Historians at the University of Southampton have used artificial intelligence to study centuries of Britain’s maritime past. The project processed about 100,000 pages of handwritten trade records.
Researchers said the work would have taken years if done by hand. The AI tool sped up the job and revealed new details about how Britain traded with the world.
The records run from the Elizabethan era in the 16th century to just before the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. The data shows how Britain grew into an empire through its links with Europe.
How the AI Read Old Handwriting
The documents came from leather-bound parchment books held at the National Archives in Kew. These port books were transferred into digital form for the project.
Researchers trained the AI to read and recognize the handwriting of early-modern seafarers. This let the team pull out details about “who was trading what, with whom, when and where.”
Historian and lead researcher Professor Craig Lambert said compiling the data was a “massive task.” He added that AI “sped up the process enormously.”
The project is supported by a team of specialists. They work in maritime history, global history and computer science.
What Britain Traded and With Whom
The records show that coal and ale were among the key goods Britons traded. Other items included children’s toys from China and sheep guts.
Traders also dealt in Venice treacle. This herbal medicine was believed at the time to cure almost any illness.
The research suggests Europe was a more important trading partner than previously thought. Even as the British Empire expanded, Europe stayed central to England’s trade.
Between 1696 and 1697, European markets made up around 80 percent of the recorded value of England’s overseas trade. The finding is part of a wider look at how England’s trade routes developed.
The study also uncovered lost towns and the ports that once served them. These places disappeared from the map over time.
One example is Ravenspurn in East Yorkshire. It was once a busy trading hub but sank into the North Sea after severe coastal erosion.
Researchers said the project has mapped the growth of England’s trade routes in detail for the first time. It tracks the country’s global reach over two centuries.
An interactive map has been built from the research. It lets members of the public explore the large set of data for themselves.
