73 HISTORY REVISITED


BY THE DART magazine has been published for more than 14 years. In our early days, we ran a long series of articles visiting Dartmouth’s rich history and the many characters that have played a crucial role in the development of the town. But 14 years is a long time and there are likely to be


many new readers of this magazine since then who may not have seen those articles in the first place. This is the first in a new series of specially selected articles from the By The Dart archives.


TRIANGULAR TRADE


I


n the 13th century Dartmouth’s became rich by participating in the Bordeaux wine trade. The King, Henry II, father of Richard the Lionheart


and the cowardly John - he of Robin Hood and Magna Carta fame – ruled a large area of France, including Aquitaine and Bordeaux. This led to a rather handy situation in which imports of the famous Bordeaux wine were not subject to import duties. Men with ships capable of sailing back and forth across the unpredictable Bay of Biscay - such as John Hauley, the town’s Mayor, MP and brigand for hire – probably made their fortune from this trade.


But then in 1453 Bordeaux fell


to the French, thanks to the inept ruling of Henry VI, and suddenly rich merchants had nowhere to trade for free. But then came Newfoundland. From the early 16th century, fishermen had been


travelling from Dartmouth, across the Atlantic in tiny boats and spending the summer months fishing in the abundant fishing grounds off Canada’s Newfoundland shore. For most of that time they had shared the fishing grounds with Spanish ships, and were in fact outnumbered by them. But then the Spanish confiscated a number of British ships in a Dutch


THE MAKING OF DARTMOUTH


Trade is the key to any town’s success; with good trade links or an industry which thrives, and so does the town. But if you take them away the town will wither - unless entrepreneurial town’s folk find new ways of making money…


harbour and gave the Crown a great excuse to throw its weight around. Many of the Spanish ships fishing the Newfoundland shore were boarded and taken to England. Spain, stretched by a protracted war in Europe, left the area completely undefended. Suddenly there was a chance to make the fishing


Suddenly there was a chance to make the fishing grounds really pay – and Dartmouth sailors were at the forefront of the charge to do so.


grounds really pay – and Dartmouth sailors were at the forefront of the charge to do so. The triangular trade was born. 24 ships would set out each spring,


collect salt from the Bay of Biscay, and then sail for the Newfoundland shores – 16 would fish and 8 would prepare the catch using the salt and collect other valuable products such as oil for lamps and soap from the fishes’ livers. The ships would be packed over the season and then would sail to


the Mediterranean or sometimes to the Caribbean. They would exchange the fish products for wine, fruit or sugar – and then sail back to England to sell these valuable products, along with some of the fish. Boats would flock to Dartmouth to buy the fish and other products. The people of Dartmouth bought wood and high quality products including beautiful cloth, and began to lead an easier life. They also began to build the town’s infrastructure we


see around us today. This trade started around the same time that


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