British Tallow Imports Database, 1800-1901

British imports database used in Jim Clifford, “London’s Soap Industry and the Development of Global Ghost Acres in the Nineteenth Century,” Environment and History, 2020, https://doi.org/10.3197/096734019X15463432086982; https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:24957/.

Most of the data in this spreadsheet is extracted from a relational database that I have been developing with a team of students starting in 2014 from the following sources “Ledgers of Imports Under Articles, 1800”, Boards of Customs, Excise, and Customs and Excise, and HM Revenue and Customs, CUST 5/1B, British National Archives; 1831-1844 are from “Tables of Trade of United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions, 1831-40” and “Return of Quantities of Tallow, Palm Oil, Hemp, Flax, Hides, Skins and Sheep's Wool imported into United Kingdom, 1844-53”; and the 1853 to 1901 data are from a series of documents in the Nineteenth Century and Twentieth Century House of Commons Sessional Papers, with titles that begin with “Annual Statement of the Trade and Navigation of the United Kingdom” until 1870 and the “Annual Statement of Trade of United Kingdom” through to the twentieth century. They were all accessed through the ProQuest UK Parliamentary Papers.

The larger database includes all imports every five years from 1856 to 1906. Email me for access to the whole database.

Tallow imports from 1802-1828 were entered directly into Excel from the following sources: 1800-1821 is from United Kingdom, House of Commons, “Account of Quantity of Tallow imported into Great Britain, 1800-24,” Nineteenth Century House of Commons Sessional Papers, 1825, ProQuest UK Parliamentary Papers (1825-009633): 2-5; 1827-1828: is from United Kingdom, House of Commons, “Account of Quantity of Tallow, Flax, Hemp, Hides and Seeds imported, 1826-27,” Nineteenth Century House of Commons Sessional Papers, 1828, ProQuest UK Parliamentary Papers (1828-011166): 10.