Research report: Meike Fellinger
Meeting 6 June 2012
Research work progress
In the last weeks I have been focusing on the transcribtion, analysis and organization of my
primary source material. (The National Archives, the British Library and the James Ford Bell
Library)
Since the last report in March 2012 I have gathered additional material held in the British
Library, London. (mostly from the G-series).
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Here, I worked with Richard Scott Morel (BL archivist) towards the completion of a
private trade database that covers the period 1720 to 1765 and brings together the
widely scattered registers of privilege goods bought by supercargoes, commanders
and officers of the English East India Company. This database enables me to analyse
fluctuations in private trade activities over time, to focus on specific goods such as
lacquered wares or fans, and crucially, to analyse the trading activities of a number of
individuals of whom I have found matching sources such as private correspondence,
cash- and account books and a sales catalogue for private trade textiles). Individuals
for whom I am developing case studies are: Captain Francis Nelly, Richard Moreton,
Captain Lascelles, Captain Charles Hudson, Frederick Pigou et al.
The database consists of 2105 entries (ca. 110 printed pages) and is enormously
important for understanding the allocation of cargo space and privileges amongst the
officers. Since my research is based on widely scattered mercantile correspondence I
need strong evidence from the official records in order to compare and analyse
personal correspondence more fruitfully.
With this database at hand, it is now possible to identify individuals (captains as well
as supercargoes) with exceptionally high imports of certain goods such as wrought silk
or lacquered furniture for further analysis of their metropolitan connections to
wholesalers and elite consumers.
In some cases it is also possible to determine what kind of goods were actually
registered by individual merchants and what others were brought in illegally.
In preparation for our Swaledale team meeting at the end of June, I am busy with writing my
first chapter that will be pre-circulated and discussed among the group members. A short
outline of my chapter plan and main arguments will serve as the context for the dicussion of
the empirical work presented in the paper.
Papers, conferences:
Leiden
I joint our project team in Leiden where we had the chance to visit a 17 th century replica of a
Dutch East Indiamen. This experience was incredibly helpful for my own research since it
changed my idea of the living conditions and spatial divisions between officers and simple
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seamen quite drastically. Prof. Leonard Blussé and his team at Leiden University organised a
two-days workshop. On the first day, which was dedicated to the Asian trade I had the
chance to present a brief outline of my project and put forward some of the key arguments I
want to make.
Osterley Park
I have written a paper and given a presentation at Osterley Park (National Trust) on 25 May
2012.1 My talk was an effective collaboration with the ‘East India Company at Home’
project, led by Prof. Margot Finn. More than fifty volunteers and a group of curators and
administrative staff of the house came eager to learn about the connections of the Child
Family (owners of Osterley Park) with the East India Company. In my presentation, I focused
on the ways in which the many Chinese and Indian objects that are part of the Osterley
collection and interiors today got there in the 1720’s when Francis Child, the Younger was
repeatedly elected a director of the EIC. The exchange with those researching the meaning
and use of particular goods in the collection proved very useful for my own understanding
of the different means in which goods were bought, gifted and inherited within the context
of an East India Company family.
12th Warwick History Postgraduate Conference, 31 June /1 July 2012
At the annual postgraduate conference, I had the chance to give a paper on an aspect of the
commission trade that I am concerned with in my first chapter. The 15 minutes piece was
entitled: ‘Talking fashion: wholesalers, mariners and the prediction of markets for Chinese
export wares, c.1720-50’. I was particularly interested in discussing the transnational
networks of merchant-mariners with wholesalers in Europe and the ways in which both
groups relied upon each others’ expertise to predict market developments and profit from
speculation.
Organization: Monash/Warwick partnership:
I was the principal organiser and chair of the 2nd Warwick/Monash Postgraduate workshop
on ‘Visual and Material Cultures’ held on 27 April 2012. Three speakers from Warwick (Dr
Kate Smith, Shengfang Chou and Matthew Jackson) presented their work in a teleconference to students and staff at Monash University, Australia. The 25 participants on
both sides of the screen engaged in a lively discussion about the ways in which material
culture approaches can enrich our understanding of the past. The exchange proved fruitful
for all participants and will be continued on a regular basis in the next academic year. Anne
Gerritsen and Giorgio Riello secured funding for more ambitious schemes that will enable a
regular exchange between the Monash and Warwick History departments.
Plans for future research work and conferences:
I will spend the summer writing and revising the chapter on private commissions. An
extended version of the paper I have given in Warwick about the connections between
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See the annexed handout. I have contributed the part on ‘Obtaining goods’.
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mariners and wholesalers will feature as a subchapter. The first draft will be pre-circulated
and discussed at our team meeting at Swaledale.
In September, I am planning to go on an archival trip to York (Hickleton Papers that feature
letters and ledgers from Frances Wood and other supercargoes, 1758-c.1770) and Scottland
(National Archives of Scotland, Aberdeen and Drum Castle, the family seat of Charles Irvine).
Plans for conferences:
In the next months there are a number of conferences coming up where attendance/active
participation would be of great use for my research and professional development:
Call for papers: International Conference on "Private Merchants of the China Trade 1700
to 1842" 2013 November 28-30 Venue: Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou. I will send a
proposal to Prof. Paul Van Dyke who organises this conference on private trade which fits
neatly into my research area. Deadline for the submission of the proposal is: 15 July 2012.
On 28/29th September, I would like to attend the conference entitled: ‘New directions in
Global History’ of the newly established centre for Global History, University of Oxford.
Autumn term 2012: I am invited to present my work at the ‘Maritime History Seminar’ in
Cambridge. It is a small seminar and the student organisers explicitely asked for a work-inprogress piece and a broader introduction to my research project.
12-14 December, Anne Gerritsen and Giorgio Riello are planning a conference at Warwick
on ‘Global Commodities: The Material Culture of Early Modern Connections, 1400-1800’. If
possible, I would like to attend this conference. I am sure there will be plenty of interesting
research presented and I hope to meet some scholars who work on topics related to my
project.
In January 2013, the ‘Trading Eurasia’-project will have its own conference in Venice on
‘Goods from the East: Trading Eurasia, 1600-1830’ with a great number of distinguished
scholars attending. I am, as always, happy to present my work and help with the
organisation.
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