Destination unknown: The geography of Baltic shipping and the registration system of the Sound Toll Registers in the eighteenth century

Abstract

This research note explores the specifics of the Sound Toll Registers as a historical source. It accounts for the shipmasters who sailed into the Baltic but are largely absent from the Sound Toll Registers because they were not attributed to a port. A method of detecting these shipmasters is proposed, together with an explanation as to why this administrative practice developed.