The Smuggling Industry

The Stretch of coast between Owers and Brixham - and particularly between St. Catherine's and St. Albans — is considered by seamen to be one of the most deceptive and dangerous coastlines in the world. Perhaps, for this reason, those who fished for their livelihood acquired that sixth sense, an extra cunning in the ways of the sea.

It was seamen of this calibre who, during the struggles between France and England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, turned smuggler. From Weymouth, along the Dorset coast to Kimmeridge; to Poole, Bournemouth; Christchurch and Mudeford; and up to Keyhaven, Lymington, Beaulieu and Hamble; from all these inlets and creeks "The Gentlemen" plied their trade during the hours of darkness.

To seize the contraband and arrest the smugglers, brigs of the Royal Navy patrolled lengths of the coast. Captain Marryat (1792-1848), author of Masterman Ready and Mr. Midshipman Easy, commanded such a ship. Ashore, the Preventative Service cast its net to ensnare the Free Traders; the Customs and Excise, working through its informers. Coast Waiters and Riding Officers, operated from their regional headquarters in Southampton. Christchurch and Lymington were responsible to the Master Port, each 'creek' operating its own revenue cutter. Waiters were distributed throughout the coastal villages their duties being to check and control all shipping.

"The Gentlemen" made the Queen's Head at Burley their headquarters, the loca! hostelries in the Forest being the disposal points for the contraband: the Cat and Fiddle at Hinton was probably the most notorious.

Tom Johnston of Lymington was one such smuggler, schooled as a lad amongst the creeks of Pennington, Keyhaven, Oxey and Lymington. With the fishermen, he learned the tricks of the trade: burying the brandy kegs in the mud when the alarm was raised; sinking them on a line over the ship's side; and whisking the barrels inland, concealed in false-bottomed carts. And if a man lacked adventure, the Press Gang was always lurking in Lymington.