A sea battle off the Isle of Wight

At the age of 28 years I was operating my own boat Phoenix out of Christchurch Harbour, but it was hard work for little reward. To supplement my income I sometimes sailed to the Channel Islands off the French coast, where I could obtain oilskin wrapped bales of tea or tobacco and kegs of brandy and rum.

Yes - I became a smuggler. I had a crew to pay and a growing family to clothe and feed. Had you been in my position, what would you have done?

When ‘Slippery’ Rogers went out of business I saw an opportunity to succeed him as the most successful smuggler working out of Christchurch Harbour.

However, my plans were undone in the summer of 1779 when a Revenue Officer discovered a small quantity of undeclared brandy and rum on board the Phoenix and had her seized.

I was unable to pay the fee of £55 demanded for her release so I had to seek employment elsewhere. I went to Poole, where I was taken on as the captain of a 16 gun privateer named Ranter.

A privateer is a merchant vessel that during a time of war is armed and granted an Admiralty license to attack and capture enemy shipping.

Within a year I had recovered the Phoenix and had her likewise fitted out as a privateer, yet I continued working out of Poole.

In 1781, when Britain was still at war with America and her ally France, a British merchant vessel was chased into Poole by a 6 gun French privateer. I sailed out in the Phoenix and found her south west of the Isle of Wight. After a short sea battle she surrendered and I took her into Poole as a prize.

The Admiralty prize award meant I could at last afford to return home to Mudeford.

Did you know?

The Needles off the western tip of the Isle of Wight are named after one tall pillar of chalk known as the Needle or Lot’s Wife that collapsed in 1772.

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