MARKET TOWNS OF MIDDLESEX (from SDUK Penny Cyclopedia)

London in 1839 Part Ten - Trade, Post, Steam Vessels Trade, &c :- The accidental burning of the Custom House of London, in February, 1814, in which the greater part of the trade records of the port and kingdom were destroyed, renders it impossible to give a complete account of the commerce of the metropolis for any preceding period. The relative proportion of the foreign and colonial trade enjoyed by its merchants during the present century will be sufficiently shown by the following statement of the net amount of customs duty, collected at different times from the year 1815, in London and in all the various ports of the United Kingdom, including London :- Year London United Kingdom 1815 £5,536,441 £10,521,551 1820 £5,342,731 £9,837,279 1824 £5,731,238 £11,327,741 1826 £8,829,789 £17,280,711 1827 £8,790,829 £17,894,405 1828 £8,918,310 £19,295,403 1829 £8,524,261 £18,129,615 1830 £8,576,163 £19,360,750 1831 £7,916,993 £18,124,725 1832 £7,876,660 £18,341,188 1833 £7,662,521 £17,597,697 1834 £9,576,972 £18,494,316 1835 £10,601,600 £20,522,895 1836 £11,088,207 £21,448,741 1837 £10,190,006 £20,556,559 It appears from these figures, which are taken from official returns, that the payments into the Exchequer by the Custom House of London amount to as much as the net receipts of all the other custom-houses in Great Britain and Ireland. It was expected that the opening of the China trade, and the consequent participation of other ports in the tea trade, which had previously been monopolized by London, would have considerably altered the above proportions ; but it will be seen that such has not been the result : in fact, the buyers of this article of general consumption still resort to London as the market in which they can select their purchases to the greatest advantage. The number of ships, with the amount of tonnage, that have frequented the port, give a better idea of the actual amount of its trade than is afforded by revenue accounts, which must vary with the fiscal regulations of the country, and which exclude altogether goods that enter the port and are re-exported or sent coastwise under bond to other ports in the kingdom. The shipping that cleared outwards to foreign parts in 1753 consisted of :- Ships Tons British 1,219 153,969 Foreign 150 26,281 TOTAL 1,369 180,250 In 1792 the trade was more than double what it in 1753. The clearances from the port were in that year:- Ships Tons British 1,078 310,724 Foreign 504 88,325 TOTAL 1,582 399,049 The shipping belonging to the port in the same year (1792) was :- 1109 ships under 200 tons burthen 94,952 tons 368 ships between 200 and 300 tons burthen 91,157 tons 268 ships between 300 and 500 tons burthen 92,970 tons 24 ships between 500 and 750 tons burthen 13,984 Indiamen 81,160 TOTAL TONNAGE 374,223 The number and tonnage of vessels, British and foreign,  that entered the port from foreign parts in each year from 1820 to 1837, will show how greatly its foreign commerce has increased during the last half century :- British Foreign Total Years Ships Tons Ships Tons Ships Tons 1820 3,354 655,239 856 122,619 4,210 777,858 1821 3,000 585,994 571 89,073 3,571 675,067 1822 3,230 603,167 597 106,099 3,827 709,266 1823 3,031 611,451 865 161,705 3,896 773,156 1824 3,132 607,106 1,643 264,098 4,775 871,204 1825 3,989 785,565 1,743 302,122 5,732 1,087,687 1826 3,495 675,026 1,586 215,254 5,081 890,280 1827 4,012 769,102 1,534 221,008 5,546 990,110 1828 4,084 767,212 1,303 195,929 5,387 963,141 1829 4,108 784,070 1,300 215,605 5,408 999,675 1830 3,910 744,229 1,268 207,500 5,178 951,729 1831 4,140 780,988 1,557 269,159 5,697 1,050,147 1832 3,274 640,057 886 154,514 4,160 794,571 1833 3,421 678,289 1,061 175,883 4,482 854,172 1834 3,786 735,693 1,280 216,063 5,066 951,756 1835 3,780 740,255 1,057 188,893 4,837 929,148 1836 3,845 772,046 1,465 255,875 5,310 1,027,921 1837 4,079 821,788 1,547 240,135 5,626 1,061,923 The number and tonnage of ships that cleared out from London to different parts of the world in each year from 1831 to 1837 have been as follows :- Going to : 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 United States of America 95 33,026 91 31,603 87 31,403 96 35,206 95 36,771 108 45,027 79 36,231 British N. Amer. Colonies 243 75,905 215 65,016 219 65,753 254 75,693 282 89,089 256 82,578 220 72,060 Cape of Good Hope 25 5,012 29 6,131 28 5,638 36 7,097 26 5,242 47 10,291 45 9,867 Australian Colonies 65 24,008 73 25,964 67 21,502 74 24,576 84 30,056 91 32,202 100 36,464 Other parts 4,184 788,174 3,259 722,124 3,383 639,864 3,707 684,479 3,489 667,243 3,906 749,467 4,016 748,300 TOTALS 4,612 926,125 3,667 850,838 3,784 764,163 4,167 827,051 3,976 828,401 4,408 919,565 4,460 902,922 The above figures exhibit an amount of activity in the prosecution of foreign trade wholly without a parallel, but these numbers are far exceeded by the coasting trade of the port. The number and tonnage of coasting vessels that entered London from other parts of the United Kingdom, distinguishing those engaged in the trade with Ireland, during the six years from 1833 to 1838, were as under :- General Coasters inc. Colliers Irish Traders Total Ships Tons Ships Tons Ships Tons 1833 18,242 2,368,653 1,094 148,568 19,336 2,517,221 1834 19,026 2,445,895 1,043 147,962 20,069 2,593,857 1835 19,308 2,604,906 1,163 160,076 20,471 2,764,982 1836 19,717 2,656,869 1,048 154,009 20,765 2,810,878 1837 20,201 2,743,854 1,121 167,882 21,322 2,911,736 1838 20,333 2,727,741 1,259 180,435 21,592 2,908,176 It is not possible to form any reasonable estimate of the quantity of merchandise brought by canal and by land-carriage to London or which is by the same means conveyed thence to the interior of the kingdom, but it must be very great. There is not a town or village of any note in the midland districts which does not keep up a constant commercial intercourse with the metropolis by means of boats or waggons or both, but nothing is known concerning the quantity of goods transported. It would be easy for the proprietors of canals to give an account of their traffic, but all information of this kind is systematically withheld, probably through the fear of exciting competition. The value of foreign and colonial produce and merchandise constantly in the warehouses of the great docks is very great, but as no accurate account of the quantities remaining has been taken at any time since the commencement of the warehousing system, it is not possible to give any more definite information on the subject. The amount of postages collected in London in each year from 1832 to 1837 was as follows:- 1832 £632,696 1833 £642,871 1834 £660,411 1835 £664,189 1836 £692,509 1837 £697,567 During this time there has been no increase in the rate of postage, and the progressive increase in the amount collected is probably not more than equivalent to the increase of inhabitants. The above sums form between a fourth and a third part of the gross produce of the post-office duty in the United Kingdom. The post communications between London and various parts of the United Kingdom have been greatly accelerated by means of the different lines of railway already opened, and as the system is extended, greater improvements in this respect will of course be realized. At present the letter-bags which leave London at eight o'clock in the evening arrive at Edinburgh early on the second morning. Letters for Liverpool despatched at the same time are delivered by eleven o'clock the following morning. Steam Vessels :- There is no port in the kingdom which has profited more than London through the application of steam to navigation. A great part of the steam-vessels that arrive and depart carry passengers only, and are therefore not required to make entry at the custom-house, and with regard to such as carry goods no distinction is made at the custom-house between them and sailing-vessels, for which reasons no accurate account of the number of this class of ships that enter and leave the port can be given. Steam passage-boats are passing and re-passing at all hours during the day between London and Greenwich and Woolwich, and others start every quarter of an hour during the day from London Bridge and Westminster. To Gravesend boats go at various times during the day, and in the summer there are several departures and arrivals every day to and from Margate and Ramsgate. Between London and Calais, Boulogne, Antwerp, and Rotterdam steam-vessels are passing almost daily in summer and frequently in winter. With various ports in England, Scotland, and Ireland, a constant intercourse is kept up in the same manner.