Abstract
The editors of an important volume of essays on shipping history published in 1990 observed that ‘the study of man’s relationship with the sea is an old and honoured topic within the historical profession. Indeed, some of the foremost scholars of the past century have asked significant questions about this connection.’1 For all such a long tradition, however, the last forty years or so have seen such study gain impetus and a new direction in the form of a focus on the economic and social dimensions of that relationship. The shift is evident in the study of all spheres of maritime activity — including naval — but it is most marked in the sector of merchant shipping. Merchant shipping, for centuries considered and interpreted from romantic, nationalistic and imperial standpoints, has come to be examined for what it always has been, a business. Ships are capital goods — built and operated for profit — with consequent implications for markets and all factors of production.
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Notes
L. R. Fischer and H. W. Nordvik (1990) ‘Shipping and Trade, 1750–1950: An Introduction’, in L. R. Fischer and H. W. Nordvik (eds) Shipping and Trade, 1750–1950: Essays in International Maritime Economic History ( Pontefract: Lofthouse), p. v.
D. C. North (1958) ‘Ocean Freights and Economic Development, 1850–1913’, Journal of Economic History, XVIII, pp. 537–55.
L. R. Fischer and E. W. Sager (1980) ‘An Approach to the Quantitative Analysis of British Shipping Records’, Business History, XXII, pp. 135–51.
C. K. Harley and Y. Kaukiainen (1988) ‘The Atlantic Canada Shipping Project’, Newfoundland Studies, 4, pp. 87–97.
The proceedings of this first conference are to be found in K. Matthews and G. Panting (eds) (1978) Ships and Shipbuilding in the North Atlantic Region ( St John’s: Maritime History Group ).
L. R. Fischer and H. W. Nordvik (1989) ‘The Context of Maritime History: The New International Journal of Maritime History’, International Journal of Maritime History, I, pp. vi–x.
See for example L. R. Fischer (1978) ‘The Port of Prince Edward Island, 1840–1889: A Preliminary Analysis’, in K. Matthews and G. Panting (eds) Ships and Shipbuilding in the North Atlantic Region ( St John’s: Maritime History Group ), pp. 41–70;
L. R. Fischer (1979) ‘The Great Mud Hole Fleet: The Voyages and Productivity of the Sailing Vessels of Saint John, 1863–1912’, in D. Alexander and R. Ommer (eds) Volumes Not Values: Canadian Sailing Ships and World Trades ( St John’s: Maritime History Group ), pp. 117–55.
L. R. Fischer (1980) ‘A Dereliction of Duty: The Problem of Desertion on Nineteenth Century Sailing Vessels’, in R. Ommer and G. Panting (eds) Working Men Who Got Wet ( St John’s: Maritime History Group ), pp. 51–70.
L. R. Fischer and H. W. Nordvik (1984) ‘A Crucial Six Percent: Norwegian Sailors in the Canadian Merchant Marine, 1863–1913’, Sjøfartshistorisk Årbok 1984 (Bergen, 1985), pp. 139–59.
Many studies were produced in a Norwegian context. See for example L. R. Fischer and H. W. Nordvik (1988) ‘Salaries of the Sea: Maritime Wages in Stavanger, 1892–1914’, Stavanger Museum Årbok 1987 ( Stavanger: Stavanger Museum ), 103–32;
L. R. Fischer and H. W. Nordvik (1987) ‘From Namsos to Halden: Myths and Realities in the History of Norwegian Seamen’s Wages, 1850–1914’, Scandinavian Economic History Review, XXXV, No. 1, pp. 41–65;
L. R. Fischer and H. W. Nordvik (1988) ‘Wages in the Norwegian Maritime Sector, 1850–1914: A Re-Interpretation’, in L. R. Fischer, H. W. Nordvik and W. E. Minchinton (eds) Shipping and Trade in the Northern Seas, 1600–1939 ( Bergen: Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration for the Association for the History of the Northern Seas ), pp. 14–35;
L. R. Fischer and H. W. Nordvik (1989) ‘Norwegian Matroser: Seafarers and National Labour Markets in Norway, 1850–1914’, Scandinavian-Canadian Studies, IV, pp. 58–81.
L. R. Fischer (1991) ‘Seamen in the Industrial Revolution: Maritime Wages in Antwerp during the Shipping Transition, 1863–1900’, Collectanea Maritima, V, pp. 331–42;
L. R. Fischer (2003) ‘How Heavy Was Jack Tar’s Purse? Nominal and Real Wages for Canadian Seamen, 1783–1900’, in Leo Akveld et al. (eds) In Het Kielzog: Maritiem-historische studies aangeboden aan Jaap R. Bruijn bij zijn vertrek als hoogleraar zeegeschiedenis aan de Universiteit Leiden ( Amsterdam: De Bataafsche Leeuw ), pp. 345–55;
L. R. Fischer (1990) ‘Ethnicity and Compensation on the Sub-Continent: Patterns of Maritime Wages in India, 1863–1912’, in K. S. Mathew (ed.) Essays in Indian Maritime History ( Pondicherry: Pondicherry University Press ), pp. 36–59.
L. R. Fischer (1988) ‘Seamen in a Space Economy: International Regional Patterns of Maritime Wages on Sailing Vessels, 1863–1900’, in Stephen Fisher (ed.) Lisbon as a Port Town, the British Seaman and Other Maritime Themes ( Exeter: University of Exeter ), pp. 57–92;
L. R. Fischer (1985) ‘Seamen’s Wages in the Baltic Grain Trade: A Canadian-Norwegian Comparison’, in W. E. Minchinton (ed.) The Baltic Grain Trade: Six Essays. ( Exeter: University of Exeter ), pp. 60–72.
L. R. Fischer (1994) ‘The Efficiency of Maritime Labour Markets in the Age of Sail: The Post-1850 Norwegian Experience’, in L. R. Fischer (ed.) The Market for Seamen in the Age of Sail ( St John’s: IMEHA ), pp. 111–40.
L. R. Fischer and H. W. Nordvik (1992) ‘The Growth of Norwegian Shipbroking: The Practices of Fearnley and Eger as a Case Study, 1869– 1914’, in L. R. Fischer and W. E. Minchinton (eds) People of the Northern Seas ( St John’s: IMEHA ), pp. 135–55;
L. R. Fischer (1992) ‘The Making of a Maritime Firm: The Rise of Fearnley and Eger, 1869–1917’, in L. R. Fischer (ed.) From Wheel House to Counting House: Essays in Maritime Business History in Honour of Professor Peter Neville Davies ( St John’s: IMEHA ), pp. 303–22.
L. R. Fischer and H. W. Nordvik (1994) ‘Economic Theory, Information and Management in Shipbroking: Fearnley and Eger as a Case Study, 1869–1972’, in D. M. Williams and S. Ville (eds) Management, Finance and Industrial Relations in Maritime Industries ( St John’s: IMEHA ), pp. 1–29.
L. R. Fischer (1994) ‘Profits and Stagnation: Fearnley and Eger and the Interwar Crises, 1919–1939’, in P. Holm et al. (eds) Northern Seas Yearbook ( Esbjerg: Fiskeri- og Søfartsmuseet ), pp. 45–66.
L. R. Fischer (2005) ‘Storage Factors: Warehouses and Profits on the Liverpool Docks, 1870–1930’, Northern Seas Yearbook, pp. 18–59.
L. R. Fischer and H. W. Nordvik (1996) ‘The Evolution of the Norwegian Export Ports, 1850–1910’, in Lars U. Scholl et al. (eds) The North Sea: Resources and Seaway ( Stavanger: Norwegian University Press ), pp. 11–55;
L. R. Fischer (1999) ‘Port Policies: Seaport Planning around the North Atlantic, 1850–1939’, in L. R. Fischer and A. Jarvis (eds) Harbours and Havens: Essays in Port History in Honour of Gordon Jackson ( St John’s: IMEHA ), pp. 229–44.
L. R. Fischer (2002) ‘Information Flows and Decision-Making Structures in Maritime Industries around the North Sea, 1850–1914’, in M. Hahn-Pedersen (ed.) Information and Maritime Business around the North Sea ( Esbjerg: Fiskeri -og Söfartsmuseet ), pp. 27–61.
L. R. Fischer and H. W. Nordvik (2002) ‘Subsidy and Intervention: A Comparative Examination of Government Policies toward Shipping in North Sea Countries, 1945–1990’, in Randi Skotheim (ed.) Business and Finance in Maritime Industries around the North Sea ( Stavanger: Norwegian University Press ), pp. 71–119.
L. R. Fischer (1990) ‘The Sea as Highway: Maritime Service as a Means of International Migration, 1863–1913’ in K. Friedland (ed.) Maritime Aspects of Migration ( Köln: Böhlau Verlag ), pp. 293–307.
L. R. Fischer and H. W. Nordvik (1985) ‘The Growth of Maritime Transport in the North Atlantic, 1850–1914’, in Jürgen Schneider (ed.) World Economic Growth since 1650 ( Bamberg: University of Bamberg Press ), pp. 263–98;
L. R. Fischer and H. W. Nordvik (1986) ‘Maritime Transport and the Integration of the North Atlantic Economy, 1850–1914’, in W. Fischer, R. M. McInnis and J. Schneider (eds) The Emergence of a World Economy, 1500–1914 ( Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner ), pp. 519–44.
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© 2012 David M. Williams and Lars U. Scholl
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Williams, D.M., Scholl, L.U. (2012). Lewis R. Fischer and the Progress of Maritime Economic History. In: Harlaftis, G., Tenold, S., Valdaliso, J.M. (eds) The World’s Key Industry. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137003751_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137003751_2
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