This volume contains all the surviving early-Stuart surveys of Mariners and Shipping for Devon and Cornwall, including a hitherto unknown one of south Devon discovered in the Pepys Library at Magdalene College Cambridge. From parish to parish, all along the coasts of the two counties and in some cases far inland, the seafaring population is delineated. There are about 6000 names in all, a source for social and maritime historians and especially valuable for family historians in the two counties. Nearly unique in its time as an 'occupation census', the information provides rare glimpses into local life. Included in the Introduction is an analysis of contemporary ships' names.
