Thomas M. Truxes » smuggling

British Military to Quell Smuggling Along English and Scottish Coasts, 1717

ttruxes — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 05:00:19 +0000

[London, September 7, 1717] Upon a Complaint from the Officers of the Customs in several Parts of the Kingdom, that the Smugglers are now grown so very Numerous and Insolent, in Defiance of the Officers of the Customs, they do forcibly run great Quantities of Goods, to the great Prejudice of the Revenue and Fair Trader, his Majesty taking the same into Consideration, is pleased with the Advice of his Privy Council, to Order, and it is hereby Ordered, that his Majesty’s Secretary at War, do forthwith cause Directions to be given to the Military Officers quartered on, or near the Sea Coast, throughout England as well as Scotland, That they be assisting to the Civil Magistrates, when desired by them and the Officers of the Customs, for the executing Legal Process, and other Matters relating to his Majesty’s Service, in hindering the Exportation of Wool, and illegal Importation of French Silks, Brandy, and other Goods and preventing the evil Practices complained of in the said Presentment.

[London] Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer, September 7, 1717.

Embarrassment at the London Custom House, 1720

ttruxes — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 05:00:31 +0000

London [June 1720]. One Mr. Etheridge, a Tide-Surveyor, having seized in the [Thames] River some Brass Cannons, on board a Ship from Venice, as being unlawfully imported, to the Value of £2,007. The Legality of the Seizure was disputed by the Proprietor, who brought an Action against the King; and last Saturday the Matter was try’d in the Court of Exchequer, when the Captain proving he had mounted the Cannon, and made use of ‘em against the Spaniards, in his Voyage from Venice. The Jury gave their Verdict for the Proprietor, to the no small Mortification of the Custom House Officer, who expected £1,000 to his own Share.

[London] Original Weekly Journal, June 4, 1720.

King George the First’s Proclamation Against Trading with the French at Jamaica, 1720

ttruxes — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:11:38 +0000

JAMAICA. By the King. A Proclamation.

Whereas we have received frequent Complaints from Merchants and Planters trading to, and interested in our Island of Jamaica, that an illegal Trade is carried on between our Subjects of our said Island, and the Subjects of the French King, by the Exportation from our said Island not only of the Silver Coin thereof, but also of a great Number of Negro Slaves, and by the Importation into it in Exchange, Sugars and Indigo, of the Growth and Manufacture of the French Settlements in America, by Means of which Commerce, our said Island is drained of its Silver Coin, the Subjects of the French King are enabled to carry on great Settlements in the French Colonies in America, the Produce of our Islands lowered in its Value, and wee are defrauded of our Customs:

And we having very much at Heart the Encouragement of the Fair Trader, as well as the Observation of our Part of the Treaty of Peace and Neutrality in America, concluded between England and France the 16th of November 1686, whereby the Subjects and Inhabitants of each Kingdom are prohibited to trade and fish in all places possessed, or which shall be possessed by the other in America, under the Penalty of Confiscation of all such Ships as shall be found trading contrary to the said Treaty.

We have therefore by the Advice of our Council of our said Island, thought fit to issue this our Royal Proclamation, not only to signify to our said Subjects the Purport and [Content] of the above-said Treaty, but also our express Will and Pleasure, that no such illegal Trade as is herein before described, be carried on between our Subjects of our said Island, and the French Settlements in America, by any of our Ships of War attending any said Island, or by any other Ships or Vessels, under the further Penalty of our severest Displeasure

And for the Encouragement of those who shall discover such illegal Trade, we are pleased to declare, That whomsoever shall discover to the Officers of our Customs, or to our Receiver-General of our said Island, or his Deputy, the Importation into our said Island of any Sugars, Indigo, or other Goods, of the Growth and Manufacture of the French Colonies in America, or shall seize on any such Sugars, Indigo, or other Goods, so as the same may be condemned in the Court of our Admiralty of our said Island, such Person or Persons so discovering or seizing, shall be entitled to the Value of the third Part of such Goods so imported, discovered, or seized upon.

And we do hereby strictly charge all our Officers, Civil and Military, within our said Island, to be aiding and assisting in the Execution of our said Pleasure herein contained.

Given at St. Jago de la Vega, the 27th Day of July, 1720, in the 6th Year of our Reign.

Witness his Excellency Sir Nicholas Laws, Knt. Captain-General and Governour in Chief of that our said Island, and the Territories thereon depending in America, and Chancellor of the same.

Good save the King.

[London] Daily Courant, December 8, 1720.

Tragedy at a Scottish Public House, 1755

ttruxes — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:01:38 +0000

“London. The following melancholy Affair happened lately at Annan* in Scotland. A Party of Soldiers having gone to assist the Custom-house Officers in making a Seizure of some prohibited Goods that they had been informed were in that Neighbourhood, on their Return, halted at a Publick House, with one of the Smugglers whom they had taken Prisoner, in order to refresh themselves. The Woman of the House pitying the Prisoner, whom they had shut up in another Room, begged Leave to give him a Dram, which they consenting to, she cut the Cords he was tied with, and set him free. The Soldiers immediately pursued, and the Woman unfortunately stepping in the Way, one of them, in firing after the Prisoner, killed her dead on the Spot. This melancholy Accident put a Stop to the Pursuit, and the Man got clear off. What makes it still more lamentable, the Woman was Big with Child at the Time. The Soldier was immediately secured.”

The London Evening-Post, January 14, 1755.

*The town of Annan is situated on the River Annan, nearly 2 miles from its mouth, 15 miles from Dumfries, in the region of Dumfries and Galloway on the Solway Firth in the south of Scotland.

New York City: Call for Informers, 1753

ttruxes — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:43:19 +0000

“WHEREAS we have great Reason to believe. there has been for some Time lately carried on, a clandestine illegal Trade, by some of the Traders of this Place, to Holland and other Parts: THESE are therefore to give this publick Notice, That whoever will inform the Collector of his Majesty’s Customs, with what may come to his Knowledge, in relation to such Practices, shall, besides all proper Protection and Encouragement, of which I have his Excellency’s Leave to assure them; be entitled to, and receive one third of all Forfeitures, upon Condemnation, and their Names, if desired, concealed. Altho’ it cannot be imagined, that any Information of this kind, can be thought odious, when the Trade of Great-Britain, the Interest of the fair Trader, and the general Character of the Merchants of this Place are so nearly concern’d; such Practices tending only to inrich [sic] a few Individuals at their Expence. Archibald Kennedy. March 5th, 1753.”

—New York Mercury, 12 March 1753

TMT: Archibald Kennedy, Sr. (1685-1763) had served as customs collector in New York since 1722. Kennedy believed that British restrictions on North America’s trade harmed the empire and only served metropolitan interests. See: Milton M. Klein, “Archibald Kennedy: Imperial Pamphleteer,” in Some Eighteenth-Century Commentators, vol. 2 of Lawrence H. Leder, ed., The Colonial Legacy, 2 vols., New York, 1971.