INDUSTRIES 



De duabus salinis nuper LioncIIi Bell nichel, quia 

 in manu domini Nee respondetdc ij salinis juxta Jarowe 

 causa praedicta." 



Eighteen years later another entry occurs re- 

 ferring to the same subject : 



Sed respondet de xiiij/; vij/ recepta de viij salinis 

 super aquam de Tyne nuper magistro de Jarowe ad 

 solvendam pensiones trium confratrum viz. Jarow, 

 Wermouth et Farn Et solutio bursario Dunclm. pro 

 libera firma salinarum vlj/.'" 



From 1530 to 1537 the monks at Dur- 

 ham seem to have relied chiefly upon Shields for 

 their supply of salt, Willelmus Walshe, capellanus 

 de Sheyles, Robertus Kare, et Relicta Taylyor 

 being the chief vendors."' 



A curious feature of the salt industry is the 

 persistent appearance of women as owners or 

 workers of salt-pans. In 1580 a widow Bow- 

 maker pays a rent of ^^2 131. 413'. for salt-pans at 

 South Shields.^^ Another widow had a salt-pan 

 at South Sliields at the same time ; a bill for the 

 repairs of it is still extant. 



Sexto Junii A° dni I 580. 



ffor spanishe and englisshe lerne bought 

 at Newcastell for balkes and hemp- 

 stottes for a salt pan at South Sheles 

 rent by yere o xlvi*^' viii''' letten by 

 lease to one vvidowc car & for work- 

 manship thereof and ekynge & amed- 

 inge [sic) fyve of the old balkes 



ffirst to georgc ffarnabie marchant for^ 

 foure scoore two stone & thre pounds V 

 of spaiiysshe lernc after xix"*' the stone j 



Itm to george whltfeld m'chaunt for 



"i : ill : stoones and iiii : pounds of 



brode englisshe lerne after xvii'^' the 



stone 

 To Symonde waughe for workinge all 



the said spanisshe lerne in foure new 



balkes except : viii : stones & one 



poundewch balkes vveyed : " : xlii : 



stones & one pound at iiii''' a stone 



workmanship 



To the seyd waughe for mendynge and\ 

 new workinge fyve of the old balkes, 

 whereto he occupyed the seyd reme- 

 n^'nt of the newe lerne & moste of 

 the old lern wch v balkes weyed ; 

 " : XV : stones & viii pounds at iii''' 

 a stone workmanship 



To Robert Trewthwayt for workingeN 



the sayd englisshe lerne, and pte of s. d. 



the old lerne in the four hemstotts \. xxx iiii 



wch hemstotts weyeth " & xi stones 

 after iiii''' the stone 



" Compoti Domus de 'Jarow, 1 500 (Surtees Soc. xxix). 



'"Ibid. 1518. 



'^ Dur. Household Bk. (Surtees Soc. xviii), 1530, 

 1533-4 ; Dm: Acct. R. (Surtees Soc. ciii), 1536-7. 



^' ' A Book of Surveighe,' printed in the Dur. Hal. 

 R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii). 



Itm for carynge of the sayd lerne to andN 



fro both to Newcast : & westowe, .^ ''• 



\, IX X 



and backe again after yt was wroughte f 

 to the pan where yt remaneth ) 



ffor two dayes that I went the second"! ^ ^ 



tyme abowte the seyd pan my owne > ii iiii 



charges & hire of a horse & horse meat) 



Sma 0/ xvi'' xlii'"' x'*' 



Sold to the sayd Symonde waughe the\ 



old lerne that remaned unoccupied 



weyinge xxvii stoones & :x : pounds ''' ^. ''• 



V XV xiii V 

 at ix**' a stoone wch deduct owte off 



the secunde some the some remayn- I 

 inge wch is the chairge / 



Tobias Matthew Dec 

 Ricardi 

 Johnsonn " 



At the opening of the seventeenth century the 

 suggestion that an official measurer for salt should 

 be appointed roused the northern salt-makers to 

 vehement protest. They drew up a description 

 of the salt trade in Durham and Northumberland 

 which is full of interesting details.^' The salt 

 produced by the two counties amounted to about 

 7,650 weys annually, 430 workmen were em- 

 ployed at the pans, the coal used in heating the 

 pans was brought chiefly by water, 120 keelmcn 

 being employed, but cadgers and wainmen also 

 brought coals where there was difficulty in get- 

 ting coal by water. Salt-making does not appear 

 to have been a very profitable investment. The 

 owner supplied the coals, which for one pan cost 

 ^42 1 35. 4.d. In return for this the worker 

 delivered to the owner forty weys of salt, which 

 if sold at 25^. the wey, ' communibus annis 

 yealdeth the owner ^50.'^* The annual yield of 

 a pan being fifty weys, the salt-maker only gains 

 ten weys, or ^^12 los. for his yearly wage from 

 each pan. But the owner's ;^50 was not all 

 gain ; from that had to be deducted a rent of los. 

 per annum,"' and wear and tear of pans and im- 

 plements, £4.. The initial expenses too were 

 large ; each pan cost ^^lOO,^' then the owner had 

 to provide keels and keep a stock of coal, so that 

 allowing for the fact that the statements are of 

 an ex parte nature, possibly those who drew up 

 the account were not far from a true estimate 

 in stating ' that the owner receiveth for everie 

 pann singulis annis but only 56;. 8(/.' As the 



" MS. in Dur. Treas. in a bundle of miscellaneous 

 bills, sixteenth century. 



" Duke of Northumberland's MSS. Syon House, 

 Collectanea Warburtoniana. 'A true narrative of the 

 Trade and State of Salters and Saltmaking upon the 

 Sea Coste in the Countyes of Durham and Northum- 

 berland, c. 1605.' 



''' Duke of Northumberland's MSS. same date s.ays, 

 ' From the first of December until the 15th of April 

 a waye of s.alt is commonly sold for 20s. and 22/.' 



'° Dur. Treas. Rentals. 



" Sir William Brereton, bart., Notes of a Journey 

 through Dur. and Norlhumb. in the year 1635, Chet. 

 Soc. I ; MS. in private library. 



295 



