ABSTRACT
This chapter examines that among 2,095 surviving probate inventories originating from the parishes surrounding the lower River Tyne from the Durham probate registry, 796 show evidence of boat or ship ownership. Although the ownership level were high compared with other trades and professions. It was clear that not all shipwrights owned boats or ships, indeed out of 97 inventories from shipwrights between 1600 and 1720, only 38 owned boats or ships, with 27 owning 119 working boats and 10 owning shares in 58 ships. The pattern of ship ownership between 1600 and 1720, suggests an increase in ship ownership being reported in the latter half of the seventeenth century. The significant level of ship ownership by hostmen does suggest that they had strong grip on many aspects of coal trade, being able to influence the trade from the coal staiths to its arrival at London or other destinations.
