Smugglers Raid Customs Store

This is why these illicit cargo runners had to be better armed personally and vessel wise too. Bribery and corruption was needed to allow a blind eye to be turned by those who could cause problems. For instance Doctors, Magistrates, Customs men and harbour masters. So much was at stake, the import of cargo so valuable that any one getting in the way would be found at the bottom of a cliff (apparently fell) or disappeared completely. If a smuggler killed a naval commander whether by accident or intentionly he could look forward to being hung in chains, drawn and quartered and left for a number of days to remind the local people. A friend would have to apply to remove the remains for proper burial.

Peace with France in 1783 saw trading with our cross channel neighbour resume and also the profitable business of smuggling all along the southern coastline by shipping of all types including heavily armed "privateers" whose vessels had served in the recent war. To combat this illegal trade the Customs Service had a total of 44 ships, cruisers and cutters averaging 150 tons in displacement. The captains of these vessels were answerable to the Collector or Controller of Ports. For this region the ports were Southampton, (Cowes Isle of Wight) and Poole. Named vessels were "The Rose", 190 tons, 30men lying at Southampton. The "Swan" 90 tons, 23 men lying at Cowes. "Speedwell" 194 tons, 31 men at Cowes. The "Laurel" at Poole with 20 men. Also a Navy ship was seconded to the Customs Service at Cowes, a Sloop of War the" Orestes".

The remoteness of Haven Quay, which today looks nothing like it did 200 plus years ago and Avon Beach were ideal landing sites for the local smugglers. When conditions were right the smugglers, now in smaller boats could navigate up the harbour and river under darkness. Some prominent citizens of Christchurch including at least one mayor were suspected of being the ringleaders but nothing could be proved. The Ship in Distress Inn at Stanpit village (See below) and The Cat and Fiddle at Hinton (now a "Harvester" Inn) appeared to be the names of alehouses at the time to be the centres of re-distribution.

"Before firing on a smuggler a Revenue cruiser was bound to hoist his Revenue colours—both pennant and ensign—no matter whether day or night"

An example of local smuggling

Sloop of War

Also employed to detect smuggling and to gather intelligence were supervisors and riders. Riders would patrol the coastline on horseback stationed 2 or 3 miles apart. A supervisor would oversee 5 or 6 of these officers and he would report to the local Collector. To ensure they carried out their duties properly the supervisors had to keep a daily log deliverable to the Collector. There are a number of names that consistently appear in records around 1788 involved in contraband, they are John Earley of Stanpit, John Streeter, Henry White and a customs riding officer named Joshua Jeans. Of the latter he was dismissed from the service for collusion with the smugglers Streeter and White. It had been reported that this officer ordered his men to go home to bed and take no notice of the Orestes attempting to seize two luggers in Christchurch Harbour. Also that he told his men not to enter into the daily journal the observances of vessels in the harbour and creeks carrying illicit cargoes. That he, Joshua Jeans received 100 small flasks of spirits from John Streeter master of the Lugger "Civil Usage" and also allowed a cargo of 8 tons of tea and approx 2500 casks of spirits landed by the lugger to be carried away without interference.

He was probably offered more money by the smugglers than his salary of approx £50 pounds per annum and 33% of the sale of seized goods. Bearing in mind that his family lived well. He married Sara Stevens, whose family had been appointed mayors many times, his sons went to Oxford university, one becoming a physician and the other a Doctor of Divinity. His daughter married the Vicar of Christchurch Priory who also was mayor of the borough in 1778. He died at the age of 64yrs on the 23rd November 1786, six months after dismissal from the service.

Typical Lugger

Street and White eventually were convicted of smuggling and held at Winchester Goal. It had never been proved but the consensus of opinion was that the jailers were lax in the keeping of these men who escaped to live in the Channel Islands. White had a small farm and other properties, the farm to keep horses and wagons, a front to his activities, disappeared but it had been noted that Streeter's wife still lived in Christchurch and that he returned sometimes in the disguise of women to visit or to look in on a tobacco and snuff factory. He avoided capture many times!

Poole Custom house first reported Streeter's snuff factory in the area of Stanpit, a collection of 6 cottages on the road to Mudeford. This was at time when the Custom House was under suspicion of collusion with Christchurch smuggler John Earley who was also an associate of John Streeter of the "Stanpit Tobacco Factory". Later the Controller of Poole Customs House was dismissed from the service after being found guilty of passing information of military activates to Earley in 1784.

Some idea of the degree of success which smuggling vessels attained during this eighteenth century may be gathered from the achievements of a cutter which was at work on the south coast. Her name was the Swift, and she belonged to Bridport. She was of 100 tons burthen, carried no fewer than 16 guns and a crew of fifty. During the year 1783 she had made several runs near Torbay, and on each occasion had been able to land about 2000 casks of spirits, as well as 4 or 5 tons of tea. Afterwards the whole of this valuable cargo had been run inland by about 200 men, in defiance of the Revenue officers. Then there was the Ranger, a bigger craft still, of 250 tons. She carried an enormous crew for her size—nearly 100—and mounted 22 guns. She had been built at Cawsand, that village which in smuggling days attained so much notoriety, and stands at the end of a delightful bay facing the western end of Plymouth Breakwater. This vessel had a successful time in landing cargoes to the east of Torbay without paying the lawful duty. And there were many fishing-boats of from 18 to 25 tons, belonging to Torbay, which were at this time accustomed to run across the Channel, load up with the usual contraband, and then hover about outside the limits of the land. When they were convinced that the coast was clear of any cruisers they would run into the bay and land, sink or raft their cargoes, according to circumstances.

Revenue Cruiser

But in the second of these the contractor provided the vessel, for which he was paid the sum of 4s. 6d. a ton per lunar month. It may seem at first that this was poor remuneration, especially when one recollects that to-day, when the Government hires liners from the great steamship companies, the rate of payment is £1 per ton per month. In the case of even a 10,000-ton liner there is thus a very good payment for about thirty days. But in the case of a cutter of 100 tons or less, in the eighteenth century, 4s. 6d. per ton may seem very small in comparison. However, we must bear in mind that although for this money the contractor was to find the outfit of the vessel, and be responsible for all repairs needed, yet the aforesaid contractor might make a good deal more in a lucky year. It was done on the following basis. From the produce of the seizures made by this subdivision of cruisers all remaining charges additional to those mentioned above were paid, but the surplus was divided between the Crown and contractor. Thus the latter stood to gain a large sum if only a moderate number of seizures had been made, and there was, by this method, every incentive for the hired cruisers to use their best endeavours to effect captures. Still, if there was a deficiency instead of a surplus, this was also shared by both contracting parties.

In the year 1784 there were, reckoning all classes, 44 cruisers employed, and 1041 men as crews. Of these cruisers the Commander, the Chief Mate and Second Mate, and, in certain vessels, the Deputed Mariners, were all officers of the Customs. In the case of the first class of cruisers—those which were on the establishment—these officers were appointed by the Board pursuant to warrants from the Treasury. In the case of the second—those which were hired by contract—the officers were appointed by the Customs Board. The captain of the cruiser was paid £50 per annum, the chief mate either £35 or £30, and the crew were each paid £15. But, as we shall see from a later page, the rate of pay was considerably increased some years afterwards. The victualling allowance was at the rate of 9d. per diem for each man on board, and an allowance of 1s. each was made by the lunar month for fire and candle. This last-mentioned allowance was also modified in the course of time. Some idea as to the seriousness, from a financial point of view, of this cruiser fleet may be gathered from the statement that these 44 vessels cost the Government for a year's service the sum of £44,355, 16s. 1d.

The largest of these forty-four cruisers was the Repulse, 210 tons. She carried 33 men and was stationed at Colchester. Her cost for this year (1784) was £1552, 16s. 8d. She was not one of the hired vessels, but on the establishment. Next in size came the Tartar, 194 tons, with 31 men, her station being Dover. She was on the establishment, ]and her annual cost was £1304, 6s. 2-1/2d. Of the same tonnage was the Speedwell, which cruised between Weymouth and Cowes. There was also the Rose, 190 tons, with 30 men, stationed at Southampton, being on the establishment likewise. Next to her in size came the Diligence, 175 tons, with 32 men. She cruised between Poole and Weymouth. She was one of the hired vessels, and was in 1784 removed from Weymouth to have her headquarters at Cowes. The smallest of all the cruisers at this time was the Nimble, 41 tons and a crew of 30. She also was a hired craft. Her station was at Deal, and her annual cost was £1064, 9s. 9d. for the year mentioned.

But though there was less expenditure needed at the outset, these contract ships were not altogether satisfactory: or rather it was the method than the cruisers themselves. For if we have any knowledge at all of human nature, and especially of the dishonest character which so frequently manifested itself in the eighteenth century, we can readily imagine that the contractor, unless he was a scrupulously honourable man, would naturally succumb to the temptation to economise too strictly regarding the keeping the ship in the best condition of repair; or he might gain a little by giving her not quite a sufficiently numerous crew, thus saving both wages and victuals. For the Crown allowed a certain number of men, and paid for the complement which they were supposed to carry.

Therefore, since this arrangement was marked by serious drawbacks, the contract system was discontinued, and at the beginning of 1788 fifteen contracts were ended, and five other cruisers' contracts were not renewed when they expired in that year. All the cruisers in the employment of the Customs Service were now placed on the establishment, and the practice of paying the charges and expenses out of the King's share of the condemned goods was rescinded. In the year 1797 the number of Customs cruisers was 37, the commanders being appointed by the Treasury; and it may be not without interest to mention the names, tonnage, and guns of some of those which were on the books for that year. There was the Vigilant, which was described as a yacht, 53 tons, 6 guns, and 13 men; the Vigilant cutter, 82 tons, 8 guns. During the winter season she cruised with ten additional hands off the coasts of Essex, Kent, and Sussex.

There was another, the Diligence, given as of 152 tons; the Swallow, 153 tons and 10 guns; the Lively, 113 tons, 12 guns, and 30 men. The Swift, 52 tons and 8 men, used to cruise between the Downs and the Long Sand (to the North of the North Foreland at the mouth of the Thames). Some of the old names under the former dual system are seen to be commemorated in the Nimble (41 tons, 2 guns, 15 men). Her station was Deal, and she used to cruise between the Forelands. The Tartar of this period was of 100 tons, ]had 10 guns and 23 men. But the Greyhound, probably one of the fastest cruisers, was of 200 tons, mounted 16 guns, and carried 43 men. Her cruising ground was between Beachy Head and the Start, and her station at Weymouth. A much smaller craft was the cruiser Busy (46 tons and 11 men). Her cruising was in a much smaller area—around Plymouth Sound and Cawsand Bay.

Owing to the fact that commanders had been wont too often to run into port for real or imaginary repairs, the Commissioners decided that in future, when a cruiser put in, she was to inform the Collector and Controller of that port by means of her commander, and both to give his reasons for coming in, and to estimate the length of time he was likely to remain in port, before his being able to sail again.

With regard to the prize-money which these cruisers were able to make, before the year 1790 there had been a diversity of practice in the method of sharing. In allotting rewards to officers for seizing vessels which afterwards had been taken into the Revenue Service, it had formerly been the practice to deduct the whole of the charges out of the officers' moiety of the appraised value. But from April 14, 1790, "for the encouragement of the seizing officers," the charge was deducted from the total appraised value, and the seizing officers were to be paid a moiety of the net produce, if any. It had also been the custom to allow the commanders of Admiralty cruisers permission to use seized vessels as tenders. But from May 6, 1790, this practice was also discontinued by the Board, who ordered that in case any such vessels were so employed at the different ports, the commanders were to deliver them up "with their tackle, apparel, and furniture," to the Collector and Controller of Customs.

We referred some time back to the fact that these Revenue cruisers at times were mobilised for war, and also that to them were granted Letters of Marque. In this connection there is to be noted an interesting warrant, under the King's sign-manual, dated June 11, 1795, which reads:—

"Whereas the Commissioners of our Treasury have represented unto us that the cutters in the service of our Revenues of Customs have captured several Ships and Vessels belonging to the enemy, and have recommended it unto us to issue our warrant to grant the proceeds of the Prizes that have been or shall be taken by the cutters in the service of our Customs, granted to the cutters capturing such prizes respectively, and the expenses of the proceedings, in regard thereto, among officers and crews of the vessels in the search of our Customs, who made the said captures, together with the head-money, in all cases where head-money is or may be due by law....

"Our will and pleasure is that the proceeds of all such Prizes as have been or shall be taken from the enemy in the course of the present war, by the cutters in the service of our Revenue of Customs, after deducting all expenses of the Letters of Marque granted to the cutters capturing such Prizes respectively, and the expenses of the proceedings in regard thereto, together with the head-money in all cases where head-money is or may be due by law, shall be distributed in the manner following; that is to say":—

The Commander 14/32 ds.
Mate 7/32 ds.
Deputed Mariner, or deputed mariners if more than one 3/32 ds., exclusive of their shares as Mariners.
Other Mariners 8/32 ds.

If there is no deputed Mariner,
The Commander 1/2
The Mate 1/4
Mariners 1/4

It may be mentioned, in passing, that a "deputed" mariner was one who held a deputation from the Customs Board. Another warrant, similar to the above, and to the same effect, was issued on July 4, of that memorable year 1805. In July of 1797, the Customs Commissioners drew attention to the third article of the "Instructions for the Commanders and Mates of the Cruisers employed in the service of this Revenue," reminding them that the commanders, mariners, and mates were in no case to be allowed to participate in the officers' shares of seizures made by the crews of the cruisers unless the first-mentioned had been actually present at the time when the seizure was made, or could afford satisfactory proof that they were necessarily absent on some duty.

Therefore the Board now directed that, whenever the crews of the cruisers made a seizure, a list of the officers who were not actually on board or in the boats of the cruisers at that time was to be transmitted to the Board with the account of the seizure. Then follows the other instruction which has already been alluded to. In order that the station of the aforesaid cruisers may never be left unguarded by their coming into port for provisions, or to be cleaned and refitted, or for any other necessary purpose, the commanders were instructed to arrange with each other "that nothing but absolute necessity shall occasion their being in Port at one and the same time."

It will be recognised that the object of this was, if possible, to keep the officers of the cruisers on board their vessels, and at sea, instead of ever running into port. For it would seem that by more than one of these gentlemen the work of cruising on behalf of the Revenue Service was regarded too much in the light of a pleasant, extended yachting trip, with an occasional chase and seizure of a smuggling craft to break the monotony of their existence and to swell their purses. But such a pleasant life was not that contemplated by the Customs authorities.