The profits to be made helping to‘run’smuggled cargo to the customers in
towns vastly exceeded what could be earned legitimately–perhaps equalling
a week’s wage for a night’s work─and hundreds of men and women became
involved in moving and hiding the cargos.
Shares might be sold locally to finance a trip, involving whole
communities; people with a vested interest in the goods such as publicans and
wine merchants might also put up the money to fund the venture. In the South
East, London and other urban areas merchants became involved in the
financing of smuggling to a greater extent than in the more remote parts of the
West Country. There is a strong suspicion that other individuals also put up the
money as a form of speculation, some of whom may have been very highly
placed and outwardly respectable citizens, not only in the coastal towns but
also in the cities. Foreign suppliers might also finance trips to ensure the
market for their gin or brandy, in some cases providing their own vessels for
the job.
Large gangs were operating in parts of the country by the mideighteenth
century–in East Sussex, in Suffolk and elsewhere─some of which were
hundreds strong and renowned for their violence.
Agents across the Channel arranged for the cargos to be embarked, to be
carried to a rendezvous and transhipped to the waiting smugglers’small and
nimble foreandaft rigged boats and ships, from places such as Lorient,
Calais, Dieppe, Roscoff and Vlissengen. The French government encouraged
the trade, which provided export income. Efforts were made to pack the goods
into smaller containers than those used for legitimate trade, because the
exporters were well aware of the means by which the goods would be
distributed once they were landed in England. Small barrels or halfanker tubs
weighing about half a hundredweight each contained tea or spirits, slung in
roped pairs that could be carried by one man, or slung across the back of a
mule or pony. The spirits were supplied overproof, to save space, and were to
be diluted and flavoured when delivered. Over time, more and more ingenious
ways were employed to conceal cargos–false bottoms, tobacco disguised as
ropes and so on.
As the trade developed, larger ships were employed, often designed to very
high standards, and usually much better built than the vessels employed by the
revenue agents. Many were armed with small cannons. The smugglers were
faster, stronger and better seamen than the typical revenue crews, and they had
stronger motivation to succeed. The only other defence the authorities had was
the shorebased riding officers, who stood little chance of being able to
intercept a cargo being landed, or to be able to faceoff a large number of
CRIME IN THE AGE OF INDUSTRY AND EMPIRE