The Maritime Britain Database

What It Contains and How to Use It

About the Database

The Maritime Britain Database is an open-access resource for exploring English and British shipping, maritime communities and seaborne trade between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Created by the University of Southampton's Maritime Britain project, it brings together hundreds of thousands of voyage records alongside information about ships, shipmasters, mariners, merchants, commodities and maritime and military musters.

Rather than reproducing a single historical source, the database combines evidence drawn from many archival series, published editions and existing scholarly datasets. Users can investigate ships and voyages, people and places, commodities and trade, muster records, and the first Lloyd's Register Book. Interactive maps allow users to explore many search results geographically.

Which search should I use?

If you want to find...	Use...
A named mariner, master, merchant, vessel or place	People, Places and Ships
A journey between places	Voyages
A commodity or category of goods	Commerce
A person recorded in a muster	Musters
A vessel, owner or master in the first Register Book	Lloyd's Register

Using and citing the database

The database is free to use under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). When using the database, please cite:

Lambert, C. and McAleer, J., Maritime Britain Database, c.1550–c.1750. University of Southampton, 2025. DOI: 10.5258/geodata.dh.cl1.

Sources in the Database

The database draws on a wide documentary landscape. Principal source types include customs accounts and port books, ships' passes, government ship surveys, Seamen's Sixpence records, Letters of Marque, naval and military musters, CUST 2 Inspector General's Accounts, Colonial Office shipping returns, British Library shipping surveys and returns, and other administrative and maritime records.

Different sources were created for different purposes and preserve different kinds of information. A port book may record a ship, master, home port, origin, destination and cargo; a ship survey may describe the size and distribution of the merchant fleet; a muster may identify individuals but record no voyage; and trade summaries may contain commodity information without ship-level detail. Blank fields therefore do not automatically mean that something did not exist: the information may simply not have been recorded in the underlying source.

Published editions and existing datasets

Maritime Britain also incorporates material derived from published editions, earlier scholarly databases and open digital resources. The project gratefully acknowledges the scholarship and data creation on which these parts of the database depend. Principal resources used include:

G. Alan Metters (ed.), The King's Lynn Port Books, 1610–1614, Norfolk Record Society, 73 (2009).
Wendy R. Childs (ed.), The Customs Accounts of Hull, 1453–1490, Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series, 145 (Leeds, 1986).
J. F. Wade (ed.), The Customs Accounts of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1454–1500, Surtees Society, 202 (Gateshead, 1995).
E. A. Lewis (ed.), The Welsh Port Books (1550–1603) (Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1927).
R. W. K. Hinton (ed.), The Port Books of Boston, 1601–1640, Lincoln Record Society, 50 (1956).
Susan Flavin and Evan T. Jones (eds), Bristol's Trade with Ireland and the Continent, 1503–1601: The Evidence of the Exchequer Customs Accounts, Bristol Record Society, 61 (2009).
Margaret M. Condon and Evan T. Jones (eds), Bristol 'Particular' Customs Account Transcriptions (University of Bristol, 2016–2023), created as part of the Cabot Project.
Constance Mary Fraser (ed.), Newcastle Upon Tyne Chamberlains’ Accounts, 1508–1511, Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1987).
R. J. Hunter (ed.), The Ulster Port Books, 1612–15, prepared for publication by Brendan Scott (Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2012).

This is not intended to be a comprehensive bibliography of published customs accounts. Users seeking a wider guide should consult the Medieval and Early Modern Port Books (MEMP) project's 'Editions of Particular Accounts': https://memp.ace.fordham.edu/editions-of-particular-accounts/

Gloucester Port Books

Maritime Britain incorporates data from M. D. G. Wanklyn, P. Wakelin, D. Hussey and G. Milne, Gloucester Port Books, 1575–1765, an ESRC-funded project undertaken at the University of Wolverhampton and deposited with the UK Data Archive (UK Data Service Study Number 3218). Dr David Hussey kindly granted permission to incorporate the Gloucester coastal port-book data into Maritime Britain.

Dataset citation: Wanklyn, M. D. G., Wakelin, P., Hussey, D. and Milne, G., Gloucester Port Books, 1575–1765 [data collection]. UK Data Service, Study Number 3218. DOI: 10.5255/UKDA-SN-3218-1.

The majority of the Gloucester port-book records in Maritime Britain, particularly those relating to coastal trade, derive from the Gloucester Port Books dataset created by the University of Wolverhampton project. Gloucester ships and voyages may also appear in other sources incorporated into Maritime Britain, including records from other archival series such as TNA, E 122.

References inherited from the Gloucester Port Books dataset reproduce the referencing system used by the original project and do not include the E 190/ prefix normally used in The National Archives catalogue. A port-book reference displayed in this abbreviated numerical form should therefore be understood as deriving from the Gloucester dataset.

For example, a reference displayed as 1129/15/04/22 relates to the original port book TNA, E 190/1129/15. The final elements, 04/22, identify the location within that manuscript where the relevant voyage, ship or master was recorded, as supplied in the Gloucester dataset.

Researchers wishing to consult the original manuscript should therefore use E 190/1129/15 as the relevant TNA document reference, while retaining the additional numbers given in Maritime Britain to help locate the particular entry within the volume.

Researcher-generated and AI-generated data

Maritime Britain has been created using a combination of traditional historical research and artificial intelligence. The Source status field allows users to distinguish records entered or compiled by researchers from records produced through AI-assisted transcription and data extraction.

AI has enabled the project to process bodies of historical evidence on a scale that would otherwise have been impossible, but AI-generated records should not be treated as verified transcriptions of the original documents. Historical handwriting, abbreviations, damaged text, variant spellings, and ambiguous names and places can all introduce errors. Researchers using an individual AI-generated record as evidence are strongly encouraged to verify important information against the original historical source, using the supplied source reference wherever possible.

Researcher-generated records are likewise subject to the usual risks of transcription, interpretation and data-entry errors. The Source status field is intended to make data provenance transparent and to help users judge the appropriate level of verification for their research.

How to Search the Database

The website offers several complementary search interfaces. They do not all search the same underlying datasets, as different historical sources contain different types of information. You can generally combine searches, and refine results using filters and selectable table columns.

1. Search People, Places and Ships

This search provides a single point of access to fourteen datasets containing information about named people, vessels and geographical places. Lloyd's Register is not included in this combined search and has its own dedicated interface.

Searching by date, person, ship or place

Users can search by year range, person name, ship name and place. Person and ship searches provide three matching options: names beginning with the entered value, names containing the entered value, and exact matches. The 'contains' option is particularly useful for exploratory searches and for historical spelling variations. For example, entering 'Sm' can reveal names containing those letters, while entering 'Johnson' returns records whose name contains 'Johnson'.

The same principle applies to ship names. Because ship names were frequently reused, a matching name should not by itself be assumed to identify the same physical vessel. Compare dates, masters, home ports, tonnage, and other available information.

Results and full records

Results can display Person name, Person role, Ship, Place, Year, Source status and Source reference. The Select Columns control determines which fields are visible, and boxes beneath the column headings allow further filtering. Very broad searches may return more records than can be displayed at once; the total number of matches is shown separately.

Selecting View details in the Source reference column opens the fuller database entry. Depending on the source, this may include ship name, tonnage, home port, master, voyage origin and destination, source details and other information.

Mapping results

The Map tab plots geographical locations associated with the current results. Mapping is available for person, ship and place searches where suitable geographical information exists. Clicking a pin opens the matching records for that location and provides access to View details. The map visualises geographical associations in the surviving records; it should not be automatically interpreted as a reconstruction of a complete voyage or an individual's complete movements.

2. Search Voyages

Search Voyages draws on ten datasets containing voyage information. Sources such as musters are excluded because they may record people, ships and places without recording a voyage.

Searching voyage records

Voyages can be searched by year range, home port, voyage origin, voyage destination, Search all places, master name and ship name. Search all places provides the broadest geographical search by retrieving records in which the selected place appears as a home port, origin or destination. Master and ship names use the same begins-with, contains and exact-match options as the People, Places and Ships search.

Voyage results

The results table can display Master name, Ship, Home port, Voyage origin, Voyage destination, Tonnage, Year, Source status and Source reference. Select Columns and column filters allow you to narrow broad result sets. View voyage details opens the full record and its source information.

Voyage maps

Four map views offer distinct analytical perspectives. Map – home port plots the recorded home ports of vessels; Map – voyage origin plots departure points; Map – voyage destination plots destinations; and Map – voyages connects origins and destinations to visualise maritime movements. Clicking a mapped place opens the underlying records, allowing the user to move directly from a geographical pattern to the historical evidence.

Map totals may be lower than the overall search total because not every database record contains the relevant geographical information required for a particular map.

3. Search Commerce

The Commerce search allows users to investigate commodities and commercial activity by Port, Category, Sub-category, Commodity and Year range. These fields can be combined to move from broad questions to highly focused searches.

Categories, sub-categories and commodities

Commodities are organised hierarchically. Categories provide broad master groups such as clothing, household goods, apothecary, livestock and military. A sub-category can only be selected after a main category has been chosen; for example, Clothing provides sub-categories such as belts, footwear, gloves and stockings. The results preserve the individual historical commodity descriptions within those broader classifications.

Users who already know the commodity they want can bypass the classification hierarchy and search directly in the Commodity field. Date searches can be used independently or combined with port, category, sub-category or commodity criteria.

Commerce results and mapping

Results can display Tradeport, Commodity, Category, Sub-category, Year From, Year To, Voyage Type, Commodity Source and Source Reference. Select Columns and column filters allow further refinement.

The Trade Port map displays the ports that match the current search criteria. Closely situated ports may appear as clusters until the user zooms in. Clicking a port marker opens the matching commerce records for that location, allowing users to move from a geographical overview to individual commodities, dates and source references.

4. Search Musters

The Musters search provides access to muster records and the individuals recorded within them. Unlike the Voyages search, its primary focus is people assembled or surveyed for maritime, military or defensive purposes.

Searching musters

Users can search by a single muster year or year range, Muster name, Muster place, Mustered by, Muster purpose, and Troop surname. Mustered by and Muster purpose provide drop-down lists of values stored in the database. Muster place uses autocomplete to help users identify locations represented in the database.

Coverage of the muster data

The muster records are particularly detailed for the period 1587–1630 and encompass 452 unique placename records. The database also includes a separate body of mid-eighteenth-century material, principally from the 1750s and associated with Plymouth. Although derived from Plymouth records, this later material includes information about the crews of numerous other vessels and therefore extends beyond Plymouth itself.

Troop surname uses partial matching. Typing a surname produces a list of matching names in the database. Selecting a surname returns the relevant muster or musters and reports the number of matching musters and troops.

Viewing muster and troop details

Search results are first presented at the muster level. Clicking a muster name opens the muster details, including the muster name and year, organiser (where recorded), purpose, place of service, source status and source reference. Below this is a Troop Details table. Depending on the source, individual records may include muster place, troop name, troop type, gender, age, rank and place of service.

The muster records currently contain 452 represented placenames. These lie in the following counties and areas: Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Essex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lincolnshire, London, Middlesex, Norfolk, Northumberland, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex and Yorkshire.

Muster maps and place of service

The place of muster map shows the locations where people were mustered. The place of service map is different: it contains data only where the source identifies where someone served. In the present database, this information relates primarily to personnel on garrison duties and should not be interpreted as a comprehensive record of overseas service.

Historical place-name resolution requires caution. Similar or truncated names can be assigned to the wrong modern location; we identify and correct such anomalies as part of ongoing data checking.

Figure 1. Geographical distribution of placenames represented in the Maritime Britain muster data. The county boundaries are provided as a modern geographical reference.

5. Search Lloyd's Register

In partnership with Lloyd's Register Foundation, Maritime Britain provides a fully searchable digital database derived from Lloyd's Register's first Register Book. This specialist search allows users to investigate vessel specifications, owners, masters, construction places and recorded voyages.

Searching people

Users can search by Master last name, Owner last name, or search all last names. These fields use partial/contains matching: entering 'John', for example, can suggest surnames such as Johnson. Search all last names searches across both masters and owners.

Searching places

Place searches include Where built, Voyage origin, Via, Voyage destination and Search all places. All use partial/contains matching. For example, entering 'Lon' can suggest London, Londonderry and Barcelona because the entered letters can occur anywhere in the stored place name. Search all places searches across the construction and voyage place fields.

Searching ships

Ship name uses the same partial-matching approach. Former ship name and New ship name allow users to investigate vessels that changed name, while Search all ship names searches across the ship-name fields. Ship type provides a drop-down list of all vessel types represented in the dataset.

Viewing Lloyd's Register records

The results table provides key information about the ship, type, owner, master, where built, voyage origin, via, voyage destination and source reference. Selecting 'View voyage details' opens the full record, which may include year and place of construction, tonnage, construction details, repairs, armament, crew, names, owner, master, voyage information and source references. Supplementary evidence, including Lloyd's List information where incorporated, can provide additional information about vessel movements.

Mapping Lloyd's Register

Map – place built shows construction locations; Map – voyage origin shows starting points; Map – voyage destination shows destinations; and Map – voyages represents the recorded voyage, including Via locations where present. Clicking a mapped location or voyage opens the underlying record details.

Understanding and interpreting the data

A note on the data

The database has been reconstructed from a wide range of historical sources. Entries reflect the information recorded in surviving documents and, where necessary, the project's interpretation and standardisation of that information. Historical place names, vessel and personal names, dates, and voyage identification can sometimes be uncertain or ambiguous. Coverage varies by place and period, and absence from the database should not be taken as evidence that maritime activity did not occur. The data are continually reviewed and corrected. Users undertaking detailed research are encouraged to consult the original sources identified in the database.

Historical names also require caution. Personal names and place names have variant spellings; different people can share the same name; ship names were frequently reused; vessels changed masters and home ports; and tonnage could be recorded inconsistently. Users should compare contextual information before linking records.

Maps represent the geographical information contained in the returned records. They do not necessarily reproduce a vessel's exact historical sailing track, and an absence from a map may simply mean the relevant geographical information was not recorded or cannot be securely identified.

From search to historical research

The strength of Maritime Britain lies in the ability to move across different scales of analysis. A user can begin with a single ship, shipmaster, mariner, commodity or port, examine the underlying records and source references, and then broaden the search to identify patterns across decades, regions or the wider maritime world. Alternatively, researchers can begin with thousands of records and progressively narrow them to a particular place, period, commodity or group of people.

Search results should therefore be regarded as a gateway to the evidence rather than a substitute for critical examination of it. For detailed research, users are encouraged to use Source reference and View details, and, where appropriate, consult the original archival record, published edition or underlying dataset.