Smuggling in Cornwall
Though common in the 18th and 19th
centuries in many areas of the country (e.g. Kent and Sussex), smuggling is
synonymous with Cornwall's past. In any study of the local history of Cornwall's
coastal villages, you will consistently find references to fishing and smuggling
as the chief employers of these small communities.
Smuggling centred on the south coast, ranging from Cawsand in
the east, noted as a smuggling village due to its close proximity to the ready
market of Plymouth, through to the small coastal villages of Lamorna and
Mousehole in the far west. There was some activity on the northern coasts,
though the geography and less sheltered coastline meant that trade here centred
on Ireland, rather than France and mainland Europe as in the south.
The hundreds of tiny inlets and shores capable of landing and,
if necessary, storing contraband, as well as the fishing communities' need to
supplement their poor incomes, meant smuggling was inevitable. The poorly paid
farm labourers and the hard living mining communities ensured there was a
constant demand for cheap goods, including tea, brandy, gin, rum and tobacco.
Smuggling was not just confined to the importation of goods
without the payment of tax. Indeed, even before 1700, the government had decreed
the death penalty for anyone found exporting wool, in an attempt to protect the
home weaving industries. This, however, did not deter those willing to risk such
penalties, for the not insubstantial sums that could be made. Following
successive hikes in tea tax, tea could be bought in Europe for 1/6th
of the price in Britain, while French brandy was only 1/5th of the
price.
The smugglers called themselves "free traders" and
took a pride in their ability to outsmart the Preventative or Revenue men
employed to catch them. Initially, smuggling took place fairly openly with
cargoes landed on shore and transported inland by eager helpers. This was made
possible by the involvement of all sections of the community, from the local
landowner, to the poorest peasant. The involvement of high ranking members of
society would range from turning a blind eye, to full scale involvement. The
Killigrew family, for example, who established Falmouth, was one such high
ranking family whose money and influence came from smuggling and piracy.
A further advantage to the smugglers, was the often under
resourced and overstretched Revenue men. This thin line could never hope to
compete and were often so poorly paid that they either joined the smugglers or
took bribes. This period, up until the end of the 18th century, was probably
smuggling's boom years. It was believed, for instance, that nearly half a
million gallons of brandy a year were being smuggled through Cornwall at this
time.
It was also common for ships returning from India and China to
'hover' off shore and sell untaxed goods such as china, silks and cottons. The
most celebrated case, being in 1763, when three East Indiamen lying in Falmouth
harbour, reputedly sold £20,000 of goods to the local inhabitants in this
way.
From about 1800 onwards, there was increased pressure on the
free traders from the Revenue men which resulted in a change in smuggling
practice. The need for a more clandestine approach led to smugglers 'dropping'
cargoes at sea or in sheltered coves to be picked up later when the coast was
clear. This period saw the increased use of tunnels and passages dug out of the
rocks, from which, contraband was transferred to south coast such as Looe,
Polperro, Mevagissey and Coverack.
No account of smuggling in Cornwall would be complete without
reference to some of the characters involved at the time. Perhaps most famous is
the Carter family of Prussia Cove, where John the eldest son, because of his
admiration for Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, named the cove after him.
His activities were notorious; he set up a small battery of cannons on the
cliffs and used them on one occasion to fire upon the revenue cutter "Faery"
when it got too close. Two years earlier, in 1801, he intercepted the revenue
cutter "Brilliant" as she made for Penzance with contraband previously
recovered from his operations. Fearing the displeasure of his customers, he
bearded the boat, recovered his property, and returned the goods to them.
The brother and sister team, the Fyns, were notorious
smugglers and pirates, who used Looe Island as their base. Black Joan, as she
was universally known, was the more fearsome of the two and is credited with the
murder of a Negro whose ghost is now said to haunt the island.
Whether legend or fact, it is unclear as to the reality of' Cruel
Coppinger', a Dane, reputed to have coerced villagers through fear and
intimidation, into smuggling, when he came to live in Cornwall after
shipwrecking on the safe houses, in villages throughout the north coast. His son
is said to have inherited his barbarous ways and to have laughingly killed his
playmate as a young child.
For all of the legends and stories, most smugglers were said
to have been more concerned with feeding their families than making fortunes.
The risks, however, were high; smuggling activities led to a minimum penalty of
transportation to colonies such as Australia, though often the penalties were
much more severe. Robert Lang, a smuggler from Veryan, is recorded as being hung
at the crossroads of Ruanlanihorne and St. Mawes as an example to others.