The Last Days of the German Trade in Shetland and the Origins of a Shetland Merchant Class, 1697-1712

It is well-known that in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, merchants from North German nearly monopolised the Shetland trade in fish. Germans brought goods to Shetland to exchange with the Shetlanders for cod and ling. The impression has got around that Shetlanders simply sat at home and waited for the Germans to come. And then the German trade collapsed about 1712, leaving the Shetlanders high and dry.

It has not been noticed that in the final part of this period, a group of Shetland merchants slowly began to set up their own trading concerns, at first in collaboration with Germans. Men like Arthur Nicolson, William Henderson and Thomas Gifford made preparations during the crisis period before and after 1712, and eventually took control of the whole trade themselves.

Using local and German sources, Brian Smith will describe how this major change happened in Shetland’s commercial affairs.

Date: Thursday 7th March
Time: 7pm - 8:30pm
Location: Auditorium, Shetland Museum & Archives
Ticket price: £5.00