- "Did poor Robby ever get home? Back to his family, and the farm?"
"Yes. A year or so after we began sailing together, we docked in Bristol. Robby went looking for his family, only to discover that some kind of pestilence had swept through his village, and both his parents had caught it and died." - ―Amenirdis and Jack Sparrow
Bristol was a port-city on the south-west coast of England. During the Age of Piracy, it was one of the most prosperous merchant centers in Great Britain.
History[]
- "First we clean her, then we replace any worn planking. Then we'll need to pay the bottom to protect against weed and worm. For that we'll need fat and soap. And then we tallow her. And, if Mr. Beckett will spring for it, perhaps we'll sheath her, too."
"What about coating her with black stuff?"
"That's the last step. We're not in Bristol or Liverpool." - ―Jack Sparrow and Robert Greene, talking about the Wicked Wench
In the late 15th century the merchants of Bristol began to join together to protect their own interests. Their organisation, the Merchant Adventurers was incorporated in 1552. In the 16th century the main exports from Bristol were tin, lead, hides, fish, butter and cheese. However the cloth industry in Bristol declined.
In 1642 came civil war between king and parliament. In December 1642 a parliamentary army occupied Bristol and earthwork defenses were created around the town. In July 1643 the Royalists lay siege to Bristol and soon captured the town. The Royalists held Bristol for more than 2 years. While they occupied the town in 1644-45 there was an outbreak of plague in Bristol. In September 1645 a parliamentary army attacked Bristol. By this time the king was losing the war and the Royalists soon surrendered Bristol. In 1656 Cromwell ordered that Bristol castle be destroyed to prevent it ever falling into Royalist hands.
Bristol boomed in the late 17th century as new colonies were founded in the West Indies and North America. Bristol was well placed to trade with them because of its position in the West. Tobacco was imported from North America and sugar from the West Indies. In the later 17th century a glass industry prospered in Bristol. So did a shipbuilding industry.
In the first half of the 18th century Bristol was heavily involved in the slave trade. Manufactured goods from Bristol such as woolen cloth and brass and iron goods were given to the Africans in return for slaves. The slaves were then transported to the West Indies of North America and sold. The ships then took tobacco, sugar and rum back to Bristol. So the trade formed a triangle.
Glass and shipbuilding also thrived in Bristol. So did a chocolate industry. Some of the tobacco imported from North America was made into snuff in windmills. The metal industry made cannons, chains and anchors. There was also a large brewing industry in Bristol. In the 18th century coal was mined within the boundaries of Bristol.
Hector Barbossa grew up in the countryside outside of Bristol.[2][3] During his early years in the East India Trading Company Cutler Beckett worked in the Bristol EITC office, before he was sent to do more important duties in Nippon.[4]
Behind the scenes[]
- "Elizabeth, are you well? Everything shipshape and Bristol fashion? My tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature informs me you are troubled."
- ―Jack Sparrow to Elizabeth Swann
- Bristol would first be mentioned in the 2006 junior novelization for the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.[5]
- In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for Dead Man's Chest, Jack Sparrow would ask Elizabeth Swann if everything was "Bristol fashioned" prior to the Black Pearl's arrival to Isla Cruces.[6] Though the line never made it into the final cut, it was retained in the film's junior novelization.[5]
- Kevin McNally (Joshamee Gibbs) and Tom Hollander (Cutler Beckett) were born in Bristol.
Appearances[]
- The Price of Freedom (Mentioned only)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization) (First mentioned)
External links[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Price of Freedom
- ↑ Interview Geoffrey Rush PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN SALAZAR'S REVENGE
- ↑ "The reason why the pirates speak that British English is that they are likely to come from Bristol, which is where the ports were (...). And I told them that this guy would probably have grown up on a farm and was poor, so he decided to go to the port to see the boats and find work as a sailor. Then he would see the cabins of the captains and think that he would never get into the naval academy, so he would kill to get that room." - Geoffrey Rush
- ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter 4: "Cutler Beckett"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization)
- ↑ Wordplayer.com: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio