...and speaking of 'pleasant' and 'London':
The inestimable songstress Miss Julie London!
Posted on 03/05/2015 5:38:08 PM PST by Lee'sGhost
Doing research for a novel. Can anybody tell me, what section of London would the families of merchantmen sailors have lived in during the late 17th century? All I can find on-line is "London." But I've got to believe that they lived relatively close to the docks in areas with specific names. And I suppose officers would live in a different section than that of common sailors.
It may be more a question of where such middlings did not live, and whether the late 17th century is before or after the 1666 fire and plague.
It's very much a matter of 1. the level of connection or dependency on the Crown, following the Restoration, the nations traded with and where those nations stood (e.g. the Dutch, during the wars with England during after Charles II), and 2. their wealth.
It's too simplistic, perhaps, and obvious, too, but I would have to suggest Pepys diary, all of which is now online, together with the incredible collections of maps now available at our fingertips. There are a few of the latter showing the old St. Pauls, for example, which include the regions as context.
We used to not care...
My ancestor who migrated to the Jamestown area from
England was a ship’s carpenter and lived in the Wapping area.
I'd try and verify everything above, because a month and a half in London, and Wikipedia don't make me an expert.
Another approach to finding where the families of the crews and the officers lived would be to gather a list of the crew rosters and search for them and their families at:
England & Wales Christening Records, 1530-1906
http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1351&cj=1&netid=cj&o_xid=0001029688&o_lid=0001029688&o_sch=Affiliate+External
See:
About London Apprenticeship Abstracts 1442-1850
http://www.origins.net/help/aboutbo-lonapps.aspx
About the collection
Records of the Livery Companies of London are one of the greatest archival treasures of the world. Dating from the early medieval period to the present, they provide a mass of information on innumerable subjects. For the family historian, they can provide an immense amount of genealogical and biographical details on members.
The Abstracts provide information from the apprenticeship records of a number of the livery companies selected because the records generally give good genealogical detail, principally, the name, parish and occupation of the apprentice’s father. For a given livery company, the abstracts will generally end about 1800 or later, depending on the coverage of the manuscript volume containing that year. In some cases records cease before 1800.
Over 165,000 of these record abstracts are contained in the database, with over half a million names indexed: apprentices, their parent, and masters. In nearly every case, the father (more rarely the mother) of the apprentice is given, with their place of residence - which can be anywhere in the British Isles or overseas.
Less than 30% of the “London” apprentices actually came from the London area, though the proportion varies significantly between the different companies. For example, the Blacksmiths’ and Fishmongers’ apprentices include over 33% from London and Middlesex, compared to just under 31% for the Butchers, and under 21% for the Grocers. It should be borne in mind that an apprentice’s master does not necessarily follow the trade indicated by the company name. While it may be tempting to think that the prestige of a company might affect the number of apprentices coming from outside the Metropolitan area, this does not seem to be the case, for the Grocers’ is the second of the “Great Twelve” livery companies while the Fishmongers’ is the 4th.
In the London and Medway estuaries try Sheerness, Queensborough, & Chatham. All had warehouses and dockyards both royal and commercial.
Hope this helps.
"Ceterum censeo 0bama esse delendam."
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
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LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
The inestimable songstress Miss Julie London!
Upper Swandam Lane - a vile alley
Southwark.
Please. Thx.
After
Wapping rings a bell. Probably many more neighborhoods.
“Many of the sailors of Charles II’s navy lived in Wapping and by the 18th century it was described as “a poor waterfront district inhabited chiefly by dock hands, casual labourers, sailors of all nationalities and petty criminals”. Dr Johnson recommended exploring Wapping “to see such modes of life as very few could even imagine”.”
(snip)
http://www.londontaverntrails.com/trails/Wapping.html
Not to be confused with the Isle of Lucy. But I digress....
Wapping, limehouse area was a rough part of London. It was close to the docks but it was famous for it’s tenements and prostitution. My ancestors were blacksmiths and watermen (river taxis) in that era and they lived in Wapping. It wasn’t a place for the rich.
In the late 1600’s, a successful and wealthy merchant could have lived anywhere East of London Bridge, west of the Tower and South of St Paul’s cathedral.
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