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| Jack Rattenbury, who won fame as much for writing his autobiography as for any of his smuggling exploits. |
Famous Smugglers
“Notorious” would perhaps be more appropriate. For smugglers were more often feared and hated than celebrated. This list is by no means exhaustive. It simply focuses on a few individuals and gangs who — through their skills, success, brutality, or brazen defiance of authority — have achieved legendary status. Clicking an underlined name jumps to the relevant page in the Guide-Book.
GANGS
The
Hawkhurst Gang
Best-known
of all southern smuggling gangs, the Hawkhurst gangs staged an armed
raid on nearby Goudhurst when villagers there defied them.>
The
Aldington Gang
Known to
locals as "the Blues" and led by the "Roaring Ransleys"
of Ruckinge, they could turn out hundreds of workers to land goods in
open defiance of the authorities.
The
Hadleigh Gang
Named for the Suffolk town where they were based, the 100-strong Hadleigh
gang fought a pitched battle with dragoons and customs men to recover
a captured cargo in 1735.
The North
Kent Gang
Murderous
mob based on muddy Burntwick Island in the Medway.
INDIVIDUALS
Isaac Gulliver
"Loveable
villain" of Bomo who claimed never to have killed a man in the
course of his long career.
Tom Johnstone
Charismatic
and cunning folk hero from Lymington who turned down Napoleon's request
to lead a French invasion force to England.
Cruel Copinger
Notorious
Cornwall smuggler who, like Michael Howard, had something of the night
about him.
William
Owen
Welsh smuggler
most famous for the autobiography he wrote.
The King
of Prussia
The Carters of Cornwall's Prussia Cove. Harry Carter wrote an autobiography:
you can read the full text by clicking here.
Jack Rattenbury
Nicknamed the "Rob Roy of the West", Rattenbury took to smuggling
after finding fishing too dull a career for his tastes. Jack's memoirs
are available by clicking here.
Roger Ridout
North
Dorset smuggler who earned legendary status for his tricks.
Captain
Yawkins
Larger-than-life
figure who became the model for Scott's character Dirk Hatteraick in
Guy Mannering.
Barbarous
Usage
This story
of sadistic and brutal violence should be required reading for anybody
tempted to romanticize smuggling.