| The golden period of smuggling in Swansea and
Gower was 1750 to 1830. In the 1770s and 1780s, some parts of the
country had no control or militia cover at all and smuggling continued
unchecked and formed a substantial part of the local economy. This was
certainly the case in Gower for much of the eighteenth century.
Customs officers frequently had a hard time in the communities they
were meant to police. Distrusted by the population and often obstructed
in their duties, it could be a very lonely life.
Although dark moonless nights were considered best for smuggling (at
least in the historical novels!), Gower smugglers typically worked in
the day although this was less likely by the 1790s when more militia
patrols were introduced at Oxwich and Port Eynon.
Gower smugglers would often operate in bad weather when their
superior local knowledge and seamanship would give them an advantage
should anyone try to pursue them. Bad weather also meant that legitimate
traffic was at a minimum reducing the numbers of witnesses to their
activities.
Although the small inlet of Brandy Cove is often quoted as a typical
smugglers haunt, the preferred smuggling beaches were the wide open ones
of Oxwich, Port Eynon or Rhosilli, because it was easy to see strangers
from a long way off and impossible to hide soldiers.
The one thing that made the Bristol Channel particularly susceptible
to smuggling was its shape, very accessible from the Atlantic and plenty
of places to bring goods ashore. In 1636, four Turkish pirate ships
plundered 22 vessels in the Channel. It was only in the 1660s that the
Bristol Channel was considered free of pirates! It comes as a surprise
to many that smuggling in Gower was mainly dominated by Irishmen or
vessels based in the Isle of Man. After 1765, the Irish port of Rush
dominated the smuggling trade. The Irish smuggling gangs were organised
into 4 major commercial companies who organised links between Nantes,
Lorient and later Roscoff. Goods from Europe were moved through these
ports via Rush and traded at Lundy or the South Gower coast for
subsequent distribution in the South Wales ports. The various wars with
France never got in the way of local smuggling activities; such was the
strong maritime and cultural link between Gower, Ireland and France.
Other links included tobacco brought from the Americas to Liverpool and
intended for re-export to France but being ‘diverted’ to Ireland for
smuggling via the Bristol Channel.
The first commodity that was regularly smuggled was wool. By the
1270s, it was subject to a 40% tax. Tobacco was very lightly taxed from
the 1560s but James I disliked tobacco intensely and tried to tax it out
of existence. He raised the duty from 2d per lb to 6s.8d per lb which
made it an extremely valuable smugglers’ commodity overnight. Tobacco
became by far the most smuggled item into the British Isles for over 300
years.
The 1690s saw a massive increase in smuggling for two reasons:
· The rapid development of fore-aft rigging which made
inshore navigation safer and easier. (King Charles II had introduced
the fashion of fast small yachts into the country)
· The Glorious Revolution of 1688 led to war with France
and the creation and maintenance of a large standing army which had
to be paid for. Taxes were applied to a host of new goods including
tobacco, silk, lace, spices brandy and port. These were all Customs
matters.
It was during the 1680s that Excise officers first entered the
picture. These men were originally concerned with collecting duty on
home produced goods e.g. beer, ale, spirits, salt and leather. Luxuries
such as brandy attracted a custom duty as well as an excise duty so
Excise men became involved with policing smuggling.
As the eighteenth century progressed, there were increasingly
complicated laws passed to deal with the growing problem.
1718 brought the first of the ‘Hovering Acts’ whereby any vessel
of 50 tons or less ‘hovering’ within 6 miles of the shore and
carrying any of the contraband goods was liable to seizure. This Act
started a process of increasingly complicated legislation and
increasingly harsh penalties and a response of increasing sophistication
and organisation of the smuggling gangs.
The isolated beaches of South Gower were a constant problem for the
Swansea customs men. In 1759, a West Indiaman moored off Rhosilli in
daylight and unloaded large quantities of rum, sugar, and molasses. A
crowd of 400 on the beach prevented the Customs men approaching the
vessel.
One of the eighteenth century staples of local smugglers was tea,
subject to 125% duty. When this was reduced to 12½ % in 1784, it hit
the smugglers hard and created a nation of tea drinkers.
Smugglers turned to other good from this date and we see tobacco,
brandy and Geneva (gin) being landed in increasing amounts. The growth
of industry in the Swansea, Neath and Llanelli areas, resulted in
considerable demand for spirits and tobacco from the new industrial
populations.
The Customs Officers always had terrible problems with the East
Indiamen. Smuggling vessels would meet these ships in the Western
Approaches well outside the 6-mile limit, and the crews would engage in
considerable trade. It was often the only way that the officers and men
of the East India fleet would make any money. Returning slave traders on
the homeward leg of the triangular trade would also feature in the
smugglers’ connections. Smugglers in the Western Approaches would
trade a substantial portion of the rum sugar and tobacco consumed in
Swansea.
Inter-service rivalries between Customs and Excise men resulted in
great problems in Swansea where the two services could never agree who
had the ‘right to rummage’ the newly arrived vessels. The net result
was that Swansea’s customs were ineffectual for much of the 1790s, the
problem being exacerbated by the regularity and ease with which the
Swansea customs house was burgled.
Fears about French invasion in the 1780s led to the creation of the
Sea Fencibles, a sort of Home Guard. This led to increased patrolling of
the Bristol Channel and Irish Sea beaches, which limited the activities
of the local smugglers. However, the real improvement in coastal
security came in 1809 with the establishment of the naval Preventive
Waterguard largely made up of retired Royal Navy veterans. This made
smuggling over the open beaches very difficult and forced local
smugglers into nighttime activities into the smaller coves.
By the 1840s, changes in duty meant that traditional smuggled goods
were no longer profitable. In addition, the improved coastal security
measures of the 1850s meant that the Bristol Channel was relatively
secure although the South Gower coast always maintained a certain aura
of lawlessness with regard to smuggling. |