Hull's smuggling past

Smuggling was a vicious, violent, and bloody trade. During the 18th and 19th centuries it operated on a massive scale. Goods such as tea, coffee, gin, tobacco, wines, salts, soaps and candles, necessities of their day, had heavy import duties imposed. This led to such commodities being too expensive for many. Smuggling was not an activity of the poor; it was financed by the wealthy, and those who participated in this illicit trade considered it harmless against the unjust laws imposed on everyday necessities. 

The most romanticised picture of smuggling is that along the coasts of Britain. The isolation of North Yorkshire coast for example was ideal for smuggling. Nestled along the coast and protected by the moors, its geography ensured places such as Staithes, Runswick and Robin Hoods Bay's thrived as centres of smuggling, largely out of reach from custom officers prying eyes. The isolated moorland trackways were used to transport smuggled goods inland to towns and cities. 

 Further south, Flamborough, and indeed all down the Holderness coast, though less extensive than their North Yorkshire neighbours, smugglers could be found at work. Flamborough was reputed to use its network of caves at North Landing and Thornwick Bay to hide contraband. One of its caves, Robin Lynth's is said to be named after a local smuggler. 

Smuggling wasn't new or limited to coastal communities. In the fourteenth century, for example, wool was smuggled from Hull. To avoid customs, wool was hidden in the beds of the ship’s crew. And although forbidden, ships left Hull partly loaded to avoid duties, with wool secretly taken on-board once out of sight of the authorities. 

The late 18th and early 19th centuries were the heyday of smuggling and its practices and was rife in many harbours and ports. Hull was heavily active in this illicit trade. Largely small and compact in the 18th century, the harbour or 'Haven' saw ships laden with goods from all around the world. It was here ships that the ships were loaded and unload. Before the construction of the New Dock, later Queen's Dock, Hull was the only port in the country not to have a legal quay. This allowed merchants the opportunity to avoid custom duties from using their private staithes which lined the River Hull. 

Hollar's plan of Hull, 1640 showing the Haven in which ships would load and unload on the private staithes that fronted the river

Even with the opening of the New Dock, smuggling continued. Custom Officers were all too aware of who the smugglers were but tracking them down and catching them was different matter. On one occasion custom officers at Hull received a tip off relating to three known tea smugglers, said to be staying at an inn along the River Ouse. However, when they arrived, they found the inn on the opposite side of the river with the smugglers long gone. 

The odds were very much stacked against the customs officers. Inadequate protection along Humber, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries led to many naval vessels being re-diverted to war effort. Vessels that were left to apprehend the smugglers tended to be smaller and less armed than their smuggling counterparts. In some cases, vessels employed in the prevention of smuggling stayed in port due to the lack of gunpowder and shot. Geographically the Humber was perfect for smugglers and smuggling. Creeks and Havens, such as Stoney Creek, Crably Creek and Patrington Haven were ideal and used by the smugglers to drop off contraband. Even Hessle and North Ferriby were engaged in some form of smuggling activities. 

Goods smuggled included salt, spices, tobacco, tea, and spirits such as gin but also included, medicines, playing cards, toys, paper, and even human hair for wigs. Timber was also smuggled. Much of the smuggling was financed by the wealthy elite. The influential Hull merchant, Samuel Standidge, was suspected of being behind the smuggling of German China. When a Swedish vessel was seized for having a quantity of wool that had not had duty paid on it, its master impeached several notable Hull merchants, including Standidge himself. 

Although the authorities were up against it, they did have some success. A wealthy yeoman from Cottingham was prosecuted for receiving smuggled goods. He was even reputed to have used heavy handed tactics to deter later accusations against him. Such was the seriousness of the smuggling; the authorities deployed the military. The 4th Dragoons in Holderness proved a great help to customs officers by seizing large quantities of gin, tea, coffee, and tobacco. However, for each success, dozens would perhaps go undetected. 

The energy of one man was a thorn in the smugglers side. Captain James Gleadow was a tide-surveyor at Hull, whose job it was to seek out contraband. He apprehended the brig Friends carrying human and animal bones from the battlefields of Europe. The vessel was boarded three miles off Spurn Head. Concealed on board was snuff, tobacco, opium, silks, and gin. Gleadow continued to seize vessels, a vast number of these were in the Humber. Despite his success Gleadow had difficulty in obtaining his reward money, and between 1823 and 1825 he received no reward for his captures. Gleadow continued to apprehend smugglers, but soon he too was implicated in smuggling racket, in which we were accused of profiting from smuggled tobacco. 

Witness statement of James Gleadow, Customs Officer, 1841 against John O'Neal for smuggling tobacco [Ref: C CQB/198/194W]

The late 18th century was arguably the zenith of the smuggling trade, and with-it huge profits were made. It was said tobacco bought for £100 on the continent could sell for then ten times the price in Hull. However, the end of the Napoleonic saw in decline in smuggling, including at Hull and along the Humber. The reduction of import duties which had funded the war against Napoleon no longer made smuggling a profitable enterprise. By the 1830s the illegal trade in tea and wines had all but ceased. Smuggling in spirits and tobacco continued, but in far less quantities than previous. 

Compared to places such as Whitby, Staithes and Robin Hoods Bay, nothing remains of Hull’s smuggling past. Much of the old town has changed over the last century or so since the slum clearances and its redevelopment after the Second World War. There are no Smugglers’ Inn, networks, or small tight alleys for smuggled goods to be easily moved out of sight of customs officers. Only towards Sunk Island with places such as Stoney Creek and its isolation can we get a feel and reminder of the areas smuggling past. 

The History Centre has several books on Smuggling in Yorkshire. Available to borrow, include Graham Smith’s Smuggling in Yorkshire 1700-1850 and Jack Dyke’s Smuggling on the Yorkshire Coast [Ref: L.336.26]. All you need is a Hull Libraries card, which you can sign up for at the Hull History Centre. Just bring proof of address!

Neil Chadwick

Librarian/Archivist