HISTORICALRESEARCH 67
- shipbuilders’ plans and notes associated with the
construction of a vessel or class of vessels; - ships’ logs, equipment and repair lists, lading bills
(shipping receipts), muster rolls (list of names),
passenger lists, and other materials produced dur-
ing the life of a vessel; - military archives, which can include combat reports
or war diaries, ships’ logs, regimental and vessel
histories, etc.; - lighthouse-keepers’ logs, and, from the mid-
nineteenth century onwards, lifeboat records; - port and customs records, recording the vessels,
cargoes, harbour dues and customs paid; - contemporary accounts, private letters and papers,
including travellers’ or crew diaries and journals; - ship-breaking records.
In addition, a wide variety of other records can con-
tain information of interest to maritime archaeologists.
Britain, especially England, is particularly rich in some of
these types of record because of its geographical size,
political stability and early form of centralized government.
However, such records also frequently survive in other
countries.
Most records are made for legal or administrative
purposes, such as collecting taxes. They will be found
under various headings, and may not tell us what we
want to know. Customs records, for example, only record
goods on which customs duties were charged, not all
cargoes.
There is an extensive variety of different locations for
all these historical data – too many to list comprehensively
here. While most surviving historical documents are now
held by major archives, many will still be found within
libraries, museums, churches, and private companies.Local sources (UK): The best place to begin research
is locally, either near the researcher’s home or near the site
or location being researched. This research can be as
simple as asking at the local library, museum, dive-club,
or even the local pub. Established local residents may
remember the loss of a vessel or how a site was used in
the past. Local dive-charter skippers may also have
undertaken extensive background research into wrecks they
regularly visit.
Most libraries and museums have local-history collec-
tions and archives. Stray finds or artefacts may have been
brought to local museums and the staff may have a par-
ticular local knowledge relevant to any given research
topic. Many universities allow the general public to use
their library facilities, providing access to more obscure
publications.
Some local archaeological and historical societies
publish journals or transactions. Some of the more active
local societies are involved in survey and excavation pro-
jects and may also produce unpublished reports. These
should be consulted in order to gather an understanding
of both the site and the region in general. Once these local
opportunities have been exhausted, regional, national
or international archives can be considered.Regional sources (UK): Regional archives include
county, borough and city archives. However, it is worth
remembering that local authority boundaries may well have
changed over time and documents may be stored elsewhere.
One of the best regional sources of information are Sites
and Monuments Records (SMRs), also known as Historic
Environment Records (HERs). Although primarily
designed to list archaeological sites on land under the
requirements of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological
Areas Act(1979), an increasing number of these also list
sites in the inter-tidal zone or under water. A number are
available on-line and can be searched from anywhere in
the world with an internet connection.National sources (UK): There are numerous national
organizations which hold primary and secondary docu-
mentary material that may be relevant to a research
project. As well as the National Archives, the National Lib-
raries also hold manuscript material. Wales was annexed
to England early and has the same legal and administrative
systems. Northern Ireland has its own National Archives;Figure 9.1 Representations of ships and boats can often
be found on stone, as monuments or graffiti. This eighteenth-
century gravestone near the River Tay in Perthshire shows
a salmon fisherman’s square-sterned coble, complete with
his catch. (Photo: Colin Martin)