Many who worked in and around the docks would use pubs as places to do business. Wages were paid there, although those paying them often expected to get some back in the form of drinks from grateful employees. If they didn`t, the jobs might well go elsewhere. Contracts and other agreements were made in pubs. Also very important was the passing on of information that could help individuals get work. News, for instance, of which employers were hiring and which ships were expected. Workers seeking a job would often start their search in a pub. Pub landlords were sometimes significant employers themselves. Running a pub fitted in well with recruiting gangs of men.

Bad business

Inevitably, pubs and clubs also attract those who prey on sailors. Perhaps the most notorious were the crimps, often pub landlords and owners of sailors` lodging houses.

Sailing ships were hard and dangerous to work on. As steam ships became more numerous, sailors preferred them as being slightly easier and more predictable. As it became more difficult to get crews for sailing ships, the practice of `crimping` grew. The sailor would be encouraged to drink more than he should. Indeed his drinks were often `spiked` to make them stronger. When drunk and incapable of resisting, he would be carried off. When he woke up next day he found he had `agreed` to join a sailing ship, which was now at sea.

As well as crimps, sailor`s pubs attract all manner of petty criminals, including thieves and those who tried to cheat them at card and other games played for money. Prostitutes might also be tempted to help themselves to a sailor`s possessions. The town`s police force would be well aware of these goings on, but with many pubs and large numbers of sailors enjoying `a run ashore`, policing them all was well-nigh impossible. Sailors were expected to look out for themselves.

Drink and be merry

Good business, bad business

Ports are different