Indentured migration and the servant trade from London to America, 1618-1718 : 'There is great want of servants'

315 Pages·2017·4.09 MB·English

by  Wareing, John

OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/11/16, SPi
Indentured Migration and the Servant Trade from London to America,
1618–1718
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/11/16, SPi
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/11/16, SPi
Indentured Migration and the
Servant Trade from London to
America, 1618–1718
‘There is Great Want
of Servants’
John WAreIng
1
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/11/16, SPi
3
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OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/11/16, SPi
Acknowledgements
human migration has been central to the accelerating transformation of the
modern world since the fifteenth century. My understanding of its processes has
been by helped by the contributions of my teachers, colleagues, students, seminar
members at the Institute of historical research, and the published research of
other scholars. My own research has also been greatly enabled by the many
Librarians and records staff in London, the english counties, the United States
and the West Indies, who gave me their generous and knowledgeable assistance.
Specific thanks are owed to John Broad, Vanessa harding, James horn, Jim
Lindsay, and the anonymous referees who read the manuscript and gave their
support and advice, and also to Terka Acton, Stephanie Ireland, Cathryn Steele,
and the production staff at oUp.
Most of all I wish to thank Madeleine Wareing for her love, support, and
understanding.
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/11/16, SPi
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/11/16, SPi
Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Tables xi
List of Documents xiii
Abbreviations xv
Introduction 1
pArT I. ‘The WorThY ACTIon oF enLArgIng
TrAde And pLAnTATIon’
1. ‘To advance the honour of our country’ 11
‘Since the first discoverie of America’: hakluyt’s Lament for the
Sixteenth Century 11
‘englands out of england’: Migration and the Colonial Agenda 22
pArT II. ‘There IS greAT WAnT oF
SerVAnTS’: The  IndenTUred SerVAnT
TrAde, 1618–1718
2. English Indentured Migration: Origins, Destinations, Substitutions 39
Indentured Servitude: new Challenge, new Solution 39
London and the english Migration System: Servant origins 53
The extension of the english Migration System: Servant destinations 66
Slavery and expansion into a Colonial Migration System 82
3. The Traders in the London Labour Market 93
From Servant Migration to Servant Trade 93
The organization and Structure of the Servant Trade in London 100
The Tower hamlets: The Centre of the Servant Trade 108
The Tower hamlets procurers 114
The profits of the Trade: prices, Costs, and Losses 125
4. The Transported and the Traded from London 131
recruiting Consigned and redemptioner Servants 131
recruiting exchanged and Customary Servants 141
recruiting Women, Adolescent, and Child Servants 150
Spiriting and its Social narrative 163
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viii Contents
pArT III. ConTroLLIng CrIMInALITY
In The Ser VAnT TrAde, 1640–1718:
CoUr TS And regISTrIeS
5. Prosecution in the Courts and the Failure to Reinforce the
Criminal Law, 1640–1673 169
Criminality in the Servant Trade: A Useful Crime 169
penal policy: punishment and deterrence: The parliamentary
ordinance of 1645 179
The Bills to Make Stealing Children and others a Felony, 1661–1673 184
6. Problems in Implementing Servant Registration, 1664–1718 196
Administrative policy: The patent for Whitley’s registry, 1664–1682 196
‘The Stuart revenge’ and the Servant Trade, 1681–1682 204
registration by Magistrates, 1682–1686 210
new Monarch, new policy, new patent: Legg, guise, and robins’
registry, 1686–1688 217
new Monarchs, new policy, new patents: The Thompsons’ registries,
1691–1718 226
The Transportation Act of 1718 and the demise of ‘the Kidnapping Trade’ 241
7. England’s First Transatlantic Labour Trade, 1618–1718 250
The english end of the Servant Trade 250
Motive, opportunity, and Means 252
A new Account of the Servant Trade 254
Appendix: The London Record of Indentured Servants, 1683–1686 261
Bibliography 273
Index 295
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List of Figures
2.1. geographical origins of 1,213 London servants 1683–1686 58
2.2. destinations of 2,107 indentured servants migrating from London
to America 1683–86 78
3.1. William haveland’s signatures 1671, 1678, and 1681 118