Business History

The early trade papers, comprising a series of letters mainly dating from the 16th century, include a wealth of detail about the Company's relationships with other trading companies like the Hanseatic League and the Eastland Company, and with other merchants in the north of England including those in Hull, Beverley, Wakefield, and Newcastle. They provide an insight into commodities, trade relationships and the politics of trade between Yorkshire and London. 

A number of the papers in this series have been transcribed in Maud Sellers' volume The York Mercers and Merchant Adventurers, 1356-1917 published by the Surtees Society in 1918.

Explore the trade papers through our online catalogue.

On land, the Merchant Adventurers also asserted their dominance over trade across the city of York, believing their right to a trade monopoly to be enshrined in their royal charter of 1580/81. Only Company members could trade freely within the city, and member status was checked and enforced by the Company through a network of informants.

During the 19th century, the Merchant Adventurers brought a legal suit against John Harwood, a druggist in Petergate, for trading without being a member of the Company. However, the case did not go the Company's way and the 1827 judgement was given in favour of Harwood, ending the Company's trade monopoly in York.

As well as giving an insight into general trade and commerce in the 16th century, the letters also give more detailed insights, providing the names of individual merchants trading through the Sound, the sea between Scandinavia and the Baltic. The archive also includes records of names of the ships sailing various trade routes during the 1500s, and an early log book from the Katheryn of Hull.

In 1777, the Company wrote to a Mrs Doughty to instigate legal action against her for "exercising the trade of a Mercer" without being a member of the Company. Despite their threat of consequences if she paid no heed to the letter, Mrs Doughty refused to become a member - remaining instead a member of the Merchant Taylors. This wasn't the first case of the Company pursuing business owners for operating outside their monopoly.  In 1725, Mary Tuke established a small grocers shop in Walmgate and over the following decade stood up against the legal challenges of the Company, continuing to trade until she eventually reached an agreement to pay an annual fee.