416 Tradesman and Merchant — Commercial Population 



tion by classes on the bases heretofore suggested would be interesting 

 if data existed, but it is very fragmentary. In 1733 there were 

 30,000 tobacconists in Great Britain, an average of three in every 

 parish.^ About the same time there were said to be 200,000 ale- 

 houses and innkeepers who sold alcoholic beverages.- Out of 96,000 

 houses in London in 1732 Maitland found 16,000 were hostelries and 

 drinking places, while less than 5,000 were devoted to the sale of 

 provisions. The following table is made from his data:^ 



Breweries 171 Bakers 1,072 



Brandy Shops 8,659 Butchers 1,515 



Alehouses 5,975 Cheesemongers 411 



Taverns 447 Fishmongers 159 



Inns 207 Poulterers 217 



Coffee-houses 551 Herbstalls 1,214 



Total 16.010 Total 4,588 



In such western clothing towns as Trowbridge, Bradford and Mel- 

 sham, with populations of three thousand or less, there was an average 

 of about fifty clothiers in each in 1739.'' It was estimated in 1753 that 

 the Jews had nearly two-thirds of their money invested in commerce, 

 and one-third in money, and that they did one-twentieth part of the 

 foreign commerce of the nation, and the greatest part of the West 

 Indies trade. ^ 



THE COMMERCIAL POPULATION — ITS DISTRIBUTION. 



The mercantile population centered in London. Bristol was the 

 most extensive outport in commerce; Liverpool grew very fast during 

 this century, faster than Bristol, and was becoming the second port 

 after London. Each port of importance had its local celebrity of 

 commerce who especially interested himself in the industries at hand 

 in these places.^ Norwich manufactured a kind of cloth — worsteds — 

 especially destined for a foreign clientele; Yarmouth was interested in 

 fish, malt and coal, Hull in corn, Bristol in Irish and West Indian 

 products. But from very early times it could be granted to London 

 that "Here have their residence, the rich and most eminent merchants 



^ "The Late Excise Scheme Dissected," 78. 



^ Defoe, Com. Eng. Tr., II, 217. 



3 Maitland, II, 719; cf. 735. 



* Gent. Mag., 1739:205. 



'" ''Further Considerations on the Act," 16, 36, 42ff, 46-7. 



'' See Mantoux's treatment of this theme in his "Industrial Revolution," 88. 



