THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com  created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

SMUGGLING IN THE 1700s

Copyright Valerie Martin 2006

When I hear the word "smugglers", I am always intrigued.  Throughout the 1700s, the daring smugglers faced draconian penalties and if they were caught they could face the death penalty.  The most popular goods smuggled were bundles of tobacco, kegs of wine and spirits (French brandy), tea in oilskin bags, coffee and French silks. 

On the 27th May 1703, a party of English and French smugglers were captured at nearby Shoreham but I have been unable to discover what the outcome was.

It is said that David Ferrol a reckless smuggler inhabited Coachmans in Nepcote around 1720.   I would love to discover more about him.

In 1741, several preventative officers (the equivalent of today's Customs and Excise investigators) and half a dozen soldiers intercepted a local gang near Arundel just to the west of Findon.   In the ensuing vicious battle, the smugglers beat two of the officers to death.

In the early 1740s, a smuggler named Hugh Green killed a dragoon on the shore at nearby Lancing.    A favourite area for landing goods was Lancing Shops...... this was the spot where today's Widewater is situated.  

Behind the beach there was a rough track (now known as Old Salt Farm Road) and this led directly to the original Sussex Pad which was a notorious inn destroyed by fire back in 1905.   Goods were stored at the inn before being moved via an ancient track traversing the lonely downland to distribution points in the downland villages Findon and Steyning.

In 1745, the forces of law had their biggest success when 36 smugglers were captured during landing contraband goods at Elmer Sluice, to the west of Littlehampton.  

If you have ever spent time delving into the local history of a coastal area as I have, you will sooner or later believe that everyone in these parts in the past was a smuggler..... or in every house resided a smuggler.  Everybody really was involved in smuggling in one way or another, or at least stood to benefit by its continuation.

Here is a story of how the body of a man came to be found in the lake in the nearby grounds of Parham House not far from Findon.   In 1748, Slindon was the home of an agricultural worker named Richard (Dick) Hawkins and he made the mistake of getting on the wrong side of well-known smugglers, John "Smoker" Mills and Jeremiah "Butler" Curtiss.   They decided wrongly or rightly that he had stolen two bags of contraband tea.    They proceeded to search high and low for him on the Walberton farm where he was employed so that they could face him with the accusation.  

When eventually located, Dick immediately denied all knowledge of being involved in the pilfering of any.   He was bodily  dragged off and hoisted onto the saddle behind John "Smoker" Mills and taken to the Dog and Partridge public house at Slindon.    It seems that what followed was a form of Smugglers' Court and Richard was put on trial for the crime.

The innkeeper appeared during the unlawful trial and pleaded with Dick to own up for his own good.

Dick continued to protest to the end that he was innocent to his capturers and was whipped and beaten for his trouble.   He was then forced to strip to the waist.   He begged for mercy but the smugglers continued to whip, hit and kick him so much so that they had to continually pause for breath.    During the punishing blows, Dick let slip —

"My father and my brother".
 

This admission made the smugglers pause in their vicious proceedings and two of the men rode off on their horses to search out the new victims.

Unfortunately, Dick could take no more and died of his inflicted wounds soon after the men had departed. Two of the smugglers had stayed behind at the inn and they locked the door of the room containing the body and promptly fearfully tore after their accomplices.  

They joined up with them just as they were returning to the inn with their two new prisoners.   The dead man's father-in-law and his brother. 

It was soon realised what danger the murderers were in with the law and they swore their new prisoners to secrecy with dire consequences.    They all adjourned once more to the Dog and Partridge and picked up Dick's corpse and rode eastwards trying not to look conspicuous.    They weighted his body with stones and dumped it in the lake at Parham some 12 miles away. Map Ref: TQ 0614.

Obviously, a manhunt commenced when the brutal murder was discovered.   One of the captured smugglers  (who had not actually taken part in the whipping) gave evidence against Mills at the trial, and thus saved his own skin and  negotiated a pardon in exchange for this service to the crown.     Curtiss for his part, escaped across the Channel to France before he could be eventually brought to court.

c. 1750, smugglers must have been responsible for the death of a revenue officer posted at Salvington on the downland above Findon.    The area was abuzz with speculation when he was discovered hanging in an outhouse.

Merchants would charter vessels and hire men to convey the goods from the English Channel inland. By the middle of the 18th century there were well-known gangs who organised up to two hundred men to unload a risky cargo in a few hours. These fearless local men, browned from all weathers, would go down to the shore in groups of up to fifty, fully armed with various weapons. They laid in wait for a given signal from the agent who had gathered information as to what cargo was expected. Dark nights were chosen and the luggers would duly arrive; they were painted black and were invisible with their dark sails.

The sailors rowed small boats of goods to the our shoreline. This was promptly loaded on to horses and wagons by the ruthless countrymen. They worked their way clandestinely up country, hugging the high ground, by the way of quiet byways — preferably choosing routes with a reputation of being haunted and not likely to be frequented. The local squires, farmers and even parsons supplied the horses for the enterprise. The horses wore leather shoes to deaden the sound of their hooves whilst drawing their carts of goods. It was the job of mounted dragoons to pursue and hunt down the law breakers.

Back in those days, no matter whom they suspected, the excise officers could not enter any place without a search warrant signed by a Justice of the Peace. 

The shore just to the west of nearby Worthing was designated a good landing spot where a group of old farm buildings (Sea Place), provided an ideal storage for goods.

Here is another relic of those times....

The above is a sketch of a ducking stool at Broadwater Green (just to the south of Findon) c. 1776.  I cannot quite read who the artist was in those far off days.

It is said that in 1778, a gang of smugglers rode through the Henfield High Street one evening.... carrying their contraband goods quite openly.   They had captured seven revenue officers but these were later released unharmed.

Smugglers also landed goods at Goring and Ferring using a route inland via the downland at Highdown Hill (within sight of Findon) where the miller, John Oliver, resided.   It is known that this particular miller acted as both a lookout and a store master for at least one local gang of smugglers.   This could indicate that the Findon Windmill was also used in such a manner.

One particular night, vessels were spotted off the coastline and the senior preventative officer in the area received a report that several hundred horses were waiting on the beach, together with no fewer than 500 smugglers and helpers.   The plan was to wait to land and disperse the contraband.   His informant assured him there were —

"enough spirits, wines, muslins, tea and coffee to make 3,600 horse-loads".

On that particularly night, a wise decision was made.   The prudent officer on duty opted for discretion and decided not to intercept the smugglers as he had only a handful of men at his disposal. 

In the year 1794, excise officers  were alerted when they heard an unusual commotion coming from the nearby beach in Brighton and set off to investigate.  What they saw surprised them.  A gang of smugglers were busily at work unloading 4-500 tubs of smuggled gin.  With the assistance of troops stationed not far away, the officers soon dispersed the buccaneering freetraders and immediately seized the illicit contraband.

En route for the Custom House in Shoreham, two of the soldiers accompanying the booty enthusiastically started sampling the gin in the barrels they were supposed to be delivering.  It got a bit out of hand.   They very soon over-indulged and rendered themselves insensible.  The following day they were discovered comatose on the beach.   One of the soldiers was to be wed that very day but he was literally dead drunk and did not recovered from his over-indulgence.

Continue if you would like to read about Smuggling in the 1800s.

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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.