SMUGGLERS' BATTLES PART 4
Brandy for the Parson, 1771 to 1779.
A history of the skirmishes seen across Britain during the "golden age" of smuggling, gleaned from newspaper accounts from the time it shows how far both side would go to gain success.
March 1771;
A few days ago a Customs House cutter from Dover fell in with a smuggling vessel which she ordered two of her men immediately to board, but the smuggler insisted they should not and on their attempt to board were knocked overboard. The Captain of the cutter then left them for a time.
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| Dover Castle. |
On observing another cutter from Dover they joined company and came up with the smuggler just as they were going to land near Folkstone. They demanded their goods which was refused and the cutters were pelted with stones &c and otherwise very roughly used, upon which an officer on board took up a blunderbuss and told them if they did not surrender that he would instantly fire, which he very soon did.
Several of them are wounded, one of them is since dead, another taken and carried to Dover Castle, the officers also made a seizure of 150 tubs of brandy.
January 1772;
Brentwood Jan 5. Last week Mr Harvey, supervisor of excise at Brentwood, received information that a party of smugglers being on the road from Billericay towards Brentwood, with several horse loads of tea and other smuggled goods.
He immediately applied to one Sergeant Lightfoot of the 34th Regiment of Foot, now on a recruiting party and quartered at Brentwood, to assist him in making a seizure of the same, who, together with three new recruits, the supervisor and three other excise officers, armed with pistols &c, went on horseback between twelve and one in the morning towards Billericay to meet them.
And at three quarters of a mile, the turnpike leading towards Harton met about 10 horses loaded as many men well armed to attend them. They impudently without considering the inequality of number, fell on the smugglers sword in hand, but were soon forced to give way, being overpowered, the supervisor, sergeant and recruits behaved with courage and resolution and had the others done the same, there doubtful would have been much mischief done, if not murder, on both sides.
The supervisor presented a pistol at one of the smugglers, who in a sneering manner told him to put it up as he would certainly come off the worst of it if he went to that work, but before he could reply to this he was knocked down. The smugglers proceeded on their journey towards London, went through Brentwood in triumph about two and were seen to go through Ilford about four.
One of the smugglers received a violent cut with a sword on the side of his head, which almost took off his cheek, the sergeant received six wounds to his head, one of which will prove mortal. The supervisor is dangerously wounded and his recovery is doubtful and one of the recruits is likely to lose his arm.
October 1773;
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| Langstone Harbour. |
Sunday morning about two o'clock the noter Squire, master of a smuggling vessel, was met in his boat, laden with about two tons of tea in oil skin bags, at the mouth of Langstone Harbour by the watch boat at Hayling Island.
The two officers in the watch boat endeavoured, but in vain, to make a seizure of the goods. They, however, did not leave the smuggling boat until they had received several blows from the smugglers who threatened to murder them and several times knocked them down with oars and bludgeons, by which one of them received a violent contusion on the head.
Smuggler Squire is since apprehended and his cutter is now under seizure at Portsmouth.
A poem from July 1774 on the dangers of chasing smugglers.
"But with your patience not to make too free, we change the subject and the simile
To chase a smuggling vessel full in sight, we've launched a three decked cutter and this night,
With your assistance, we we will make the foe sink or submit to CAPTAIN TIMBER TOE,
But you, ye critics, fall not foul of me, if once I sink, I founder in the sea,
In this condition can I swim to shore, I'm cork 'tis true (pointing at his artificial leg) but then I want an oar,
Besides 'tis dangerous, I find, to sleep, myself and ship in brine twelve fathoms deep, my chin I'd rather above water keep,
Oft you have saved my little Bark from sinking, I am no fish, keep me from water drinking".
November 1774;
A letter from Sussex says "We hear from Lewes that during the election for that town a party of smugglers were brought into that place by the Dragoons quartered on the coast, after a sharp engagement in which two Dragoons and four smugglers were killed".
December 1774;
Lewes, Dec 12. A few days ago a Dragoon on his way from Arundel to Chichester came up with and attacked a party of smugglers with contraband goods. They immediately seized him and bound his left hand to his right foot and threw him into a hedge and left him to unbind himself, which with much difficulty he effected.
He proceeded on his journey but had not gone far before he met another party, who on his attacking them treated him in a like manner with the former.
May 1775;
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| Fulham Bridge. |
July 1775;
York July 25. On Wednesday se’nnight the officers of Whitby, having information of contraband goods being landed on the southward of Whitby, armed their boat and went in search of them, which they found and took to the amount of 39 half-anchors of Geneva.
In returning they espied a lugger, with two boats astern, making all the sail she could towards them and fearing least it should prove the cutter that wanted to retake the prize, they unanimously agreed to put into Saltwick.
But just as they had got their prize landed, they saw one of the lugger’s boats coming in, which discharged a musket or two at them. This directly put the captain of the customs house boat and all his men (save one) to flight, leaving the prize and the man to the mercy of the enemy.
But luckily, the supposed enemy proved no more than one of the boats from the King’s cutter, who in the offing had taken them for smugglers. This brought the officers back to the man guarding the prize.
A case of friendly fire!!
May 1776;
Yesterday, in consequence of an information being given to some revenue officers of a quantity of smuggled tea being lodged in a public house in Oxford Street, they went there and made a seizure of 12 bags, which they put in a hackney coach, in order to convey it to the customs house.
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| The St. Giles Rookery. |
One of whom had one of his ears cut off and another his face cut with a hanger. One of the gang was taken and carried before the magistrates at the office in Litchfield Street, who committed him to Newgate and a diligent search is making after the rest of them.
May 1776;
Yesterday morning Benjamin Harley and Thomas Henman were executed at Tyburn pursuant to their sentence for the murder of Joseph Pierson, a Customs House Officer at Deptford. Their bodies were afterwards carried to Surgeons Hall for dissection.
It was yesterday confidently asserted that Gipsey George, one of the smugglers, concerned with the above Harley and Henman, was taken by one of the Kings cutters as he was going in a smuggling wherry to Dunkirk.
July 1776;
York, July 23. Wednesday John Spink, the Riding Officer (who was with the soldiers when the murder was committed by the smugglers at Runswick) went in a small boat, or coble, with Sergeant Barber of the 1st Regiment of Dragoon Guards only and seized a smuggling vessel 20 tons burthen with 40 half anchors of foreign geneva, a league from shore.
April 1777;
A letter from Canterbury dated 5th April says,
" Last week one of the Excise cutters was in pursuit of a smuggling boat and drove her ashore near Boulogne. The master of the cutter ordered six men into the boat to seize the smuggling vessel but the smugglers resisted, the French people on the coast came down and seized the six men belonging to the cutter and confined them in a dungeon at Boulogne.
The next day they were removed to a more comfortable part of the gaol and an express was sent up to Paris with a state of the facts and the men lay confined waiting the determination of the court.
A state of the facts by an inhabitant of Bologne, as also another copy signed by the six confined men has been sent over and forwarded to London.
One of the smugglers received a deep wound in the back by one the cutter's people with an axe. It is said the smugglers being so near on the French coast were not liable to be seized and that the cutter's people were to blame".
June 1777;
Extract of a letter from John Haven, near Aberdeen, dated 7th of June.
“Last night a smuggling cutter came in close to the harbour and delivered several boats loaded with gin, in the very face of the King’s officers, so impudent were they, that they left only four men ashore to load the anchors into the cart, while they returned with the boats to the vessel side.
The tide-waiters, no longer able to brook the bare faced manner of their proceedings, collected what small assistance they could, which you may imagine in this part of the world was very difficult, and attacked the smugglers.
A desperate engagement ensued, in less than 10 minutes they had killed 6 poor people and wounded many more, so that the officers thought proper to decamp and leave them in quiet possession. The desperate villains, however, not satisfied with the blood already spilt, closely pursued them and murdered several in their flight.
It is impossible to describe the confusion and terror they spread, in spite of every endeavour made use of by the gentlemen in the town, they set fire to the principal exciseman’s house and burnt it to the ground and after many other abuses were hardly prevailed on to retire to their vessel.
January 1778;
On Christmas day, in the morning, a body of smugglers were riding without any loading, by Applesham, near Chichester, they were accosted by Mr W---n, excise officer, of that city, after some altercation with them, shot one of their horses dead on the spot.
This treatment so exasperated the smugglers, that they instantly fell on him with their horse whips and had they not been surprised by a party of dragoons (11 in number) who were in ambuscade, it is thought the consequences must have been fatal for the officer.
The soldiers, after a stout resistance, being overpowered by numbers, were totally routed and pressed so hard by their enemy in their flight, that several of them were drove into a deep ditch, in which situation their pursuers left them, hinting, that they might form there a faint idea of the sufferings of their devoted brethren in America.
May 1778;
They write from Dover that on Friday was brought in there a very large smuggling cutter with several swivel guns and small arms on board. This cutter several days before at about eleven at night fell in with a Customs House boat, the smugglers at that time, having about three tons of tea in their small boat going from the cutter to shore, where a gang waited for the goods.
The Customs House officers perceiving the boat made after it, on which the smugglers from the cutter fired on the officers, as did the land smugglers from the shore. One of the officers got in and seized the tea, but the smugglers knocked him down and beat the other officers very much with their oars &c.
Having thus driven them off they landed the tea, but one of the tenders cutters from Dover came up and joining the Customs boat they all went together, seized the smuggling cutter and brought her, with the master, to Paver Pier, where she now lies, the master being in close confinement with a constant guard kept over him.
June 1778;
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| Fleet Street. |
At length arriving in Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, about ten o’clock, another skirmish ensued, when one of the officers, who had received several wounds, shot the smuggler in the body, who was immediately carried to an inn in Holborn, where he lies without hopes of recovery. The officer was soon after taken to prison, where he continues very ill of his wounds.
November 1778;
Thursday last a very large seizure of smuggled goods was brought in here (Southampton), it was guarded to our Customs House by a party of the Lincolnshire Militia.
This seizure was made by Mr Brice, assisted by the above party, who were obstinately opposed by the smugglers and in the affray two soldiers were wounded and one Mr Barnes of Christchurch , the owner of the goods, was killed.
The seizure consists of 14,000lb of tea, 2oo kegs of brandy, 33 horses with wagons and carts and is valued at 4000l. Fifty two horses mostly laden with tea escaped.
December 1778;
On Monday night last was brought into Margate, by Captain Watson of Dover, a new smuggling cutter of 200 tons burthen, supposed to be the largest in England, laden with upwards of 600 casks of liquors and a ton and a half of tea.
Captain Watson would not have been able to take the above smuggler had she not lost her mast by carrying too much sail in order to effect her escape.
June 1779;
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| The Pack Horse, Midford. |
On Saturday last Mr Hayden, supervisor of this city (Bath), being informed that a large quantity of tea was concealed in a barn at the Pack Horse on Midford Hill, he with three of his officers made a seizure of the same.
An alarm being immediately given the smugglers attacked the officers with pistols, blunderbusses and bludgeons, when after a combat of half an hour the smugglers over powered them. They immediately loaded their horses and proceeded in triumph through Wellow, Combe Hay and as supposed by way of Odd Down to Bath.
The supervisor and one of the officers are very dangerously wounded.
September 1779;
We hear from Filey Bay and Flamborough Head, that the fishermen of those places have formed into companies, for the defence of that part of the coast, having no troops nearer than Hull and Scarborough and style themselves the Royal Fishing Volunteers.
There cannot be stronger proof of the invincibility of this little island, than what has been produced by the bravado of our enemies against Plymouth. In one day no less than 1300 men turned out from only three parishes, under the conduct of Mr Bastard, a respectable gentleman in the neighbourhood, whose zeal and activity on this occasion deserve great praise.
Two hundred smugglers also presented themselves and though the compulsion of the press could never drive them into service, yet, at the first intimation of their country’s danger, they resigned themselves voluntarily and are now being trained by the Royal Scotch.
This shows how real the threat of a French invasion was, no doubt the smugglers put their training to some use in quieter times.
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| Deal, a hotbed of smuggling activity. |
December 1779;
William Pringle and Richard Flowers, two officers belonging to the Assistance cutter in the service of His Majesties Customs at Dover, endeavoured to make a seizure of a large Deal boat laden with uncustomed goods which was laying on shore near the north end of Deal.
In the execution of their duty they were assaulted, resisted and opposed by a gang of smugglers who fired upon and very dangerously wounded the said officers to the great danger of their lives.
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