214 Animal aiid Animal Products Trades 



The selling "salesmen" were employed by fishermen or fish- 

 merchants living in the north coast ports. These merchants employed 

 between one and five factors each, depending on the quantity of fish 

 they sold. They sometines speciaHzed in the sale of a particular 

 kind of fish. They did not do all the selling at Billingsgate; some 

 fishermen and some fishmongers continued to sell wholesale there. 

 In 1760 there were between twenty and thirty factors and they simply 

 sold for others; but in the decades following, they became part owners 

 of fishing boats and exercised some control over their fishermen prin- 

 cipals. 



The salesmen occupied stalls for which the\' paid the owners some 

 rental. The fish were placed on forms about eight feet long in bas- 

 kets; some were in open air, some were covered. Lists detailing the 

 numbers of fish and their qualities, according to the bills of lading 

 in the hands of the salesmen, were posted, in conformity with the 

 law, so that the buyers might be apprized of the quantity in the 

 market. A system of higgling or auction was used in the sale; it was 

 highly competitive; the fish were sold in parcels of dift'erent sizes so as 

 to accommodate various customers; large lots were sold first, and the 

 salesmen aimed at keeping the price about the same all morning. 

 The buyers were the retailers and wholesalers, both of London and 

 nearby towns, and consumers. Some bought from the salesmen and, 

 at the close of the salesmen's sales, retailed them out in the same mar- 

 ket. The salesmen sometimes bought for the retailer and wholesaler. 

 It was alleged in 1760 that several fishmongers agreed upon one factor 

 and had him buy a large quantity of fish for them in conjunction; 

 they then divided up this bulk by lot among themselves or in parcels 

 as they thought best. In this way they reduced competition and 

 were able to realize better returns. It also gave them the economies 

 and advantages of large buying.^ 



The merchants who exported fish to the Mediterranean and other 

 foreign parts were prominent citizens in some fishing towns.- An- 

 other class bought catches on the Flanders and Callise coasts, and 

 brought them to England for sale.^ Their operations dift'ered little 

 from those of other more general merchants. 



'Gent. Mag. 1760:255. 



2 Instance Bridport in Dorset, V. C. H., Dorset, II, 348, .S56; cf. \. C. H.. (nm- 

 wall, I, 583. 



'Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. XIII, App. IV. 18; V. C. H., .Sussex, II, 267. 



