Smuggling

• In the 18th century, more goods, including cloth, wine and spirits were taxed, and smuggling activity increased.
• Increasingly, smuggling was organised by gangs, which the authorities found hard to deal with.
• The Hawkhurst Gang controlled smuggling along much of the south coast from 1735 to 1749. The leaders, Arthur Gray and Thomas Kingsmill, were caught and hanged in 1748 and 1749 respectively.
• Smuggling was sometimes helped by local communities. They were seen as popular heroes, and locals in coastal areas would help by unloading boats and hiding smuggled goods.
• The upper classes benefited by buying cut-price luxury goods from the smugglers, so would help conceal their activities.
• They were also difficult to track down because they often worked at night, and in secluded areas of the coast line.
• Smuggling eventually ended because it became less profitable. The Prime Minister William Pitt lowered import duties in the 1780s, and it was reduced again in the 19th century.