Inventory of Mr John Chapman's goods, deceased. 1700

[PoD]

Here is the inventory of a navigator who died aboard a Slave ship in 1700. Its from the Book "The Forgotten Trade" by Nigel Tattersfield

Inventory of Mr John Chapman's goods, deceased.

At Sea 9 October 1700

13 Single Brawles

56 coarse callakew sheets

2 Nickanees

1 piece Pentadoes

Pte a piece Blue Lyning

11 Sheets

6 small Elephant Teeth marked J:C:A

2 small ditto m'ked J:C:P

8 small ditto m'ked J:C

3 small ditto J:C

1 man Slave m'rked J:C

1 girl ditto m'rked J:C

6 Bars lead

Some Brass wrye

Clothes (viz):

4 Old Coats, 3 old Jackcoats

1 Waistcoat, 1 pair britches

2 Flanning Sherts, 1 pair flanning Drawers

1 old Broad Cloth coat & Jackcoat

2 old Hats, 4 pair old Stockings

6 old White Shurts

1 old Check Shurt & 1 pair Drawers

1 Lace Neckcloth: 10 old Muzling ditto

1 Rumall & 1 White Handkerchiefe

1 Bed, 1 Rugg, 1 blanket, 1 Pillow

2 pair old broad Cloth Britches

1 pair Serge ditto

1 White Fustian Waistcoat

1 Serge Coat and Waistcoat

1 old Cloth Jackcoat

3 New hats, 1 pair old Gloves

2 pair old Shoes, 1 pair Silver Buckles

2 Nickers, 3 pair Sheets

1 hat brush, 1 Cane with Ivory head boss

1 Knife and fork, 1 pen Knife

Books and Instruments (viz):

1 Forestaff with 4 vanes

1 Quadrant with 4 vanes

1 Nocturnall, 1 Gunter scale

1 Plain & 1 Gunner scale

1 old Epitome, 1 old Callinder

1 Practical Navigation

1 Seaman's Practice

2 old Journal Books

1 pair Dividers, 1 pair Compasses

1 Bible, 1 Whole Duty of Man

1 Common Prayer, 1 quarto Waggoner

1 book called Heaven Opened

1 paper Pocket Book

1 old atlass, all torn

1 old papered book

These Things are putt into two Chests which are marked J:C: and this Inventory is attested by us

Francis Snelling

Walter Prideaux

[silas thatcher]

it would be interesting to see exactly what they meant with some of the terms...brawles, knickanees, etc... and i also know that some of it is open to interpretation since the meanings of some words have changed over the last few hundred years....

[PoD]

yep thats my next job. actually deciphering it all.

[PoD]

ok thats one down:

Nickanees. A cheap striped calico, patterned in the loom. Bought mainly for the slave markets

[PoD]

Pentadoes is also a type of cloth

brawles were cheap cloths

Sheets or Sheeting was a strong linen or cotton cloth used for bed linen.

I am assuming Callakew is Calico and Lyning is Linen

Edited October 11, 2011 by PoD

[Mission]

In the book I was just reading, the natives selling slaves (the slaves being people from other tribes located further inland from the coast of Africa) seemed to value cloth highly.

I actually thought the books were the most interesting things. He seems to have been involved in navigation, which may explain why he could read.

[PoD]

A jackcoat differs from a frock coat in that its frock is not as long and does not flare out as much. The materials used to make a jackcoat are cheaper or less fine. It is more a commoner's item of clothing.

Some of this clothing could have been what was used to cloth the slaves owned by him.

[PoD]

I actually thought the books were the most interesting things. He seems to have been involved in navigation, which may explain why he could read.

Yeah I was interested in the books about all else too. I have tracked them down and I am in the process of trying to reproduce copies of these.

[Fox]

I actually thought the books were the most interesting things. He seems to have been involved in navigation, which may explain why he could read.

As a navigator he would most certainly have been able to read, for two reasons. Firstly, a navigator needs to be able to read charts and write up a log, and secondly in the 17thC schooling was generally done in order: reading first, writing second, arithmetic third. In order to be able to navigate he must have had some skill at arithmetic and thus his schooling had progressed beyond reading and writing.

Literacy amongst seamen (and indeed the population in general) was much higher in the GAoP that we generally credit, By the end of the 17thC most children had some basic schooling, and in some colonies it was actually enshrined in law that every child must be taught to read so that they could engage with religious and legal texts. Even lower ranking officers, like the boatswain and quartermaster, used the written word int he course of their professional duties, so virtually any advancement relied on at least some measure of practical literacy.

One of the most interesting things regarding priates and literacy is that shipments of good sent to St. Mary's island in the 1690s included horn books, which are an educational aid, suggesting that pirates were teaching others to read and write, either illiterate members of their own company or possibly the Malagasy.

[PoD]

oops i got it slightly wrong. He wasnt just the navigator he was actually the Chief Mate. He died in a fever that it thought to have been Malaria

[PoD]

I am wondering what the difference between Britches and Drawers is? Also (going off the modern term) were Nickers what they called all underwear back then rather than just female garments?

also

SERGE is a woolen fabric, a durable twilled cloth of wool or silk and wool.

BROAD CLOTH is a soft lustrous woolen with nap sheared close and pressed; also a fine, smooth surfaced cotton or silk.

FUSTIAN was a coarse cloth of cotton and flax, thick twilled cotton with short nap

Flanning may mean Flannel material that was loosely woven, lightweight woolen with slight nap.

Muzling may mean Muslin which was a general name for the most delicately woven cotton fabrics, especially those used for ladies dresses, curtains, etc.

[Capt. Sterling]

Drawers usually refers to undergarments that cover the legs and lower torso... so hence, usually what we would refer to as underwear, underpants...etc...seeing that the item is listed with shirts, often considered an undergarment as well... I would hazard to say that it is referring to underwear...

as to nickers...or knickers...not seeing the term prior to the 19th century

[PoD]

the only reference to nickers i could find from the period was in a play where someone gave a boy some money for nickers but nothing in the dialogue insinuated that it was underwear so still drawing a blank on that one.

[Capt. Sterling]

hmmmm, interesting... seeing mostly linen drawers with at least one mention of cotton flannel for late 18th century... still looking...not seeing nickers except for a sound a horse makes or someone who "nicks" people by cutting them....

[Capt. Sterling]

Hmmm all my books on undergarments always spell it with a K as it is an abbreviation of the term knickerbocker...and according to C. Willett & Phillis Cunnington, The History of Underclothes, Despite this, it is to the year 1879 that we owe the evocative "knickers" as a diminutive. page 108

[Capt. Sterling]

Montgomery has the following words for fabrics that come close to the ones you have listed...

Pintado "In 16th century Portuguese texts, the word applied to cheap block- printed cotton cloth made in India. But in the following century, the words pintado and chintz indicated the rich arborescent of floral cottons of fine quality mordant-painted and resist-dyed in India. From about the middle of the 17th century, explicit directions and actual patterns to appeal to the Western market were sent by East India Company Merchants to their agents. In 1657 an order was placed for "Chints or Pintadoes 1,000 pieces.... The 1660 London Book of Rates lists "Pintadoes or Callecoe cubbard clothes"... For the remainder of the century, sales in England for clothing and furnishing were enormous. Several laws were enacted for the protection of the English weaving industry, and in 1720 "The Use and Wearing in Apparel" of imported chintz, and also its "use or Wear in or about any Bed, Chair, Cushion, or other Household furniture" were prohibited... (unless you were selling to the colonies)... page 324

[Capt. Sterling]

Brawles: "A cheap blue and white striped cotton cloth, patterned in the loom, classified as a "guinea stuff'" These Indian cloths were copied by English weavers at the end of the 17th century. Saidder and Chiader brawles were among goods imported by the Dutch from the East Indies between 1686 and 1696. Wearing brawles was prohibited in England from about 1700...

You covered Nickanee, which could also be spelled Neconnee or nicconnee...

and interestingly enough, not seeing the term sheets at all in Montgomery....

Rumal or Romal : a handkerchief imported from India: a cover or decorative piece. Silk, cotton, and Serunge romals were prohibited in England at the end of the 17th century.

Interesting how a lot of what this fellow had was made illegal round about the time he died...does the book mention his background?

Did he hail from England or the colonies?

btw please keep coming up with these wonderful finds...

Edited October 12, 2011 by Capt. Sterling

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Will this help any?

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=739

Sorry, I'd like to stay and help but still not feeling well from my little hospital vacation. Good luck and I'll check back in the morning if I am able.

Bo

[PoD]

Interesting how a lot of what this fellow had was made illegal round about the time he died...does the book mention his background?

Did he hail from England or the colonies?

the book sumises that he was a professional seafarer and a man of some substance judging by the inventory of what he owned. It suggests that many of his items were goods he hoped to sell on his journey but hadn't managed too. He hadnt declared them to the customs officials at Dartmouth (the port they began their journey from) either so hadnt paid the 10% tax.

I imagine he hailed from England as the ship he was on, 'The Daniel and Henry' was from Exeter in the south of England.

I'd recommend the book if you can get hold of it as its full of loads of interesting information like ships cargos, exchange rates for gold, price of goods in different ports along with a reprinting of the log from the voyages themselves.

[Mission]

Flanning may mean Flannel material that was loosely woven, lightweight woolen with slight nap.

Muzling may mean Muslin which was a general name for the most delicately woven cotton fabrics, especially those used for ladies dresses, curtains, etc.

Based on spelling in the various books I have read from period and the context, this is almost certainly the case.

1 man Slave m'rked J:C

1 girl ditto m'rked J:C

I wonder what is marked? Is this referring to some kind of a document or is it branding or tattooing?

[PoD]

It says in the book it was branding. I bet the slaves were thankful he left his middle initial out.

[Fox]

the book sumises that he was a professional seafarer and a man of some substance judging by the inventory of what he owned.

Depending on what is meant by 'man of substance', that's quite a surmise to make. Based on the inventory, he doesn't seem any better off than any other typical merchant sea-officer of the time. The cloth products, lead, and wire were almost certainly private trade goods, but that was fairly normal. The list of clothes is comparable with the inventories of many other seamen, including foremastmen and petty officers.

The elephant tusks and slaves naturally wouldn't show up on any customs documents from Dartmouth as they'd have been acquired on the African coast. The cloth was probably overlooked because it was personal property rather than proper 'cargo'.

[PoD]

They say the clothes were nothing out of the ordinary too but seem to be basing the 'man of substance' title on the fact that he had the trade items (which they call a sizable venture?) and the 2 slaves.

[William Brand]

I envy the fellow for his books and instruments.

[PoD]

I am trying to get together the instruments for my navigation kit. I have some of them that were made by a certain knowledgeable fellow that hangs around this forum. I believe he goes by the name Foxe.

I should be reproducing Gunter Scales and Gunners Scales soon too so they wont be a problem to get either.

I have a copy of the Epitome, Practical Navigation and Seaman's Practice that I am in the process of reproducing.

I wonder what they mean by '1 pair Compasses'? I doubt they mean directional compasses but I could be wrong. Did navigators use the type of compass we use today for drawing arcs?

Edited October 13, 2011 by PoD