Dark Markets Observatory
Smuggling Prosecutions in England and Wales c. 1722-1732
This is a raw version of the data that was transcribed and compiled from reports ordered by the British House of Commons in 1733. In that year and following debate over the Excise Bill, the House ordered a summary of all prosecutions for smuggling throughout England, Wales, and Scotland for the preceding 10 years.
While the Scottish report has not yet been located, the reports for England and Wales were found
at the National Archive, Kew, England (references T64/146-149).
Corrected data will be provided in early March, 2026
If you think this data might be useful, please feel free to email me with ideas about formatting, visualizations or connections with other sources. If you detect errors, please also let me know. dasmith@wlu.ca
Thanks to Jessica Duncan and Nicholas Morrison for their excellent assistance putting together this database. Jessica used TransKribus to create the transcription and Nicholas proofed the copy.
This research is supported in part by funding from Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Index | Year | Persons | Place | County | Circumstances | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
125 | 1729 | Thomas Brown | Yarmouth | Hampshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | was Prosecuted for this and other Frauds & Compounded. |
126 | 1729 | Edmond Mason | Yarmouth Roads | Hampshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | was Prosecuted for this and other Frauds the Witness died before he could be taken - but he has since compounded. |
127 | 1729 | Thomas Wilson | Yarmouth Roads | Hampshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | was Prosecuted for this Fraud & Compounded. |
129 | 1729 | William Brittain | near Ingham on the Lincolnshire Coast | Lincolnshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | were Prosecuted for this Fraud - But the Witness against them Run away & never came to Support his Information. |
129 | 1729 | Daniel Smith | near Ingham on the Lincolnshire Coast | Lincolnshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | were Prosecuted for this Fraud - But the Witness against them Run away & never came to Support his Information. |
130 | 1729 | William Hollman | Key Mill in Yarmouth | Hampshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | was Prosecuted for this & other Frauds & Compounded. |
131 | 1729 | Leonard Wrightson | Scarbrough | Yorkshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | was Prosecuted for this and other Frauds & admitted an Evidence. |
132 | 1729 | Francis Pate | Castle Holmes Scarbrough | Yorkshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | are under Prosecution for these and other Frauds & have been Arrested & given Bail. |
132 | 1729 | Joshua Haley | Castle Holmes Scarbrough | Yorkshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | are under Prosecution for these and other Frauds & have been Arrested & given Bail. |
133 | 1729 | William Greensides | near Grimsby at Saltfleet Sunderland | Lincolnshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | was Prosecuted for these and other Frauds - The Evidence against him is Run away & can't be heard of. |
134 | 1729 | John Page | Winterton | Lincolnshire | Imported and run without payment of Duty | is under Prosecution for this & other Frauds he has given Bail upon another Information |
135 | 1729 | William Artley | at Headworth at Wareinway in Durham | Durham | Imported and run without payment of Duty | were Prosecuted for these & other Frauds - The Cause against Cramlington is at Issue - Artley is dead. |