The Sussex Smuggler

The Landguard:Smuggling in the 18th Century. When it comes down to the subject of 18th century Smuggling, not much is mentioned about the unsung heroes of the Landguard. There are not to many public houses or taverns called 'The Riding Officer' ,but plenty called or referring to smuggling.  The Riding Officers and the Landguard had it tough, it was a thankless task and with the odds stacked against the Riding Officers. Those brave enough executing the job were open to corruption and danger. One such example of how dangerous being a Riding Officer was in 1740 Thomas Carswell found a stash of tea in a barn at Etchingham, East Sussex after shadowing its landing by none other than the Hawkhurst gang at Bulverhythe, Hastings. Carswell with assistance of some Dragoons recovered the tea from a barn and started to convey the tea to Hastings Customs house. However, 'Trip' Stanford, who was leading this particular landing received word about Carswell taking the tea. The  intoxica

The Hawkhurst Gang Season 1 Episode 2 As the gang entered the 1740s, expansion west to the more accessible and flat beaches of West Sussex was an obvious business move. Gray and by now the notorious bunch of men who followed, were expanding by amalgamating with other gangs  through alliances and hostile take overs. This could be described in contemporary terms as a 'turf war'. Arguably, the struggle for Gray was not necessarily the Revenue and Dragoons as they were thinly spread, it would have been the other gangs.  Smuggling was a battle of survival, hearts, minds and only the fittest or maybe in this case the cruelest would survive. The lawlessness continued..... Mermaid Street, Rye. On right pub sign for the Mermaid Inn. A regular haunt for the gangs as well as other villains was Rye, East Sussex. The Transport gang led by Jeremiah Curtis (aka Alexander Pollard) worked with John Grayling in the Hastings area. Hastings would have been rich pickings in the 1740s with its beach

        The Hawkhurst Gang Season 1 Episode 1.       The 18th century made for a hard life and arguably, the Civil war made no material difference to working families as they remained poor and isolated, usually tied to an area for labouring purposes. There was no welfare state to take care of these families. If you were poor you were poor ! The smuggling gangs (or free traders) offered relief for all. For example, a tub-man could earn more money than his day job walking overnight contraband to a tavern. The said tavern could then sell that contraband with no tax paid and enhance its profit to customers in need of a beverage. The big profits of course went to the financiers and city merchants in London who also were slave traders and the wealthy, what could be described today as the the elite and richest one per cent. Some of those families and companies exist today and it is worth mentioning they are still very good at avoiding tax ! Smuggled goods where accessible to the poor, such a

The Ossuary of Hythe. The Port of Hythe. Hythe was an international port from the medieval times and had cinque port status granted by the Crown. The Cinque port status gave  ports the right to determine self governance and taxation, However the port in return had to raise a navy to defend the coast from attack. Hardly a professional navy !  Hythe attracted a lot of international trade and the evidence of this is found in the skulls and thigh bones found in the Ossuary at St Leonards Church. The time death from the bodies linked to the skulls range from the 12th century to the 15th century. The excavation of the bones started in the 13th century when the church was being extended   The Edwardians started  studying skulls.  The skulls were silent witnesses to their identity and cause of the death. Some showed disease or violence as there cause of death, this can be determined by the condition of the skull. Some have holes suggesting violence or extensions likely to be tumours  Some sku