A Background of the Setting Up of the Board of Trade : Proposal of Merchants of Bristol

Abstract

Most of the works studying the establishment of the Board of Trade have referred to John Cary and his fellow merchants of Bristol, for Cary's papers (BM. Add. MS., 5540) contain some correspondence of his about the matter with the M.P.s returned for Bristol. This article is an attempt to throw light on these letters against the constitutional and commercial background. In the late seventeenth century Bristol was the most prosperous seaport next to London. After the Revolution of 1688, however, their trade had suffered great losses by sttacks of the French privateers, the establishment of the Scottish East India Company and growing illegal plantation trade. Those losses caused them to request a new council of trade replacing the Lords of Trade, and Cary himself proposed a new one in his Essay on Trade. They wrote at once, therefore, to their M.P.s, when the Committee of Whole House of Commons voted a new council of December 12, 1695. In a series of letters they proposed such a council as consisted of no courtiers, the gentlemen nor Londoners but of members sent from an over the country speaking for their own local interests. As the proposal was very similar to the resolution of the C.W.H., the M.P.s should be expected to have introduced it to the House. Yet, in the replies from London there were no sign that thy took any positive action in the House. Both they and the merchants were, it should be noted, members of the Society of the Society of the Merchant Venturers and Whigs of Bristol. We must then make the causes clear that made the M.P.s inattentive to the proposal of the merchants at home. According to Prof. J.H. Plumb, the year 1694 is one of the great watersheds. From this time the Whigs became more conservative in constitutional principles, which brought about corruption, high cost of election and taxation against which the Tories and those uncommitted to any party had serious resentment. They also insisted on local interests against those of London, in which we can recognize the similarity to the proposal of merchants of Bristol. It meant compliance with the interests of the electorate for the M.P.s returned for Bristol to vote for the proposal of the C.W.H.,but at the same time it meant commitment to policies against the Whigs and the Crown. In a light of this political situation then prevailing, we can appreciate the inactiveness of the M.P.s about a new council.