How big a problem was smuggling?
 LOs: TBAT explain what people smuggled and assess the reasons for
its decline
Introduction
“Five and twenty ponies
Trotting through the dark –
Brandy for the Parson
‘Baccy for the Clerk;
Laces for a lady, letters for a spy,
And watch the wall, my darling, while
The Gentlemen go by!”
Note down what this poem can tell us about smuggling.  What are the problems in
finding out about smugglers?
Background research
Read Dawson p. 88-9 or Wilkes p66-7 and note down answers to these questions:

Where did smuggling take place?

Who was involved in smuggling?

Why did people smuggle?
Smuggling in Kent
Smoking was especially prolific along coastal areas such as Kent. Visit a website
dedicated to the history of smuggling and answer the following:
What evidence is there that Dover was one of the main centres at the height of the
trade? Paste your evidence below – clue it could be visual evidence. According to
this web page, How can we tell that villagers in Kent were involved in the smuggling
trade? Why was smuggling so successful at this time?
Click on Who were they and make a list, with a brief explanation of the different
types of smugglers
Click on Concealment and note down how smugglers in Sandwich and Folkestone
hid their smuggled goods? What was meant by ‘sowing a crop’ and ‘stinky booze’?
Click on Expansion & defeat and record how Martello Towers helped to bring an end
to smuggling in South-East England?
Write down at least three new words and their meaning, that you have learned by
reading these pages
Individual Kentish smugglers
Visit this website dedicated to Smuggling in Kent and complete the table below:
Name of gang
When they were
most active
Where they
operated
What they
smuggled
What became of
them
The Deal
Boatmen
The
Groombridge
Gang
Samuel –
‘Slippery Sam’
- Jackson
The North Kent
Gang
The Adington
Gang
 Writing task
It is the mid-eighteenth century and you have been asked by the Prime Minister to
write a report on the extent of smuggling in Kent. Your report must include the
following:





Types of good being smuggled
The quantities being smuggled
Examples of those involved in smuggling
Explanation of why people become involved
Details on the organisational skills of smugglers, e.g. mthods of trafficking and
concealment
Give an idea on how the smugglers should be stopped