Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/450

 English ships to enter them as belonging to Virginians. The order in council condemning these laws showed rather premature apprehension, since John Page and others, in a petition presented by them to Lord Culpeper in 1681, stated that there were but two ships in the Colony which were owned by citizens of Virginia and had been built in its confines. The English Government apparently did not oppose the construction in the Colony of sea-going vessels, provided that their cargoes were made subject to the usual duties. In 1697, ships were constructed in Virginia by Bristol merchants who were influenced to build there by a consideration not only of the fine quality of the timber, but also of the comparatively small cost entailed in the performance of the work.

In the course of the same decade, several vessels were built by Virginians for their own use. Among them was a ship of forty-five tons, constructed for John West of Accomac, which was staunch enough to make a sea voyage. John Goddin of the same county also built a vessel,