Why the Mayfield Owlers came to Seaford
IN the 18th and 19th century smuggling was rife around our shores – particularly off the Kent and Sussex coast and the people of Seaford were no strangers to this activity.
For hundreds of years the monarch has raised taxes by charging for goods to be imported and exported and this money became known as 'custom revenue'.
During the Civil War, duty was also charged on goods made and sold within England and this tax became known as 'excise duty' (Hence "Customs and Excise")
To ensure that customs duty was collected, special 'Customs Houses' were erected at certain ports and it became a capital offence to try to import or export goods other than at these locations – the law relating to the unlawful export of wool dates from 1367.
Wool had been a main export from Sussex for hundreds of years and in the 13th century, before the French raids, Seaford was the largest port in Sussex – mainly due to the export of wool to the continent.
Heavier taxes in the early 1700s meant that some Sussex wool producers took the law into their own hands and began to illegally export their goods other than from the 'official' ports such as Newhaven.
The Seaford MP at this time was William Lowndes – he became the Treasury Minister and was responsible for first using the term 'Ways and Means' to describe the method that the Government raised revenue.
One wonders if he realised (or cared) that his taxes were crippling the people he was supposed to be representing?
One of the first smuggling gangs locally therefore was not so much bothered about spirits, but exporting their wool.
This gang hailed from Mayfield and they included some relatively rich farmers and land-owners.
Working with the French, ships would export wool from secret locations along the coast and import lace – however soon the odd keg of brandy or wine would be included.
It the time this practice was not known as smuggling but Owling – probably because it took place at night.
In 1715 the Mayfield Gang met a French ship at Cooden Beach. After the booty had been unloaded the 'owling ship' was redirected to Cuckmere Haven near Seaford where it was reloaded with Sussex wool.
Two years later the same gang were responsible for killing an Exciseman, Riding Officer Reeves near Eastbourne.
It was also around this time that the decline of the Cinque Ports meant that many men in the maritime trade were looking for new work.
The few barrels of brandy, brought over with the continental lace, sold well and there was a lucrative profit to be made in the business of importing spirits.
The first mention of smuggling in Seaford Bay I have found dates from 8th October 1702 when two owlers were caught in Seaford Bay and handed over to Mr Pelham.
I am not sure if this would have been Lord Pelham the local landowner.
In 1710 a muster roll for Seaford showed that 37 men in the town were in possession of firearms and three years later it is recorded that 31 premises in the town were liable to pay another unpopular tax – Window Tax.
A mixture of poverty, heavy taxation and so many armed local men seems to have been the ingredients to a new trade for towns folk – that of smuggling and evidence is not wanting to show that many local people fell into this trade.
Not only spirits – particularly brandy and gin – but also tobacco and tea were covertly imported.
The late 18th century saw the French Revolution and the threat of invasion from Napoleon but despite this, the smuggling trade flourished.
Next week I will tell you about how smuggling became rife in the Seaford area and detail some of the episodes in this sorry history.
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Weather for Lewes
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -6 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: -5 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
