando de QUIERES* Fernando MENDES DA COSTA* Alvaro da COSTA* George FRANCIA* Michael LEVY* Diego PEREIRA Anthony GOMESERRA* \ f Anthony LOUSADA / Diego FERNANDO Jacob ABO AB* Francis de LIZ* Lewis HENRIQUES Moses GASTANO Isaac ANDRADE Francis HENRIQUES* Diego FRANC IA Anthony FRANCO Bero ? CARVALHO Simon FRANCIA* Abraham da COSTA* Francis de SILVA Isaac ALVARES Anthony GOMESERRA* David de SILVA* Manuel ALVARES* Emanuel Lopes PEREIRA* Abraham ABRAHAMSON Abraham JACOBS* Jacob PEREIRA Francisco de PAVIA* Solomon GABAY Solomon de MEDINA Diego RODRIGUES Alvaro de FONSECA* Anthony LOUSADA* Manuel GOMESERRA</page><page sequence="19">56 Maurice Woolf Benjamin LEVY Peter and Piers HENRIQUES* Diego de MODINA* Moses MOGATTA Abraham de SOUSA Isaac SUAREZ* Joseph HENRIQUES Aaron MOSES Jacob Bueno HENRIQUES Abraham de PORTO* Jacob HENRIQUES* Rab ? TELLES Abraham de PAVIA Jacob SALMON Isaac Teiles da COSTA* Alfonco RODRIGUES Peter RODRIGUES Samuel de CASSERES Joseph MENDES Moses LOUANDELO [?} Jacob LEVI David MOREA Menassah MENDES Isaac D'OLIVERA * Importer-exporter, f Trading as SERRA &amp; LOUSADA and separately. EXPORTERS (who do not appear as importers) 1600-1621 Gabriel FERNANDEZ Simon Lopes HENRIQUES Fernando de MERCADO Francisco Lopes FRANCO Anne Lopes PINTO Harman Lopes da COSTA 1636-1680 Antonio Fernandez GARVAJAL Francisco DIAS Alvaro de TORRES Salomon MORESCO Diego FRANCO Jacob ARIES Francisco Henriques MARQUES Francisco GOMES Simon HENRIQUES Sarah HENRIQUES Simon de VILLA Antonio Pinto FFEREIRA Abraham BUENO Emanuel DIAS Peter PEREIRA THE MERCHANDISE (imports) Alabaster figures Almonds Amber Ambergris Anchovies Aniseed Apples Aprons Arnotto = Anatta, an orange red dye Balsam Barbers' aprons Barmillions = vermilion dye Barilla = alkali used to make soda, soap, and glass Barras = a coarse linen fabric from Holland Bear skins Beaver skins Bed feathers Bezoar stone = a concretion taken from the stomach of an animal and used as an anti? dote or counter-poison Blacking Bond scales for scabbards Bordeaux wines Bowling stones Bowtel Raynes = cloth from Rennes for bolting and sifting meal Brass lamps Brazilwood Braziletto wood Breton linen Broad German linen Broad thread Bruges thread Buckram Caddas = garter tape Caen stone = building stone from Caen in Normandy Calico Cambric Canary wine Capers Cardamom = a spice used as a stomachic Cat skins Caviare Checks Cheese Cinnamon Cloth of gold and silver Clover seeds Cloves Coach horses Cochineal Cocoa Coconuts Comfits Coral Cordovans = hides Cortex = a medicinal bark Cowhides (tanned) Cowhides in the hair Currants Cushions Deals Diamond rings Diamonds Diaper napkening Diaper tabling Dowlais Drinking glasses Ebony Elephants' teeth (tusks) Emeralds Figuretto (flowered silk) Fishing lines Flinderlands?probably a fabric Fustick = A wood used in dyeing Fustian = a cloth of cotton and flax</page><page sequence="20">Foreign Trade of London Jews in the Seventeenth Century 57 Gaily tiles = used for wall deco? ration Ghentish linen Gingham Goatskins Goose quills Great bugle?probably the herb Green ginger Ground ginger Gum elenum = elemi Gum tragacanth Hand baskets Harness Hemp Hogs' bristles Hollands Honey Horn combs Hungary water Huss skins = skin of the dog-fish used by fletchers for polishing arrows Incense Indigo Inkle = lace Iron Island woad Ivory combs Jesuits' bark = cinchona Kid skins Laces Lambswool Latten wire Lawns Lemons Levant taffeta Licorice Linen Lockram = a coarse linen Logwood Looking glasses Mace Malaga raisins Malaga wine Manna = a juice from certain species of ash; used as a purgative Marmalade Marsala almonds Mink skins Morning gowns Muffs Musk Musk cods Mustard seeds Napkening Narrow German linen Nicaragua wood Normandy canvas Nutmegs Oil Olives Orange flower water Oranges Organzine silk Otter skins Ozenbriggs Panele = crude sugar Pantiles Pearls Pears Pepper Pimento Pins Port wine Potash Powder grain = animal dye stuff Prunes Racoon skins Raisins solis = sun-dried raisins Raw silk Rhenish wine Rice Rose water Saffleurs?safflowers, dried pet? als of which made a red dye Salt Sarcenet = a fine silk material Sarsaparilla Satins Scissors Sealskins Senna Seville oil Seville raisins Ships' canvas Ships' thread Shruff = old brass or copper Sletia (Silesia) lawns Sisters thread = bleached thread Smalts = pieces of coloured glass Snowting = dressed tow Snuff Soap Spanish tobacco Spanish wine Spanish wool Speckle wood = wood with speckled grain Spectacle cases Spermaceti Succates = preserved fruit Sugar (white) Sugar (brown) Sugar (muscovado) Sumach = dyestuff made from dried and chopped leaves Sylvester = an inferior kind of cochineal Tapestry Tarras = volcanic rock used in making mortar Thimbles Thread Thrown silk Ticking Tobacco Tobacco pipes Tortoiseshell Towelling Turnips Twine Velvet Verdigris Vermilions = red cloth Virginals Walking sticks Wax Whalebone Whale fins Wire Wood Wool Worsted yarn Wrought copper Wrought iron Wrought pewter Wrought silk Wrought yarn</page><page sequence="21">58 Maurice Woolf THE MERCHANDISE (exports; including re-exports) Amber Apothecary ware Apples Aquavita Bacon Beans Beaver hats Beef Beeswax Belts Benzoin Blankets Bodices Bone lace Books Bottles Brass Bridgewaters (cloth) Bridles Broad German linen Buck skins Butter Cabinets Calico Canary wine Candles Castor hats Chairs Chamblets = a fabric Cheese Chocolate Cinnamon Cloaks Clocks Clockwork Close stools Cloth Coaches Coal Coats Coney hats Copperas Cordage Cotton Crystal beads Curtains Devonshire dozens (cloth) Diamonds Double bays (cloth) Drinking glasses Drums Earthenware Emeralds Fans Felt hats Fiddle strings Flannel Flintstones Frome buckrams (cloth) Fustian Gloves Gold Gold and silver lace Gravestones Grosgrain Gumarabic Haberdashery Hair brushes Hair buttons Harness Hats Herrings Hose Indigo Jewels Kents (cloth) Kersies (cloth) Lanthorns Latten wire Lead Lead shot Leather Long Gloucester cloth Looking glasses Lyon Dollars Minikin bays (cloth) Nails Napkenning Narrow German linen Normandy canvas Northern dozens (cloth) Northern kersies (cloth) Oatmeal Ointment Ostrich feathers Oysters (pickled) Parchments Pearls Pease Penistones (cloth) Periwigs Perpetuanos (cloth) Pewter Pictures Pieces of eight Plains (cloth) Playing cards Powder horns Prospecting glasses Rabbit skins Refined sugar Ribbon Rubies Saddles Saffron Satins Says (cloth) Serges Sheepskins Sheffield knives Shoes Short cloth Silver Single bays (cloth) Soap Spanish cloth Spanish red wool Spectacles Starch Statute lace (lace whose dimen? sions were fixed by statute) Stockings Stroudwater kersies (cloth) Suffolks (cloth) Tables Taffeta Tarred rope Thrown silk Tin Tobacco Toys Trunks Velvet Virginals Vicuna Wheatmeal Whetstones Wind instruments Wool cloth Wrought copper Wrought iron Wrought silk</page></plain_text>