Kings Cutters and Smugglers 1700-1855 | Page 7

began to spend more money
on personal comforts.

Even in the time of Charles I. proclamations were issued against
exporting wool, yet the mischief still went on. In the time of Charles II.
men readily "risked their necks for 12d. a day."[1] The greatest part of
the wool was sent from Romney Marsh, where, after nightfall, it was
put on board French shallops with ten or twenty men to guard it, all
well armed. And other parts of Sussex as well as Kent and even Essex
were also engaged in similar exportations.
But it is from the time of King Charles II. that the first serious steps
were taken to cope with the smuggling evil, and from here we really
take our starting-point in our present inquiry. Prior to his time the
Customs, as a subsidy of the king, were prone to much variability. In
the time of James I., for instance, they had been granted to the
sovereign for life, and he claimed to alter the rates as he chose when
pressed for money. When Charles I. came to the throne the Commons,
instead of voting them for the extent of the sovereign's life, granted
them for one year only. At a later date in the reign of that unhappy king
the grant was made only for a couple of months. These dues were
known as tonnage and poundage, the former being a duty of 1s. 6d. to
3s. levied on every ton of wine and liquor exported and imported.
Poundage was a similar tax of 6d. to 1s. on every pound of dry goods.
It was not till after the Restoration that the customs were settled and
more firmly established, a subsidy being "granted to the king of
tonnage and poundage and other sums of money payable upon
merchandise exported and imported." Nominally the customs were
employed for defraying the cost of "guarding and defending the seas
against all persons intending the disturbance of his subjects in the
intercourse of trade, and the invading of this realm." And so, also, there
was inaugurated a more systematic and efficient method of preventing
this export smuggling. So far as one can find any records from the
existing manuscripts of this early Preventive system, the chronological
order would seem to be as follows: The first mention of any kind of
marine service that I can trace is found in a manuscript of 1674, which
shows the establishment of the Custom House organisation in that year
for England and Wales. From this it is clear that there had been made a
beginning of that system which was later to develop into that of the

Revenue cutters. And when we recollect how extremely interested was
Charles II. in everything pertaining to the sea and to sloop-rigged craft
especially, it seems very natural to believe that this monarch inspired,
or at any rate very considerably encouraged, the formation of a small
fleet of Custom House sailing craft. Elsewhere I have discussed this
matter at length, therefore it may suffice if attention is called to the fact
that to Charles was due the first yacht into England, presented to him
by the Dutch; while from his encouragement were born the sport of
yachting and the building of English yachts. He was very much
concerned in the rig of sloops, and loved to sail in such craft, and his
yacht was also most probably the first vessel of that rig which had ever
been employed by English sailors. Further still, he was something of a
naval architect, the founder of the Greenwich Royal Observatory and
the Nautical Almanac, and under his rule a fresh impulse was given to
navigation and shipbuilding generally.
At any rate by the year 1674 there were among the smaller sailing craft
of England a number of sloops and smacks employed doubtless for
fishing and coasting work. As a kind of marine police, the Custom
House authorities determined to hire some of these to keep a watch on
the "owlers," as the wool-smugglers were termed, so called, no doubt,
because they had to pursue their calling always by night. Whatever
efforts had been adopted prior to his reign probably had consisted for
the most part, if not entirely, of a land police. But under this second
Charles the very sensible and obvious idea of utilising a number of
sailing craft was started. In the above MS. volume the first reference is
to "Peter Knight, Master of ye smack for ye wages of him self and five
men and boy, and to bear all charges except wear and tear ... £59." "For
extraordinary wear and tear," he was to be paid £59. His vessel was the
Margate smack. In the same volume there is also a reference to the
"Graves End smack," and to "Thomas