Our
speaker in October began by stressing the importance of river
trade in the Fens. There has been a long history of trade along
the Cam because of the lack of roads and the inaccessibility of
many Fenland villages. It is known that the waterways were used
in Roman times, Reach was a thriving port for many centuries,
Reach Fair and Stourbridge Fair in Cambridge owe their importance
to their accessibility by river. Imports included coal, stone,
timber, wines salt and bricks while malt, grain, timber and clunch
were exported, these travelled along the lodes to the Cam up to
Denver Sluice from where a pilot was needed to navigate through
to Kings Lynn. Earlier than the period covered by the talk Wisbech
had been the main port but, as the course of the river changed,
Lynn became and remained the main port for the import and export
of goods along the Great Ouse and Cam.
Goods
were conveyed in Fenland lighters, about 13 metres long with a
beam of 3 metres, 2 central compartments with a cockpit at bow
and stern connected by narrow side decks. On average they could
carry 20 to 25 tons of cargo, they were clinker built , usually
of oak, occasionally lined; the outside was covered in a mixture
of coal tar and horse dung to protect against wood boring creatures,
this had to be renewed regularly. By the end of the 17th century
lighters were linked together in "gangs" for economic
reasons. Several boats were joined together, by ropes, chains
or beams which saved on manpower and increased the amount of cargo
which could be carried. The gang also included house lighters,
with small cabins for overnight protection, and horse boats to
ferry the horses from one side of the river to the other or to
carry them if sails were being used. The most dangerous part of
the journey was the tidal stretch between Denver and Lynn where,
even though pilots were used, at times whole gangs were sunk.
Sails were sometimes used but more often horses would tow the
gang from the towpath, in Cambridge, the stretch from Quayside
to Newnham did not have a towpath so the horses had to walk along
a raised causeway in the middle of the river.
The
lighter men organised the practical conveyencing of the cargo,
the foreman of a merchant's gang would need to have a degree of
education and their skill and knowledge of the river was vital.
Lighter men were also known to be a hard drinking, rough set of
men, it was a hard job, involving physical work and danger.
Having
set the scene, Gill moved on to talk about the Mercantile Concern
at Commercial End, Swaffham Bulbeck, which expanded as the port
at Reach declined. The present Merchants House and wharf were
probably built in the late 17th century. In the 1930s letters
relating to the merchant's business 1789 to 1793 were discovered
sealed in a window seat of the former counting house, providing
much information from agents around the coast. The agent in Rotterdam
dealt with hempseed, rapeseed cakes and rye; the agents in Lynn
with barley, rye, oats, beans wine (from Oporto) iron (from the
Baltic) pitch, tar and tallow. Newcastle dealt with rye, barley,
oats, wheat, beans, peas, flour, trefoil, clover seed and coal;
Liverpool fire bricks and salt from Cheshire and through Hull
they imported pantiles. The business had fluctuating fortunes,
trade being especially affected by the French Revolution and the
Napoleonic Wars. At times there was a lack of ships, some sailing
into Lynn were harried by the French which made it increasingly
difficult to get supplies of coal from Newcastle, and when they
did succeed, there were sometimes problems to hire gangs to load
the coal as sailors were being paid more money so of course the
labourers asked for more in turn.
Thomas
Bowyer first appears on the Swaffham Bulbeck scene in 1778 when
he witnessed a will of the owner's sister. He was possibly assistant
to the owner from the early 1770s and his job involved overseeing
the everyday running of the concern and the paperwork, as well
as more local matters such as maintaining fences, repair of the
lock gates, keeping an eye on the workers at the Swaffham malt
kiln and checking on a customer who was a little slow with his
payments! He was also building up a steady private trade in wine
imports (with the approval of his master) and in 1796 he became
a partner in the business, having a third share. During this time
he began to build up an interest in farming, both in the village
and surrounding area and eventually in 1805 he bought out his
partners and became sole owner of the concern. There is little
known about his activities after this but the business must have
been profitable as in 1821 he had a new cut made to the wharf.
He died in 1824, his sons had died young and there was no-one
to carry on the business and it was sold by auction.
Thomas
died a wealthy man, leaving bequests in the thousands to his second
wife, step sons and grandchildren; there were also bequests to
farming friends, £100 to one of his captains, £100
to the benefit of the patients of Addenbrookes Hospital, several
employees received a year's wages and a legacy and all other workers
were left a guinea. The Merchants House was obviously well furnished
and luxurious, comparing favourably with those of the wealthy
of Kings Lynn, he had a well stocked library, wine cellar and
stables. At his death his estate in Commercial End, valued at
over £17000, consisted of the mercantile establishment,
Archer's Farm, the water mill, the White Lion public house (opposite
his house and providing lodging for the watermen) maltings, maltster's
house, miller's house and workmen's cottages. He also had leases
on 2 other farms, mills at Bottisham Lode and Park and one at
Newmarket, a business in Cambridge, a house in Fulbourn, 8 lighters,
4 horses and a three quarter share in a brig. The sale of the
entire estate lasted from May 1824 to March 1825 and the total
value was estimated at £35,000.
The
concern was bought by the Giblin Brothers and continued to import
and export as before but over the years began to decline with
the rise of the railways, meaning goods could be moved much cheaper
by rail. The business was advertised for sale but had little interest,
nor were there any interested in renting it, different parts of
the enterprise were sold off and in 1877 the Mercantile concern
was closed down.
Gill
was asked what had sparked her interest in the subject and it
was because she lives next to the Merchants House, on the site
of Archer's Farm. Her talk was well illustrated with slides, including
present day Swaffham Bulbeck lode, hard to believe this was once
such a hive of commercial activity. It was a fascinating evening,
looking back over a part of Cambridge's history.
Content
by Jill Hockley.