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Paul Docminique senior inventory, PROB 5/2521

Editorial history

XX/XX/XX, CSG: Imaged manuscript
22/11/11, CSG: Placed transcription on wiki

Abstract & context

Suggested links

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Transcription

[f. 1]

[Text in side bar top LH side, at right angles to main text of inventory]

Int: 9 This Inventory was showed to Thomas ?XXXXX Nathan?iell
?Camfeilld & John ray?way at the tyme of their ?Exactions taken in
Charity on the parts of Mary Docminique widdow & others XXXX at
the Suite of Toby Humfreys the eldr x and others xlto

AN INVENTARY of the Goods Challs
and Creditts (except the house holdgoods
and plate) of Paul Docminique late
of Tottenham high Crosse in the County
of Midd Merchant deced taken valued
and apprized by Nathaniel Camfeild,
John Rayley and Thomas Gray Commission:rs
(amongst others) appointed by vertue of a
Commission for apprizing, inspecting, and
Inventarying of the Goods Challs Creditts
and writings belonging to the estate of the
said deceased, the tenth, eleaventh, twelfth,
fourteenth, eighteenth, and twentieth dayes of
January Anno Dmi 1680 English style) as
followeth

In the warehouse belonging to the
said deceds house at Wheeler streete

IMPRIMIS 8li and ½ of Bollognia
silke at 24s p ll
Item 33li of Moyhaire yarne
at 2s – 6d p ll
Item 35li of Bassan silke at 20s p ll
Item 29li of Slackthrown ?Lagee silke
at 17s p ll
Item 11li of course Ossoy silke at
18s p ll
Item 121li small, of ?Burmalagee silke
at 11:s the small ll
Item 22li of fine Lagee silke
at 18;s p ll
Item 15li of double ?tram silke at
13:s p ll
Item a bale of Naples 220li ?neat at
20s p ll
Item one bale of Orsoy wt. 220li neat,
at 20:s p ll
Item a Bale of Morea silke wt.
160:li neat, at 7:s the small ll
Item 97li neat, small ll of Bengala
at 12:s p ll
Item 164 small ll of slaq?ckxbasse Lagee
at 12s the small ll

[f. 2]

Item 4 bales of Ardas w:t 850
2/3 at 8s p ll

At Mr Paul Docminiques house
in Colman streete London, son of the
said decd were the severall goods
following which were received from
the deceds house at Tottenham heigh Crosse thither

Imprs one bagg of Basan silke 58li
neat at 20s p ll
Item 3 baggs of Bollangna silke
119li neat at 24s p ll
No. 4 Item one bale of Orsoy silke w:t
236li neat, at 20s per ll
No.16 Item one other Bale of Orsoy
w:t 220li neat at 20s p ll
No. 6 Item one Bale of ordinary Naples
w:t 219li neat, at 19s p ll
No. 3 Item one other bale of Naples
Orgazine w:t 223li neat, at 21s p ll
No. 5 Item one bale of Orsoy, weight
240li neat, at 20s p. ll

At Mr. Balsh’s house in Spittle
ffeilds

Item two bales of ?Ardas silke one
No. 2 xxxt 3C – 1M – 3li, the other No. 8
xxxt 3C – 1M – 7li, in all 6C – 2M – 10li, tare
22li, is neat 716 small, great 477-1/3 at
?9s p ll

In an Iron Chest in the
deceds Warehouse before named

Item one hundred Guineys in a bagg
Item 9 dollars and one 4s 6d peece
Item two baggs in silver
Item a small Gold watch
Item 14 plaine gold rings w:t one ounce
4d weight
Îtem one Diamond Ring
Item one ?turby [Or, ruby]stone ring
Item one saphir ring with six small
Diamonds
Item one onix stone sealed ring
Item one gold seale with a Cornelion
Stone

[?]

Item one ten shillings peece of gld
Utem a gold Lockett
Item Cash as appeares by the Cash booke fol: 70

Item one iron Chest
Item 3 Beams, wts, and scales
Item 4 Compters

Summa totall of ye Goods

Leases Assignments and mortgages

IMPRIMIS and Assignment of a
Lease of one house in Spittle ffeilds from Thomas Windsor for 70
yeares to come in October 1680 lett for 40li p anm, the ground rent
paid 4li – 10s p anm
Item a Lease from Thomas ffryer
of the decds house in Wheeler
Streete for 61 yeares from the last day
of ffebruary 1663 at 12li p anm
Item an assignment of a Lease from
John ?Slott and others whereon are
ten houses built in Wheeler streete for 60
yeares from the feast of the Annunciacon
1657, the ground rent 11li – 4s p anm
the ?improved rent is 78li – 16s p anm
Item an Lease Assignment of a Lease
from Abraham ?Dupre and Phillip ?Lepiers
and David ??Comerell of a brick house in pearle streete for 74
yeares from Christmas 1670 the rent for the same 10li p anm and
noe ground rent paid
Item a Lease of 9 houses in Spittle
ffeilds whereof there was threescore and
twelve yeares to come at Michael
Christmas 1680 let out for 123li p
and the ground rent pd for the
same is 20li p anm
Item pte of a Brewhouse in White
Lyon Yard and another Brewhouse
[end of folio, and it is unclearwhether
?in Lolesworth streete at the top of the
next folio is the continuance]

[?]

[There appears to be a missing line or lines at the top of this folio]
in ?Lolesworth streete in the Psh
of Stepney als ?Stevenheath and
sevall houses at Crowne Court in ?Crypplegate streete
Item a Lease of three houses in
St Nicholas Lane the yearly rent reced
102 p anm ye ground rent paid
35??d p anm
Item an assignmt from Gilbert
Whitehall dated the 9th of December
1678 of 436li – 15s in the Exchequer

for paymt of 26li – 1s – 4d yearly

Item a tally upon the same for 6li – 11s
interest due the 29th of Septembr 1680
Item an Assignmt of one sixth pte
of the Tolls and Ballage of the ?Xoys
and Wharfes on the East side of
London Bridge on the River of
Thames Eastward up the said River
soe farr as ?the Liberty of the
City of London extend from Toby
Humphreys and Benjamin Le Nud
dated the 17th
Item the deceds xxxxxxx or adventure in the making of hard Soape
Item a mortgage from Robert ?Holden
and William Bonner dated the
25th of ffebruary 1679 of a messuage
?at Bxxxx with the appurtenances
comonly knowne by the name of the
white house in the Mint in Southwark
to the deced for the payment of
200li at a day past

Summa totall of the Leases
Assignments and mortgages

Bonds, bills, and notes sperate

IMPRIMIS a bond from Stephen
?Lauze dated the 20th of Decembr

1676 for payment of

Item a bond from Paul Docminique
jun dated the 3d of ffebruary 1679
juxta xr for payment of
Item a bond from Thomas ?Porey
dated the 6th of March 1678
for payment of
Item another bond from Thomas ?Porey
aforesaid for paymt of 500l dated
the 26th of April 1678
Item another bond from the said
Thomas ?Porey dated the 27th
of June 1678 for payment of
Md [i.e. memorandum] that there are 13 bales of Ardes
Silke as wee are informed at ye
deceds house at Tottenham heigh Crosse
left as a Cautionary security for
ye said three bonds of five hundred
pounds a peece from the said Thomas Porey
Item another bond from the said
Stephen Lauze dated the twelfth
of Aprill 1678 for payment of
Item a bond from John Balsh Edward
Medcalfe and Paul Priaulx dated
the 12th day of March 1679 for
payment of
Item a bill from Thomas ?Baron dated
the 13th of March 1678 for paymt
of
Item a bond from Mathew Chitty
and Isaac De ?Mons dated the
26th of March 1679 for paymt of
Item a bond from John Balsh
and Edward Medcalfe dated the
24th of June 1678 for paymt of

[?]

Item a note under the hand and
seale of Thomas Young dated the
18th of March 1679 for payment
of 11li whereof xx pd 3li 19s remainds
Item a receipt from Mr Toby
Humfrey dated the 5th of June
1675 of 436li – 19s – 2d of the deced
and the ballance resting upon the
same by the said Mr Humphrey
as debitor to the deced
Item a bond from John Dowling
to Mr Thomas Grey in trust for
the deced dated the 11th of Janry 1676 remaining thereon

Item a bond from Paulx Priaulx
and Thomas Priaulx dated the
eleaventh day of October 1680
for payment of five hundred and
fifteene pounds the twelfth
of Aprill next
Item a bond from Susan
Nisbitt dated the 17th of June
1680 for payment of

Summa total of the bonds bills and
Notes xxxxx

[?]

Debts due and owing to ye said
deced as appeares by his booke
as followeth supposed sperate

IMPRIMIS from Henry Lee fol: 6
From John Ireton fol: 6
From Gabriel ?Wolby fol: 9
John ?Gariott fol: 12
Widw  ?Couyard fol: 13
Ben: Le Nud fol: 16
Peter Vander hagen fol: 36
John ?Largilee fol: 39
Stephen ? Dolsors fol: 48
Philipp Dela ?pluke fol: 53
Peter Carpenter fol: 58
Hester ?Pewter fol: 60
James Noyale fol: 67
Isaac ?Sure fol: 71
James ??Shambo fol: 76
Charles lason fol: 81
Samuel Blackheath fol:82
Samuel ?Lesare fol: 89
Nathaniel Campfeild fol: 92
George Barr fol: 95
Peter Annaut fol: 96
Philipp Laboux fol: 98
John Johnson fol: 103
Edward Groome fol: 107
Aaron ffauron fol: 120
Anthony Dusart fol: 124
Stephen Lauze fol: 141
Benjamin Knight fol: 148
Nathaniel ?Crabb fol: 151
John Rayley fol: 157
Elizabeth Clarke now the
wife of Paul Maria fol: 158
Samuel ?Vere fol: 162
Peter ?Borquart fol: 163

[?]

From John Clarke fol: 173
John Bount fol: 176
Mathew Chitty fol: 83
Nine bales of Ardas and one ffagott of Burma Lagee in the hands of Maximiliam Mosson and Compa: 82 [There is a marginal note in the original handwriting of the appraisers stating “ye Accts not returned fro beyond sea”
John Bull fol: 185
Elias Mosman jun fol: 188
James Bowles fol: 191
Abraham ?Bova fol: 192
James ?Disorbus fol: 193
Voyage to Spain consigned to
John ffishleigh and Edward
fflowerdiew to Port St Mary
Ditto voyage for goods consigned

to Edward Putt

A Bill of Exchange of 150li due
the fifth of ffebruary in the hands
of Mr Gray
Item the deceds share being one halfe of 92 baggs of ?hoppes
Item the remaines of the ?efforts of a voyage in the hands of Henry ?Whirley to the Barbadoes about

Arrears of rent due to ye deced

From Charles Lason for ½ a yeare due 25th December 1680
Ben: Golding for ½ a yeare due ye same time
John Izard for ½ a yeare
Richard Scott a qr due ye 25th Decembr
??Shawler for a qr
Jacob ??Loployse a qr
Charles Cassaile for ½ a year
Tho: Chappell for a quarter
Richard Cooke for ½ a year
Alexandr Rood for a quarter
William ?Mosely for a quarter
Knight for ½ a yeare fee simple
Tho: ?Beacon for a quarter
Thomas Gray for a quarter

Summa totall of the sperate Debts
Summa totall of the goods
Summa totall of ye Leases
Summa totall of ye bonds
Summa totalis ?being Inveny ?Docminq

Nath Camfield
John Rayley Tho: Gray

Debts due and owing to ye said deced
By bonds, billé, and notes supposed despate

(probably missing a cpouple of lines at the top of the folio page in the digital image)
1669, for XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Item a note under the hand and
seale of William Xar?kin for paymt of
sevall goods according to the sevall
prices therein menconed at the return
of his voyage or to returne ye same
dated ye 20th of October 1670
Item a note from Gabriel ?Walbeck
dated ?Janry 12th 1677 to pay his
debt to ye deced when God shall
enable him, but noe sume named
Item a note under the hand and seale
of Peter ?Mxxxxxx dated the 16th
of October 1678 to pay 183li – 6s – 8d to
ye deced assoone as hee is in a capacity
to doe the same
Item a bill from Nicholas Blewitt
dated the 27th of January 1679 for
payment of
Item a bond from John Le ?Malxxxx
Item a bond from Richard Scott
dated the 11th day of June 1680

for paymt of

Item a bond from Phillip De La Xxank dated
the 22th of Aprill 1657 for
paymt of
Item a bond from Isaac ?Demoushan
dated the 28th of Aprill 1664 for
payment of

[?]

Item a bond from Leonard Joyner
Dated 7th July 1674 for paymt of
Item a bond from John Reyner
Item a bond from Charles ?Moys
and Hugh Mayo dated 18th Ap:
1672 for paymt of 5li at certaine times
Item a bond from John ?Lawe dated
the 27th day of March 1669 for
paymt of 60li 4s at certain hands
Item another bond from the same
pson dated 27th Marty 1669 for
paymt of
Item a note under the hand and
seale of Ralph ?Coping dated ye
22nd of July 1665 for paymt of
Item a bond from Henry Jones and
Edward Draper dated 22nd ffeby
23rd Caroli ?bound for paymt of
Item a note under the hand and
Seale of John ?Lotte dated June
the 29th 1677 for paymt of
Item a bond from Nicholas ?fforre
dated the 9th of ffebruary 1677
to pay 100li when he is worth it

Debts due to ye deced by booke
supposed despate

Ffrom ffrancis ?Xalor fol: 63
Philipp Cannon fol: 74
Peter ?Lewes fol: 85
Michael Terry fol: 169

Summa of the despate debts

Md that the householdgoods of the said deced and his plate and Coach and horses were not valued and apprized by consent of Mr Paul Docminique son of the deced Mr Toby Humphreys, Mr Benjamin Le Nud and Mr Stephen Lauze who married the daughters of ye said deced

Nath Camfield
John Rayley
Tho: Gray

Commentary

There appear to have been two Paul Docminiques, father and son, who were known in their time as Paul Docminique (henceforth ‘senior’) and Paul Docminique junior. In the Little London Directory of 1677 one Paul Docminique was at Vine Court Spittlefields and the other, described as Paul Docminique junior, was at Colemanstreet, London.^[1] This broadly matches with the inventory for Paul Docminique senior three years later in 1680, in which he is described as “of Tottenham Heigh Crosse, county Middlesex,” with a house in Wheeler Street (probably in Hackney or Spittalfields), and with his son described as “of Colemanstreet.”

Vine Court in Spitalfields, Docminique senior’s 1677 address, was an address listed by four other merchants in the same list.^[2] Vine Court lay a few yards to the north-west of Devonshire Square, which was at some point in time the address of Francis Dashwood’s son, Samuel (later Sir Samuel) Dashwood. Strype states that Sir Samuel Dashwood had a house on Devonshire Square, though he does not make clear at what date.^[3] Francis, Samuel’s father, one of the largest SVJS subscribers, was the son of the Stoqumber, Somerset clothier Samuel Dashwood, and was known for his commercial activities in both the Levant and the East Indies.^[4] In the Little London Directory he and his son were listed simply as“Fran. & Sam. Dashwood: without Bishopsgate.”

Devonshire Square was an address at which a number of merchants dealing in silk established themselves in the later seventeenth century.^[5] Ralph Davis mentions XXXXX, XXXX, and XXXX.^[6] Harben, following Strype, states that Francis Dashwood himself had a house near St. Botolph’s churchyard, which was accessed by an open passage called ‘Dashwood’s walk’ in Strype’s maps.^[7] This, appears to have been west out of Bishopsgate and on the north side of St. Botolph’s church. Harben describes it as "a large house and garden." This house, if jointly occupied by Francis and his son Samuel, may be the location in the Little London Directory. Alternatively Strype may be referring to Francis’ other son, also named Francis Dashwood.

Five further merchants listed Spitalfields and ten further merchants listed Bishopsgate without as their address in the Little London Directory.^[8]

Bishopsgate without lay outside the City of London, immediately to the north of the Bishopsgate, and it appears including at least part of Spitalfields. Spitalfields, as will be discussed later, was the area in which a substantial silk manufacturing industry developed from XXXX onwards.^[9]

Many of Docminique senior’s property investments were in Spitalfields, and several men receiving substantial bond funding from him, John Balch and Edward Metcalfe, were instrumental in establishing the new market of Spitalfields and developing property associated with the market.

Add details of Docminique properties in Spitalfields

No will survives for Docminique senior, though presumably he died in late 1680 or very early 1681, shortly before the taking of his inventory from 10th to the 20th January 1680/81.^[10] A will (or related document) which is listed in TNA online index is missing from its wrapper.^[11] Paul Docminique junior, for whom a PRC will survives, appears to have died in 1735, of London and of Merstham, Surrey.^[12]

David Hayton et al. suggest that the Docminique family was of Huguenot extraction, and indeed Docminique senior may have been a first generation immigrant, since a naturalization bill of 1656 proposed the naturalisation of a Paul Docminique, who was clearly an adult at the time.^[13] Two of Paul Docminique senior’s daughters married Huguenots - Elizabeth Docminique, spinster, of the parish of Stepney, married a man described as a “French merchant” (Benjamen (sic) le Nud), in 1672.^[14] Another daughter, XXXX, married Stephen Lauze, a Huegenot merchant, naturalised ca. 1675.^[15] Furthermore, Docminique senior’s inventory shows extensive lending and customer relationships with confirmed or apparent French Huguenots.^[16]

Paul Docminique senior

Paul Docminique senior died in 1680, “of Tottenham High Cross”, in Middlesex, to the north of London, possibly partially retired from commercial life. Nevertheless, he had a substantial physical warehouse inventory at his death, as well as an inventory of bills, bonds, and notes. In his inventory it is recorded that Docminique senior had a substantial property portfolio, including houses in Wheeler street, London, and XXXX, Hackney.^[17]

His inventory valuation at over £24,000, excluding his househould stuff, shows that he was a major merchant, concentrating largely on silk. An analysis of his substantial bond and bill portfolio shows that he lent substantial sums to relatives, perhaps as trade financing, and that a number of them were French Huguenot relatives (Le Nud, Lauze), and associates (Pryaux).

Docminique also had clear commercial links with Huguenot silk throwster, John Balch, who may have been in partnership with (Captain) Edward Metcalfe. Balch’s own will and documentation at the Corporation of London shows that Balch amassed property in Spital Square and secured the granting of a new market. The will also refers to a fourteen year patent on a silk engine which had been assigned to him, and refers also to a cousin in Lyons, and a cousin who was a fellow of Wadham College, Oxford.

Paul Docminique junior

Paul Docminique junior appears in the Little London Directory of 1677 at a Colemanstreet address.^[18] He would have been roughly twenty-seven years old. By 1692, aged ca. thirty-nine, Docminique junior was a relatively wealthy merchant, with a rental value of £70 and a capital value of £500 in the 4s in the £ data.^[19] He had married in 1674 at the age of about twenty-one, one Alice Edwards, a spinster, of Basinghall Street, also aged twenty-one. In the marriage allegation he is described as "of Stepney, co. Middlesex."^[20] Docminique junior may have been a business partner of William Edwards, who appears in the Litle London Directory (1677) in Colemanstreet, and whose listed in 1692 in the third precinct of Coleman Street immediately after Paul Docminique, possibly as Docminique’s lodger and with a reported high capital value of £600.^[21] Edward plausibly could have been related to Docminique’s wife, born Edwards. From his marriage allegation he appears to have been born ca. 1653.^[22]

He had wide ranging commercial interests. For example, he was the Governor of the Company of White Paper Makers of England in 1697, at the age of ca. forty-four.^[23] He appears also to have been elected a director of the Company of Scotland trading to Africa and the Indies two years earlier, in 1695.^[24]

Archival records in TNA

There are several probates which may be of interest:

TNA, PROB 5/2521, DOCMINIQUE, Paul, of Tottenham High Cross, Middx, merchant (includes commission) [Sentence: PROB 11/368] (1681)
TNA, PROB 20/769, Docminique, Paul: Tottenham High Cross, Midd., merchant (1680)

There are a number of late C17th chancery cases in TNA under ‘Docminique’, and also some under ‘Dockminique’, which may be for the same man. E.g. C 104/269, BUNDLE No 48: Interrogatories in the cause Dockminique v. Turner, 1701.

Commercial and social connections of Paul Docminique

Possible link of Paul Docminique junior with with Charles Lequein, whose address is given in the Little London Directoryof 1677 as Crown Court in Spittlefields. The Docminique name appears in 1692 in a suit with the Humfrey and Lequein name as a fellow party against le Nud.

Silk trading and manufacture

Docminique senior’s inventory shows a concentration on trading in silk, from Italy (Bolognia, Naples, ?Venice), the Levant (Morea), Persia (Georgia), and India (Bengal). The only references in the inventory to adventures are to voyages to Spain and to Barbados, so it is unclear how he was sourcing his silk. Given the importance of Bolognian and Neapolitan silk in the inventory it seems likely that he was trading with Livorno and Naples directly. It is not clear whether he traded with the Levant as a member of the Levant Company, or indeed as an interloper, nor whether he was involved with the East India company to source Bengal silk and possibly other. Given the strength of his links to French Huguenot merchants it cannot be ruled out that silk was being brought from Italy overland through France and then across the channel from a port such as Rouen.

The following silks are mentioned suggesting place of origin:

Ardas (Georgia, Persia)
Bassan (poss. Venetian)
Bengala (Moghul)
Bollongnia (Italian)
Lagee (alt. Legee) (Persian)
Morea (Levantine)
Naples (Italian)
Orsoy (Ossoy) (???)

The Italian silks predominate by value (£846), followed by Orsoy silks (£700), and Persian silks (Ardas) (£576). Bassan (which may be Bassano, Italy), XXXX, and Bengala are each under £100. Lagee silks of various sorts total £207. Large quantities of Ardas silks were placed with Docminique senior by Stephen Lauze, his son-in-law, as security for substantial loans Lauze had received from Docminique senior (thirteen bales at Docminique’s Tottenham High Cross house as security for loans of £1500 in three bonds).

The appraised values per pound for the silks range from the lowest of 7s per small pound for Morea silk, 11s per small pound for ?Burma Lagee and for coarse Orsoy, 12s per small pound for Bengala and a type of Lagee (also per small pound), 15s per pound for ?double tram silk, 17s per pound for slackthrown Lagee, 18s per pound for fine Lagee and for coarse Lagee, 20s per pound for Orsoy (?Ossoy), for Naples, and for Bassan, up to the top end at 24s per pound for Bollongnia silk. This is a price spread per pound, ignoring the difference in weight between a small and normal pound, of four times.

The language of the appraisers shows an awareness of silk quality, with references to coarse and fine silks, with Lagee and Orsoy (Ossoy) silks distinguished between coarse and fine. The price spread per Orsoy is between 11s for coarse Ossoy/Orsoy (small pound) and 20s for unspecified, but presumably good, Orsoy at 20s (normal pound). The Lagee prices per pound range from 11s for ?Burma Lagee (small pound), to 17s for slackthrown Lagee (normal pound), and 18s for fine Lagee (normal pound). These, very crudely, are price spreads of 81% (Ossoy/Orsoy) and 64% (Lagee).

It would be interesting to compare these silk prices with prices realised by silk at auctions by the candle held by the East India Company in London, as well as the appraised values of silk held in Phillip Strode’s warehouse in Aleppo.

Some price data is available for silks held by Henry Andrewes (1638) and Samuel Mico (1666).

A total of X bales of silk are listed in the inventory (exclusing bales held as security). This compares with the 527 bales brought home in the Crispian in 1641.

Sales of silk on different markets

Silk imported by the EIC seems occasionally to have been sold on the Amsterdam exchange. An EIC Court book entry for December 30, 1642 records that “The five bales of Orsoy silk in the Mercury to be sent to Amsterdam for sale.”

Economics of silk trading

Merchants trading in silks were not immune to financial difficulty. The ‘silkeman’ Edward Darling, who had adventured in an EIC stock “lately became bankrupt” and was pursued in 1643 by a creditor for divisions of his stock.

Silks in other merchant inventories

Henrie Andrewes silks (ca. 16 bales)

In the case of Andrewes the data are for receipts and for debts owing, and thus are presumably for agreed prices of goods and are ‘real’ not appraised values. However the data are for bales, with no indication as to the size of the bales.

4 x bales of grogren £309 – 00 – 0 (received from Timothy ?Cruss)
2 x bales of silk  ?£216 – 19 - 0 (received from John Williams & Company)
1 x bale of silk ??£93 – 07 – 0 (received from Randall Mainwaring)
1 x bale of silk £127 – 0 – 0 (received fromAllart Vanderwood, possibly a French Huguenot)
1 x ? of silk (poss. less than a bale) £70 – 11 – 0 (received from John Clarke)
4 x bales of grogren yarn £197 – 21 - 0 (received from Edmund Trench, DOWNLOAD THIS WILL, 1658)
1 X bale of grogren in part £19 – 00 – 0 (received from John & Thomas Harvey)
1 x bale of grogren in part £19 – 00 – 0 (received from Edward Hudd)
1 x bale of grogren £71 – 08 – 0 (received from Jasper Clayton)
1 x bale of grogren £25 – 00 – 0 (received from Jasper Clayton)
1 x remainder of a bale £123 – 18 – 0 (received from Francis Dashwood)
1 x bale of silk ?£219 – 10 – 0 (owing from Francis Dashwood)
1 x bale of silk ?£219 – 09 – 0 (owing from Robert Winch)
1 x bale of grogrons £? - 0 – 0 (owing from Thomas Stanhope)
1 x bale of grogrons £? - 0 – 0 (owing from George Wroth)

Mico silks (ca. 9 bales)

In the case of Mico the data are for prices realised at a general sale of merchandise, and are thus ‘real’ market data as opposed to appraised value. However, data are for bales, which we have seen can be of variable size, and no information is given of bale weight in terms of pounds.

1 x bale of calama silk £74 – 09 – 7 (sold to Peter Collyer)
1 x bale of ?vitte Yellow £XXXX (sold to Robert Gardiner)
1 x bale ?ffan gett orgay £XXXX (sold to Nathaniel Camfeild, one of Docminique’s inventory appraisers fourteen years later)
1 x bale ?ffan gett orgay £XXXX (sold to James Thorowgood)
1 x bale of Shound silk £XXXX (sold to Francis Dashwood, who had also been a customer of Henry Andrews)
1 x bale of Naples Tammins £XXXX (sold to Robert ?Winch, possibly a draper
1 x bale of Prolona silk, first sort £XXXX (sold to Francis Dashwood)
1 x bale of Prolona silk, second sort £XXXX (sold to Symon Baxter)
1 x bale of Prolona silk, third sort £XXXX (sold to Robert Woolley, possibly a vintner, DOWNLOAD THIS WILL, 1696)

Sir George Smith silks

A list of Sir George Smith’s assets prepared at his death in 1667 shows he had a substantial stock of silk in his warehouses. The stock was valued at just under two thirds the value of Paul Docminique senior’s. Unfortunately no detail is given of the breakdown and valuation of Sir George Smith’s silks by silk type.

EEC silks

Inspection of CCM 44-49 for “silk” shows a range of silks mentioned, both at General Courts of sale and in other contexts. Silk types mentioned are Orsoy silk, Messina silk, Persia silk, Bengala silk, ‘Legee silk’ ( ‘A Court of Committees, September 22, 1648 (Court Book, vol. xxxx, p. xx), citied in CCM 44-49, p. 290)

Inspection of CCM 40-43 for “silk” additionally mentions “Mazaran silk,” and Capiton silk.

Inspection of CCM 35-39 for “silk” additionally mentions Ardas silk, Ardasse silk, Canary silk, Mozandran silk, China silk

Mr. Pennoye (sic), presumably William Pennoyer, though alternatively Samuel Pennoyer, was a significant buyer of silk from the EIC already in 1637. He requested allowance for defective and cut silk found in twenty bales he had bought from the Company, but his request was turned down “as in his contract the silk was described as wet and defective.”

EIC sales by the candle could sometimes set forward prices of three, six and even eighteen months.

There is quite frequent reference to wet silk (presumably wet from transport). It commanded a relatively low price.

Reference is made at a Quarterly General Court in June 1635 to the failure of the King of Persia to fulfil his contract “made three years since to deliver 1,500 bales of silk to the Company.”

Wars in Turkey were capable of disrupting the flow of silk. A Court of Committees, Jan 27, 1636, noted : “the silk in Persia must come to Europe by sea or through Muscovy, for it cannot come through Turkey as formerly, because of the wars.”

The scale of some reported purchases of silk is staggering. Sir William Acton is reported as requesting “that he and whis partners, who are engaged to the Company by their joint bill for payment of 58,170l. 18s. 8d. for 372 bales of silk bought by Mr. John Langham of the Company, have paid their share with the exception of Captain Milward, that the share of the latter, which is 787l. 16s. 6d., may be put upon his adventure in the Third Joint Stock, he being willing this shall be done...”

Notes for section positioning silk within other textiles

A merchant in 1622 distinguished new and old draperies as follows: “By the old are understood broad Cloths, Bayes and Kersyes; by the new, Perpetuanoes, Serges, Sayes, and other Manufactures of Wool.”

Notes for section addressing silk manufacture in Spitalfields

Linda Levy Peck addresses attempts at creating a domestic English silk industry in the seventeenth century, but does not fully address the range of sources and qualities of silks and their uses. She discusses the development of the silk industry in England from 1455 to the early C17th, noting the shift from it as a high status activity to more of a mass activity by the mid C17th. She suggests that the migration of French Huguenot silk workers to London during the French Wars of Religion in the 1580s was of great importance. The silk throwers were incorporated in England in 1629 (Peck, 2005:107-11). Peck cites a 1674 pamphlet The True English Interest: or an Account of the Chief National Improvements, which states that “in Spitalfields and London suburbs the production of silk, satin, and velvets arrived at great perfection.” Her bibliography contains some useful pointers to specialised works on silk.

The silk throwers had their own livery company in London, constituted as a fellowship in 1562 and incorporated in 1630 (or 1629). A secondary source describes silk throwing in C18th as follows: “The operation, which requires some complex machinery, consists in spinning and twisting the silk into a coherent and continuous thread.”

An early eighteenth century English author distinguished three methods of processing raw silk: “raw silk, before it can be used in weaving, is made to take one of three forms, being converted into either singles, trams, or organizine.”

A search of PRC wills online (1650-1730) reveals 118 wills with the testators recording a range of occupations involving silk: silk dyer, silk thrower, silk throwster, silk weaver, silk factor, silk man, silk twister, silk stocking work frame knitter; silk stocking weaver. The vast majority of these wills are for testators in London and its suburbs. The addresses are typically Saint Dunstan, Stepney; Saint Leonard, Shoreditch, Middlesex; Christchurch, Middlesex; Christchurch, Surrey; Stuart Street, Tower of London, Middlesex; Saint Giles, Cripplegate; Saint Mary Matsellon, Whitechapel, Middlesex; Spitalfields, Middlesex; (Old) Artilley Ground, Middlesex; Hoxton, Middlesex; St. Olave, Southwark

1. ↑ Little London Directory (1677), no pagination
2. ↑ Richard Baxter, Vine-Court Spittlefields; Mr. Burden, Vine-Court Spittlefields; Per.[ient] Trott, Vine Court Bishopsgate without; Samuell Wastall, Vine Court Spittlefields
3. ↑ Strype confirms Sir Samuel Dashwood had a house in Devonshire Square (Strype, ed. 1720, I. ii. 109)
4. ↑ Will of Samuell Dashwood of Stogumber, Somerset 31 December 1638 PROB 11/178 Lee 115 - 183; subscribed £2,000 in SVJS, C10/109/102 (1663); Described as a ‘Turkey merchant’ in John Bernard Burke, A genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the peerage and baronetage of the British Empire, 14th ed. (London, 1852), p. 569
5. ↑ Ralph Davis, Aleppo and Devonshire Square: English Traders in the Levant in the Eighteenth Century (London, 1967)
6. ↑ Ralph Davis, Aleppo and Devonshire Square: English Traders in the Levant in the Eighteenth Century (London, 1967), pp. XX, XX
7. ↑ 'Dashwood's Walk', Harben (1918), citing Strype, ed. 1720, I. ii. 109
8. ↑ Spitalfields: Mr. Burin, Spittle-fields; Charles Lequein, Crown Court in Spittlefields; Mr. Waldo, Spittle-fields; Mr. Allen, Spittle-fields; Mr. Balts [almost certainly John Balch, silk thrower and merchant], Crown-court Spittle-Fields; Bishopsgate without: Mr. Gooding, Bishopsgate without; John Grace, Half-Moon Alley Bishopsgate without; Anth. Green, Bishopsgate without; Roger Capple, Bishopsgate without; Mr. Chapman, Bishopsgate without; Fran. & Sam. Dashwood, without Bishopsgate; John Degrave, Bishopsgate without Half-moon Alley or Angel Alley; John Degrue, Angel Court without Bishopsgate; Mr. Elkins, Bishopsgate without
9. ↑ Victoria County History, vol. X (XXXX, XXXX), pp. XX-XX
10. ↑ TNA PROB 5/2521, f.1
11. ↑ TNA, PROB 20/769
12. ↑ Will of Paul Docminique, Merchant of London 16 May 1735 PROB 11/671 Ducie Quire Numbers: 90 - 140; H.E. Malden (editor), 'Parishes: Chaldon', A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 (1912), pp. 188-194. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43050 Date accessed: 29 November 2009. >
13. ↑ David Hayton, Eveline Cruickshanks, Stuart Handley, The House of Commons, 1690-1715: Constituencies, vol. 2 (Cambridge, 2002), p. 578; Saturday, the 7th of February, 1656. Steinmer's, &c. Nat. '...Paul Donekmenique...'('House of Commons Journal Volume 7: 7 February 1657', Journal of the House of Commons,vol. 7: 1651-1660 (London, 1802), pp. 487-488. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=24562 Date accessed: 08 December 2009. >)
14. ↑ W. Bruce Bannerman, The Registers of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate (London, 1904), p. 160. See also TNA, C 9/283/34, Motteux v. Le Nud and Docminique (1692)
15. ↑ This is the footnote text
16. ↑ TNA, PROB 5/2521
17. ↑ TNA, PROB 5/2521
18. ↑ Little London Directory (1677), no pagination
19. ↑ Despite the spelling of Paul Duckmaney” this is clearly Paul Docminique, given the Colemanstreet address, which is consistent with the Little London Directory (1677) entry. 'Four Shillings In The Pound Aid 1693-1694: City of London, Coleman Street Ward, Third Precinct', Four Shillings In The Pound Aid 1693/4: The City of London, the City of Westminster, and Metropolitan Middlesex (1992). URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=19756 Date accessed: 30 November 2009. >
20. ↑ G.J. Armytage, Allegations for Marriage Licences issued by the Vicar-General of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1669 to 1679, Harleian Society Vol. ? [CHECK] (London, 1892, p.132
21. ↑ Little London Directory (London, 1677); 'Four Shillings In The Pound Aid 1693-1694: City of London, Coleman Street Ward, Third Precinct', Four Shillings In The Pound Aid 1693/4: The City of London, the City of Westminster, and Metropolitan Middlesex (1992). URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=19756 Date accessed: 30 November 2009.>
22. ↑ G.J. Armytage, Allegations for Marriage Licences issued by the Vicar-General of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1669 to 1679, Harleian Society Vol. ? [CHECK] (London, 1892, p.132
23. ↑ HL/PO/JO/10/1/492/1132 3 March 1697: ‘Petition of the Governor and Company of White Paper makers of England’
24. ↑ 'House of Commons Journal Volume 11: 21 January 1696', Journal of the House of Commons: volume 11: 1693-1697 (1803), pp. 399-407. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39223&strquery=james foulis Date accessed: 28 July 2009. >