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| A Spirit of Adventure |
| Yorkshire Traders in America - Part 1 |
| The classic picture of the early Yorkshire textile industry was of thousands of rural clothiers making one or two cloths a week and then taking them, unfinished, and even undyed, to the cloth markets of Leeds, Halifax and Huddersfield. |
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At the cloth markets merchants bought the
cloths, finished them, or had them finished and then sent them
to London or abroad to fulfil orders and consignments. Some clothiers began to employ a number of cloth-makers and so could present many cloths at market. On the other side of the table, some merchants side-stepped the markets and gave orders, for cloths, direct to the clothiers. In time some of the larger clothiers began to have their cloths finished and then, side-stepping the merchants, sold them directly to the buyers of finished cloths. Some merchants, not content with buying at market sought to organise their own group of cloth makers. Thus, merchants and cloth makers were heading for the same goal, but in different directions. |
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The 18th century saw many improvements in the cloth manufacturing industry…. 1733 John Kay invents the flying shuttle ….. each innovation paved the way for cloth production to be centralised and the number of clothier-merchants and merchant-clothiers to increase rapidly. |
| America was the best single external market for British fabrics. In 1772, the thirteen colonies bought about a fifth of the cloths, woollen and worsted, exported from Britain. The American Revolution caused a slight dip, as one would expect, but by 1790, the American markets took thirty per cent of production rising to forty per cent in 1800. |
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Not unexpectedly, for such a lucrative market,
the leading American ports had large contingents of British merchants
and their representatives. Groups from Scotland, London and Lancashire were represented but it was the West Riding community that lasted longest, attracted the most attention, and made some important contributions to the commercial and shipping development of New York City. |
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The American market could be tapped in at
least three ways; consign your goods to an agent; consign your
goods to an auctioneer for them to be sold at public auction;
send a partner of your business to America to push the sale of
your goods in any way possible. The first two options suited the smaller producer but the third offered the most potential for those capable of funding such an enterprise |
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One such enterprising producer was George
Crowther. In the early 1770s George, in partnership with an Obadiah Porritt, was at Poplar Farm in Gomersal, just outside Leeds. From this centre, he took cloths to the Leeds White Cloth Hall where he traded with local merchants as well as those from London and Scotland. However, George was not content to just attend the cloth markets in Leeds. He also travelled to the main distribution centres, London, Liverpool and Glasgow, and got his name known to the exporters. He also had a commercial traveller showing samples and soliciting custom. George opened a bank account in London, for credibility purposes, and used any means possible to sell his wares. |
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George had two brothers, William and Benjamin.
William worked in the office of a London banker and spent some
of his free time drumming up a little business here and there
for the family business. Orders via William were spasmodic and,
occasionally, financially unfortunate. Benjamin, on the other
hand, was, potentially, a major asset. Benjamin's task was to travel the bad roads and lodge in the cheapest inns in the north of England and southern Scotland. He frequently visited Glasgow, and that city's out-port of Greenock. It was at Greenock that Benjamin met George Parker. |
| Parker was a Scot. In the mid 1700s, a steady stream of Scots had emigrated to America, especially to North Carolina and Virginia. These settlers naturally traded with Glasgow/Greenock. Large areas of coastal plains in North Carolina were covered with pitch-pine trees from which naval commodities, turpentine, rosin tar and pitch were harvested. In the interior was an abundance of deer and wild animals from which pelts came. In Virginia, famously, the staple crop was tobacco. |
| Two of Parker's brothers ran the family business from Glasgow whilst George travelled to North Carolina. His house, and family, were in Wilmington, a chief port of the colony. |
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Parker and Crowther became friendly and Parker
offered to take Crowther with him to America and show him the
methods of transatlantic trade. An agreement was duly drawn up
by which Crowther was to serve Parker for two years, receiving,
in return, sufficient food and drink, washing and lodging, a
small wage, and a thorough training in American commercial methods. In addition, Crowther could take with him goods belonging to his brother and any other Gomersal producers who wished to consign their goods to his care. |
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In March 1772 pupil and master set sail from
Leith. Crowther had been entrusted with bales of cloth from his
brother and from at least one other Gomersal trading firm, Walker
and Frost. Thetwo men landed at Boston in April. Crowther seems
to have been undaunted by the voyage but was very upset by the
behaviour of the crew, 'You can seldom hear one sentence without the introduction of an oath.' |
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Benjamin found trading in Boston difficult. A disagreement between the British government
and the colonists on taxation issues had led to the enactment,
in 1765, of the Stamp Act. This measure imposed excise duty on
a wide range of legal documents. Doubts in London led to Baron
Camden, in the House of Lords, declaring,'…The British Parliament
has no right to tax the Americans, taxation and representation
are inseparably united.' A statement that would provide a useful
'sound-bite' in the time to come. |
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Benjamin was left alone to travel to Wilmington.
He was to take his unsold cloths with him, together with some
negro slaves belonging to Parker. On his arrival at Wilmington
he was to let or sell Parker's estate. In February 1773 Benjamin wrote, 'I should not now be the least afraid of going to the most distant part of the known world, provid'd that the business call'd me.' |
| In Wilmington things were little better but he did succeed in getting rid of Walker and Frost's cloths by swapping them for,'24 gallons of old Jamaica rum, 18 pounds of very fine Spanish indigo, 50 pounds of Carolina indigo and 8 very large deerskins.' Benjamin headed back to Boston and boarded one of Parker's ships. |
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Benjamin's first adventure in the New World
was far from over. The long voyage home ended abruptly when the
ship piled itself, in the dead of night, on the shore of an island
in the Orkneys. Eight weeks passed before a ship came to the
island and it was not until December 1773 that Benjamin returned
to Leith. The cargo was salvaged and everyone concerned made
a small profit. In the spring of 1774 Benjamin Crowther was off again to America. |
| Benjamin was in North Carolina when the storm broke. He had managed to get a cargo of goods into the colony just two days before a ban on British imports took effect. He left the mainland during the Revolution and from 1775 onwards his letters back home came from the Madeiras, Jamaica, Antigua, Granada and the Honduras. |
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When the Revolution ended there was the debris
of old debts and many business contacts to re-establish. Samuel
Elam, the most active exporter to America in Leeds, had seventeen
colonial creditors in 1775. Of these, four managed to pay him
in full by 1777; by 1784 four more had managed to pay nearly
all they owed, two more had paid over half, six less than half
and one could pay nothing. The debts remained on the creditors
books until cleared and interest was added to them. On occasion the Yorkshire merchants appointed an American agent to whom power of attorney was given to retrieve as much as possible. |
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For instance, in 1784 Leeds merchants, William
Smithson and Richard Greaves had asked a New York merchant to
look after their pre-Revolution debts. One debt, originally for 1152 pounds (Sterling) worth of cloths supplied in 1774 had grown, thanks to simple interest, to 1744 pounds (Sterling). Smithson & Greaves left the agent free to, ' insist upon or desist from this claim (for interest) or compound it as you judge best, being sensible that it would be a hardship to expect it in all cases.' |
| Many of the American importers had been paid in paper currency, which was now worthless, others were unable to be contacted, their whereabouts unknown (and presumably their welfare), others, who had been Loyalist during the conflict, suffered so severely that no payment was possible at all. Slowly the situation was resolved by default or compromise. |
| With the markets now clear of imperial restraint the future held compensating promise. American and Briton entered into every kind of business relationship. Partners came from both sides of the Atlantic and took up residence. Some of the English commercial immigrants had considerable financial resources of capital but large funds were not absolutely necessary for those with energy and spirit. |
| In the latter half of the 18th century the import duties were favourable to those who traded 'on a shoestring'. Low tariffs, and at least 8 months to pay the taxman, allowed the merchant to receive payment well in advance of the customs departments demands. |
| The future looked good………. |
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