Smugglers and Poachers

In the 18th century, taxes were placed on imports, such as tobacco and tea. Therefore, big profits could be made by those who could avoid the taxes and sell these goods. Wimborne was close to both Christchurch and Poole, and many of the townsfolk played their part in the landing and sale of these illegal goods.

The infamous smuggler, Isaac Gulliver (1745-1822), is buried in the nave aisle of Wimborne Minster. He had a very successful career as a smuggler, organising a number of landing-places and distribution routes for smuggled goods, and often disguising himself as a shepherd at Wimborne’s market.

Thomas Hardy reveals in his notebooks that his grandfather used to hide tubs in a dark closet at his isolated cottage at Bockhampton, near Dorchester, in the early years of the 19th century.

Poaching was often simply a matter of country people catching something for the cooking pot. However, in 1693, gamekeepers were given the right to kill poachers at night and in 1772, armed poachers caught at night would face the death penalty.

The owner of Cranborne Chase claimed the deer and the right to hunt them as his own until 1834. Local village people would try and defy the Chase’s keepers and steal the deer. Peasants felt that if they stumbled on an injured partridge or rabbit, it should be theirs. They did not like to be viewed in the same way as the cunning poacher. However, the law classed them both as poachers.

The Chase deer-stealers and smugglers became allies, as the deer-stealers were skilled at hiding what they had killed. For example, a tomb in the churchyard at Sixpenny Handley had a sliding top, perfect as a hiding place. They could therefore be trusted to hide a tub of brandy.