ABSTRACT
This chapter contains three basic ways that commercial records can be employed to reveal illicit businesses. The first approach entails an examination of different types of official documents to see what they reveal about the quantity or nature of individual consignments being imported or exported. The second approach requires a comparison between official documents and private commercial records. The third approach is based on the internal examination of complex private accounts. It involves the second and third forms of analysis. It describes by carrying out record linkage between the customs accounts and private business records, with the aim of throwing light on the nature and prevalence of smuggling in Bristol. The chapter shows that during the period covered by John Smyth's ledger and the surviving accounts of the Tyndall brothers, smuggling in Bristol appears to be restricted to just two trades.
