A Mudeford mariner and smuggler

My name is John Streeter and Mudeford has been my home for nigh on 50 years, though by my accent you can tell that I am not a native of this region. I was born in Kent, in the town of Strood near Rochester, in 1750.

Strood stands on the River Medway a short distance upstream from the royal dockyards at Chatham, where many notable warships were built. The most famous was surely the Victory, which became the flagship of Admiral Lord Nelson, bless his memory. When she was launched in 1765 I was 14 years of age.

Like many boys of that locality I went to sea, but mine was not to be a life in the King’s navy. I worked on one of the many boats that conveyed goods and materials of every kind around the coast of Britain. That was how I first came to Mudeford, by sea as a mariner.

The harbour at Mudeford was little frequented except by local fishermen or those with particular business in the town of Christchurch. Nor is it the easiest haven to enter, there being treacherous sandbars at the entrance on which the unwary can easily run aground.

In 1774, when I was 23 years of age, I married local girl Rose Butten in Christchurch. The church there is very grand for a town of fewer than 200 houses and is known to all as the Priory. In the register I was recorded as merely a ‘sojourner in this parish’ because I was still often away at sea, but I soon settled here and started to raise a family.

Follow me as I relate my memories of old Mudeford and tell the story of how I became the most renowned smuggler on the Christchurch coast...

Did you know?

Exceptional local conditions cause every high tide to be closely paired with an unusual second high tide, which gives Christchurch Harbour the benefit of extended periods of high water – ideal for smuggling. 

You can listen to the audio track for this trail spot below, or read the audio transcript.