LibGuides: Primary Sources: Maritime history

Maritime history

Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window Explore five centuries (1420 - 1920) of journeys across the globe, scientific discoveries, the expansion of European colonialism, new trade routes, and conflict over territories. Featuring rare manuscript and early printed material, highly illustrated maps and documents, diaries and ships' logs from some of the most well-known voyages in history. Note: Scanned documents are in original language and have not been translated.
AveTransRisk This link opens in a new window Open Access database focusing on the average-transaction costs and risk management of maritime trade and navigation during the First Globalization (16th to 18th centuries). Find records on routes, vessels, masters and average. This resource has been created by the University of Exeter.
Bristol Shipping Records: Imports and Exports, 1770-1917 This link opens in a new window The Bristol Presentments are bills of entry derived from official sources, namely the reports and manifests of ships which docked in the port of Bristol. Bills cover either imports (usually foreign produce carried on foreign vessels) or exports (usually produced or manufactured in Britain and destined for foreign markets). Note: Some volumes are incomplete; 1829 and 1845 are missing.
British Mercantile Trade Statistics, 1662-1809 This link opens in a new window Documents relating to the colonial, economic, and maritime expansion of British naval and trade globally over 1662-1809.  Documents are image scans with no transcription.
Colonial Caribbean This link opens in a new window Stretching from Jamaica and the Bahamas to Trinidad and Tobago, Colonial Caribbean makes available materials from 27 Colonial Office file classes from The National Archives, UK. Covering the history of the various territories under British colonial governance from 1624 to 1870, this includes administrative documentation, trade and shipping records, minutes of council meetings, and details of plantation life, colonial settlement, imperial rivalries across the region, and the growing concern of absentee landlords.
Colonial State Papers‎ This link opens in a new window The Colonial State Papers offers access to over 7,000 hand-written documents and more than 40,000 bibliographic records with this incredible resource on Colonial History. In addition to Britain's colonial relations with the Americas and other European rivals for power, this collection also covers the Caribbean and Atlantic world. It is an invaluable resource for scholars of early American history, British colonial history, Caribbean history, maritime history, Atlantic trade, plantations, and slavery. Date range: 1574-1757
Global Commodities : trade, exploration and cultural exchange This link opens in a new window Full text access to primary sources documenting the trade of global commodities around the world from c1500 onwards.
Global Privateering This link opens in a new window An Open Access database related to the (premodern) capture of ships by privateers worldwide. The collection includes insights into serial historical data about shipping, trade, labour, property rights over war at sea, and formation of local, regional and global markets. Coverage spans from 1688 - 1714 (Nine Years War and War of Spanish Succession). Find data on the crews, the cargoes, the privateers, the auctions, and the relevant ports of departure and destination of most ships.  
Grand Tour This link opens in a new window Taking the phenomenon of the Grand Tour as a starting point, this resource explores the relationship between Britain and Europe from c.1550 to 1850, exploring the Anglo-European response to continental travel for pleasure, business and diplomacy.
History of International Law via HeinOnline This link opens in a new window Full text titles dating back to 1690 on international law. Subjects include: war & peace, Nuremberg Trials, law of the sea, international arbitration, Hague conferences and conventions.
Life at Sea This link opens in a new window Includes journals, memoirs, ships' logs, court records and many more documents from the Anglo-American maritime world, 1600-1900. Emphasis is on narrative content, with material drawn from both UK and US archives.
Liverpool Shipping Records: Imports and Exports, 1820-1900 - Part 1 This link opens in a new window This collection contains bills of entry derived from official sources, namely the reports and manifests of ships that docked in the port of Liverpool between 1820 and 1860. These bills are divided into two categories. The first contains details of imports and the second records exports.
Liverpool Shipping Records: Imports and Exports, 1820-1900 - Part 2 This link opens in a new window This collection contains bills of entry derived from official sources, namely the reports and manifests of ships that docked in the port of Liverpool between 1861 and 1870. These bills are divided into two categories. The first contains details of imports and the second records exports.
Liverpool Shipping Records: Imports and Exports, 1820-1900 - Part 3 This link opens in a new window This collection contains bills of entry derived from official sources, namely the reports and manifests of ships that docked in the port of Liverpool between 1871 and 1890. These bills are divided into two categories. The first contains details of imports and the second records exports.
Liverpool Shipping Records: Imports and Exports, 1820-1900 - Part 4 This link opens in a new window This collection contains bills of entry derived from official sources, namely the reports and manifests of ships that docked in the port of Liverpool between 1891 and 1900. These bills are divided into two categories. The first contains details of imports and the second records exports.
Power and Profit: British Colonial Trade in America and the Caribbean, 1678-1825 This link opens in a new window This collection is composed of British Naval Office shipping lists between the years of 1678 and 1825. Information includes names of vessels, names of home ports and colonies, details of the vessels' construction, the name of the owners, tonnage, number of guns carried, number of crew, and the cargo carried (including enslaved people as well as raw material).
Prison Ship Records from the War of 1812 This link opens in a new window Contains records from the British administered prisoner of war ships from this conflict. Records are from the ships and their corresponding ports, ranging from Plymouth to Barbados. Information provided includes the place of birth of prisoners, their health, and the port that their respective prison ships docked at.
Prize Papers Online 3 This link opens in a new window Interrogations of members of the crew of ships taken during the First, Second and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars (ca. 1652-1674) and the War of the Spanish Succession (ca. 1701-1733). Scanned images of original documents. No transcription.
Rasor Bibliography This link opens in a new window British naval and maritime history bibliography from 55 B.C. to present day.
Service Lists and Reports of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service and Whangpoo Conservancy Board This link opens in a new window This collection consists of the service lists (1887–1919) and the Woosung Bar Dredging Operations Progress Report (1890) of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, as well as reports produced by a related institution, the Whangpoo Conservancy Board.
WAVES; Records for the Asst. Chief; Naval Personnel for Women; 1942-1972 This link opens in a new window Records collected by the Assistant Chief of Naval Personnel for Women, offering women’s studies scholars and military historians an invaluable tool for researching the increasingly important role of women in the military.