Much of the end of the section relates to the transport and warehousing of goods, as important to trade in the 18^th and 19^th centuries as it is today. When so much was conveyed by sea, and so many consumables had to be imported, complicated arrangements had to be made for the storage of goods and their conveyance to and from the provinces. Goods would be shipped around the coast of Britain and brought inland from ports. London was very busy and it could take a week to get from London Bridge to Blackwall by river. The roles of wharfinger, warehouseman and shipping agent were crucial for the conveyance of goods to the eventual tradesman.

This badly oxidised, steel-engraved card shows the activities of a warehouse in London, with the arrival of goods by sea and their departure for London by horse-drawn wagon. Mr Harrison’s activities as a coal merchant remind us of the phrase in no. 134: ‘coals wholesale as cheap as at the water-side’.