ABSTRACT
The sixteenth century was a crucial time in the development of England as a maritime nation. To chart the trade and maritime traffic of any port, a chronologically sequential set of records is required. The maritime trade of sixteenth-century Plymouth, a town on the western end of the English south coast between the mouths of the rivers Tamar and Plym near the Devon/Cornwall border, has received comparatively little scholarly attention compared to other English ports. English coastal trade, far from being poor relation of overseas ventures and mercantile activity, warrants scholarly attention in its own right. It deserves greater prominence in studies of English maritime trade from 1565 onwards, when the records reveal its extent for the first time. A micro analysis of a port/region can miss national trends, extrapolate a facet of trade that only affected a single region or port into a national picture, or suggest that the trade of a large port is representative of its region.
