Ship management could be seen as a natural step from investment, but ports provided many other opportunities for business management. For every ship that was built there were the ancillary trades of sailmaking, ropemaking, blockmaking and victualling. Similarly, shipbrokers, insurance agents, and many other similar service occupations and middlemen became increasingly evident during the century. Women are found running almost every business, with the exception of professions such as customs officials, brokerage and insurance.

This chapter will examine the wide range of roles in which women appear. Here the maritime trades that supported both shipbuilding and shipowning are examined, while shipbuilding is covered in the next two chapters. Ancillary trades have received little attention from a business perspective, although there is one exception which sought to capture the unsung and forgotten craftsmen and their tools and trades; the workshops and business premises were situated in close proximity within the maritime community. The Merchant Schooners gives a glimpse of the sailmaker and blockmaker and briefly mentions the surviving account book of John Popham, a north Devon sailmaker. Overall, it is hard to find much published information on ship chandlers, small foundries, blockmakers or marine store dealers. The main sources are trade directories, but these give little information on the business, so this is supplemented by the rare survival of business documents, wills, census material and other relevant sources.