3-008-640 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Newhaven fishermen and fishwives, 1862. '...the fisheries are one of the chief natural resources of Scotland...At Newhaven, near Edinburgh, there is a seat of the white fishery...In former times the women of Newhaven used to carry the fish caught by their husbands to Edinburgh and hawk them through the streets; and strangers visiting the metropolis of Scotland used to stare in wonderment at the stalwart dames in picturesque petticoats and manlike jackets...pursuing their useful calling...except suffering an occasional loss of nets or lines by means of a passing storm, [the fisher folk] are not subject to much fluctuation of income or expenditure. The boat, with its outfit of nets, sails, lines, etc., is worth from a hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty pounds sterling. It is usually a family affair, being the property of a father and his sons, or of two brothers, and so on. So that at the busy season of herring-catching and other periods it is filled by the family, with the aid, perhaps, of one or two hired lads, who are very likely cousins or other relations of the owner, and who, in all probability, will speedily have a boat of their own. The Newhaven fisher people are admirable examples of their class...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.