Middlemen in English Business 219 



strapped tracks was introduced, also about 1700. For these various 

 reasons Whitehaven came to rank second among the coal regions of the 

 kingdom.^ 



The counties of Devon, Somerset, Dorset, and others burned onl}- 

 coal from Carmarthen, Pembroke, and other parts of South Wales, 

 most of which was shipped from Swansea and Milford Haven.- 



The Humber River coal trade was also a growth of the eighteenth 

 century, and it furthered and was furthered by the rise of the manu- 

 facturing cities in the Northern district,^ by the opening of the Trent, 

 Calder and other rivers to navigation, and by the export tax* laid on 

 sea-coal but not on river-borne coal in 1713. Derbyshire and Not- 

 tingham had considerable coal areas but the difficulties of carriage 

 confined their product to local markets^ i.e., in the midland counties. 

 Attempts were made to market Derbyshire coal in London via Hull 

 but they were unsuccessful until roads' improvements had come.*" 

 Nottingham coal was distributed by loaded asses a,nd coal carts." 

 Every summer coal carts came from the neighboring counties bringing 

 corn and carried back in exchange coal from the mines of WoUaton 

 and Selston.^ Coal became the most important item of export from 

 this county during the eighteenth century.^ The towns on the Hum- 

 ber, Ouse, Trent, Aire, Calder and Hull were supplied by boats from 

 the inland counties of Derby and Nottingham, by the Trent, and 

 from Wakefield, by the Calder. These boats went as far as York on 

 the Ouse and this city acted as distributor to the others not passed. 

 The cost of this down-river traffic from the pit to York caused the 

 difference of about seven pence per bushel in the price of coal at the 

 two places. Besides what came by these boats the towns were sup- 

 plied with coal from Durham brought by "paniermen." They 

 carried it in "paniers'' on horseback.^" Pococke states that a horse- 



^ See V. C. H., Cumberland, II, 359-62, for fuller description. 



2"Essai surl'etat," 110, 122; Postlethwayt, Diet., s. v. Coal. 



3 Descriptions of this traffic are given in Postlethwayt, Diet. s. w Coal; Defoe, 

 Com. Eng. Tr., II, 171-2; Tour, III, 93-4. 



^ 12 Anne, Stat. 2, Cap. 9, Sec. 9; 6 Geo. I, Cap. 4, Sec. 1. 



' V. C. H., Derby, II, 352-3. 



'' Gent. Mag. 1766, Feb. 



' V. C. H., Nott. II, 296; .\dd. i\ISS. 18,552. 



' Cal. S. P. Dom. 1619-23, p. 130; 1631-3, p. 18; S. P. Dom. Chas. I, CLXXXIX, 

 12; Jas. I, CXL. 10; V. C. H., Nott. II, 283. 



' Deering, Vetus Nottinghamia, 92. 



'» V. C. H., York II, 340. 



