ABSTRACT
A diary written by a young apprentice hostman, Ralph Jackson, between 1749 and 1756 describes in intimate detail his life working in the coal trade along the Tyne. This important contemporary sources draw together the aspects of the water trades on the river Tyne, particularly because Jackson describes in some detail the interrelationships between those working at all levels in the coal trade, allowing them to be seen in the context of the river trade community as a whole. Each hostman usually dealt with a group of collieries, for example Ralph's master, Jefferson, dealt mainly in coal from the Longbenton colliery, which went down to the Tyne at Winkhamlee Staith, together with some coal from Tanfield and other pits in the Whickham area. The communities along the Tyne had always been a major recruiting area for the Navy, both by voluntary recruitment and from the frequent attention of the press gangs, which had a major impact upon the river trades.
