Summary:

Outi Korhonen, Peasant shipping from Hailuoto to Stockholm in the 18th Century

Peasant shipping in the island of Hailuoto is an almost unknown phenomenon. So far, it is known that the inhabitants of Hailuoto had trade rights to Stockhom, but it is unclear, whether they actually sailed there at all. However, court records, among other sources, demonstrate that they did sail to Stockholm in the 18th Century. Some of the court cases date back to 1720–1730, but they mostly took place in 1750. The court records deal with different kinds of cases that happened during the sailings to Stockholm or were related to trade goods or the construction of vessels. The extent of peasant shipping in Hailuoto does not come directly from primary sources, but seems to have been relatively common.

The vessels or “yachts”, as they were called, were carvel-built and were approximately 13 metres long. They were owned by companies of 3–5 partners made up of owners and sons of the biggest farms in Hailuoto. The vessels had masters, mates and seamen in their crews at the very least. The aim of the sailing ventures was to attend the autumn market in Stockholm. Shippers would even stay during winters in Stockholm, as the sailing conditions in the autumn were often difficult. Some export goods of Hailuoto, as found out from the court cases, were seal skins, blubber, calf skins, salted meat, whitefish and butter, and imports include cotton, hemp, iron, tobacco and salt. The shippers used to carry the goods of the other islanders to Stockholm, and a couple of times those of the mainlanders’, which was illegal. Thus, the remainder of their own livelihoods, fishing, seal-hunting and cattle herding, was sold, and the money was used to purchase needed products. For the peasant shippers, trade was a secondary occupation.

Trading to Stockholm seems to have come to an end at around 1760. The reason for this mentioned in the sources was a lack of forest resources in Hailuoto. For this reason, the islanders could not build more vessels seaworthy enough to sail to Stockholm. It is also possible, that the change of trade conditions affected the cease of peasant shipping. The Bothnian staple constraint, which prohibited the port town of the Gulf of Bothnia to send ships to the south of Stockholm and Åbo, was repealed in 1765. When foreign trade from the nearest port towns picked up, old peasant shipping to Stockholm possibly became unprofitable. After 1750, the shippers of Hailuoto continued to carry goods only to the close coasts of the Bothnian Bay.