FOOTNOTES:
[1] Jackson was so ill that he was obliged to be brought in a chair; and likewise was permitted to have a chair, and sat during the time of both his trials.
[2] Chater, as well as Galley, was tied on the same horse, and in the same manner with him, yet in the indictment it only mentioned the name of Galley.
[3] There were sixteen in the whole, with Race and Steel, the two admitted evidence for the King.
[4] In the former part of this account we called his name Dimer otherwise Diamond, for he was as frequently called by the one as the other, but as he was named by the counsel Dimer, we shall keep to that name where he was so called.
[5] Mr. Banks omitted here speaking of his calling first on Mr. Holton in the village of Havant, but that will appear in its proper place.
[6] The other five prisoners were not at Rowland’s Castle, so that Mr. Austin could have no knowledge of them.
[7] The name of the place is Goodthrop Dean, a little village.
[8] The witness was not certain whether it was John Mills, or his brother Richard Mills, that made the proposal.
[9] This Stringer is Thomas Stringer, who stands indicted as a principal in the murder of Daniel Chater, but is not yet taken.
[10] Little Harry is Henry Sheerman, who was condemned at the last assizes at East Grinstead for the county of Sussex, for the murder of Galley; and stood also indicted for the murder of Chater, but was tried only on the first indictment. He was executed at Rake, near where Galley was buried, and there hung in chains. An account of him at his trial, under condemnation, and at the place of execution, will be inserted in the following pages.
[11] This John Mills is the same person as went by the name of Smoker, who was condemned at the last assizes at East Grinstead, for the county of Sussex, for the cruel murder of Richard Hawkins, and is hung in chains near the Dog and Partridge on Slindon Common; and whose trial follows this account of the seven condemned at Chichester.
[12] This is the John Mills, since executed and hung in chains on Slindon Common, Sussex, for the murder of Richard Hawkins, and of whom we shall give a particular account.
[13] Notwithstanding James Reynolds was acquitted of the murder, yet as it appeared very plain that he concealed the murder, by knowing the same had been committed by the prisoner and the others who stand indicted for the same; as being present at the consultation for concealing the murder, and of burying the dead body, and advising therein, and his wife also being present, they are both indicted for the same, and are to be tried at the next assizes.
[14] He was executed on a gibbet, erected on purpose, on Slindon Common, near the Dog and Partridge, and afterwards hung in chains on the same gibbet.
[15] This Shoemaker Tom had been a notorious smuggler, but no murder being charged against him, he was by the court admitted on evidence.
[16] Willis and Stringer stand both indicted for the murder of Galley and Chater.
[17] Edmund Richards also stands indicted for being concerned in the murder of Galley and Chater.
[18] Henry III. had been advised to permit the export to Holland and Brabant, at a duty of 5 marks to the sack; and it was calculated that this duty, willingly paid, would yield 110,000 marks (£66,333 13s. 4d.), implying an export of 22,000 sacks, in six months. Blaauw’s “Barons’ War,” Ap., p. 2.
[19] “Rot. Hun.,” ii., pp. 203–209.
[20] Rymer’s “Fœd.” (1821), ii., p. 944.
[21] In 1340 the greatest store of wool was conveyed by stealth. John Smith’s “Memoirs of Wool,” 2 vols., 8vo, 1747, vol. i., p. 80.
[22] Rymer’s “Fœd.,” ii., p. 1158.
[23] A sack was to contain twenty-six stones of fourteen lbs. each, or 364 lbs.
[24] Prynne’s “Records,” 37 Edward III.
[25] “Rot. Parl.,” iii., p. 497.
[26] Act 2 Henry VI., c. 4.
[27] Act 15 Henry VI., c. 8.
[28] “Rot. Parl.,” v., p. 274.
[29] Acts 5 and 6 Edward VI., c. 6.
[30] MSS. State Paper, Lemon, pp. 4, 5. A weaver is among the victuallers of Rye, 1626, Dom., 44.
[31] Ibid., p. 37.
[32] Ibid., p. 161.
[33] By the Act 27 Henry VIII., c. 15, they had acquired the sole right of buying wool in Sussex and twenty-seven other counties.
[34] MSS. State Paper, Domestic, Lemon, p. 168.
[35] Ibid., p. 199.
[36] MSS. State Paper, Domestic, Lemon, p. 456.
[37] Ibid., p. 550.
[38] Ibid., p. 554.
[39] It was prohibited, without license, by proclamation, July 20, 1622.
[40] Fuller’s Earth was found at Nutley Common, in Sussex.
[41] “The Golden Fleece,” by W. S. Gent, 1656, p. 67.
[42] “England’s Interest Asserted,” 1669, p. 17.
[43] “England’s Interest in Trade Asserted,” by W. C., 1671.
[44] Joseph Trevers, in 1675, says (p. 40):—“It is well known that smugglers are not of meanest persons in the places where they dwell, but have oftentimes great interest with the magistrates; and, being purse-proud, do not value what they spend to ingratiate themselves with persons of authority, to distrust all such as discover their fraudulent dealings, or else by bribes to stop their mouths.... The smugglers are not only well acquainted with some attorneys and clerks, but they make good interest with the under sheriffs in the counties where they drive their trade; and these have strange tricks and delays in their returns, in which some of them will take part with the offenders, instead of executing the law against them.”
[45] “Letter from a Younger Brother in Ireland to an Elder Brother in England.” Published anonymously, 1677.
[46] 7 and 8 William III., c. 28.
[47] 9 and 10 William III., c. 40, secs. 2 and 3.
[48] “An abstract of the proceedings of W. Carter: being a plea to some objections urged against him,” 1694.
[49] Wool smugglers were called “owlers.”
[50] Treasury Papers: Customs. Rolls House.
[51] Smith’s “Memoirs of Wool,” ii., p. 166.
[52] London, 4to, p. 45.
[53] 4 George I., c. 11.
[54] “The Golden Fleece,” 1736.
[55] 12 George II., c. 21.
[56] In 1770 only thirty-two pounds of wool were seized; in 1780 there were 12,383 lbs.; and in 1782 there were 13,916 lbs. seized.
[57] See Lord Macaulay’s “History of England,” vol. iv., p. 650.
[58] Egerton MS., 929, p. 38.
[59] A custom as early, at least, as the time of Elizabeth. See “Sussex Archæological Collections,” vol. v., pp. 195, 196.
[60] Treasury Papers: Customs. Rolls House.
[61] Egerton MS. 929, fol. 40.
[62] Ex. inf. Miss Ann Durrant, æt. 89, 1858.
[63] Notorious instances of riots and assaults in running tea and other goods.—Customs: Rolls House.
[64] Letter of Francis Briggs, July 26, 1733.—Customs: Rolls House.
[65] Notorious instances, &c.—Ibid.
[66] Treasury Papers.—Customs: Rolls House.
[67] The Family names will be familiar to many in our own day as very active, bold men.
[68] Another well-known name.
[69] “Gentleman’s Mag.,” vol. xiv., p. 334.
[70] King’s “Pamphlets,” Brit. Mus., Lond., 1751, p. 13.
[71] Dearn’s “Weald of Kent,” 8vo, Cranbrook, 1814, p. 100.
[72] My great grandfather, Wm. Durrant, afterwards of Lamberhurst and Boreham, M.D., was at that time resident with Mr. Hunt, a surgeon in the town; and (like Mr. James, in his novel of “The Smuggler”) laid the scene of the attack at Goudhurst Church.
[73] “General” Sturt was for some time prior to his death master of the poorhouse of Cranbrook. See also “Gent. Mag.” vol. iv., p. 679.
[74] The tea was 41¾ cwt., packed in canvas and oilskin bags; and thirty-nine casks of spirits, slung with ropes, in order to be loaded on horses.—“History,” p. 132.
[75] He had been arrested and sent to London by James Butler, Esq., near Lewes, but escaped and rejoined his companions. It was proposed to burn down Mr. Butler’s house; but that not meeting with general assent, Fairall, Kingsmill, and others of the gang determined to waylay him, near his own park, and shoot him; but, by accident, he did not return home that night, and the matter becoming known, a watch was kept, and the design laid aside.—“History,” p. 147.
[76] Trial of Benjamin Tapner and others, at Chichester, January, 1749.
[77] “A Full and Genuine History of the inhuman and unparalleled Murders of Mr. William Galley, a Custom-house Officer, and Mr. Daniel Chater, a shoemaker, by Fourteen Notorious Smugglers; with the Trials and Execution of Seven of the Bloody Criminals, at Chichester.” Written by a Gentleman of Chichester. Fifth Edition, 8vo. London: W. Clowes, 20 Villiers Street, Strand. N.D.
[78] Ibid., p. 32. The judges set out from London on Friday, Jan. 13th, and arrived at the Duke of Richmond’s house, at Godalming, that evening. The next day they set out for Chichester, and were met by the Duke at Midhurst; and he entertained them with a dinner at his “hunting house,” near Charlton. They reached the Bishop’s Palace at Chichester, at five that evening. The report that they were guarded there and back by a party of horse is erroneous; the judges, counsellors and principal officers were in six coaches, each drawn by six horses.
[79] See p. 131 of the same work as referred to on previous page.
[80] “Sussex Archæological Collections,” vol. iv., p. 185; vol. ix., p. 194.
[81] Congreve, in his Epilogue to “The Mourning Bride,” alludes to this habit of the Sussex men. See also “A Descriptive Narrative of the Wreck of the Nympha Americana, near Beachy Head,” Nov. 29th, 1747, with the tailpiece by Mr. J. H. Hurdis; Lewes: Lee and Co., 1840.
[82] “History of Winchelsea,” p. 18.
[83] The usual method was to go alongside, under the pretence of trading; they frequently mastered the crew, clapped them under the hatches, and then plundered, and afterwards scuttled the ship.—“Public Advertiser,” 5 Nov. 16, 1768.
[84] The man who had given information had arrested one of the gang, upon which the others swore they would murder the informant, unless their colleague was released.—“Public Advertiser.”
[85] “Public Advertiser,” Nov. 10, 1768.
[86] “Advice to the Unwary,” 1780. The well-known “Smugglers’ Act” was passed in 1736: it was modified in 1779 and 1784; and a review of all the statutes relating to the subject was made January 5, 1826.
[87] When Pitt first lowered the tea-duty, it was averred that the smuggler was so great a rival with the open trader, that the tea-trade was then shared between them nearly equally.
[88] For epitaph in Patcham Churchyard on Daniel Scales, a smuggler shot on Nov. 7, 1796, see p. 262 of this work.
[89] Thick ash-poles, about six feet long.
[90] “Ex. inf.” E. N. Dawes, Esq., Deputy Coroner.
[91] Addison’s play of “The Drummer” was founded on the scheme of a French gardener, to conceal the doings of the smugglers at Hurstmonceux Castle.
Transcriber’s Note:
1. Original spelling has been retained.
2. Obvious printer errors have been corrected, except the spelling in the handwritten captions to the illustrations.
3. Hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have been retained as in the original.