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The Business of Smuggling in south-east Scotland. John and David Nisbet and their associates c.1740–1790 Submitted by Derek Charles Janes to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History In December 2018 (With corrections December 2019 and March 2020) This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: ………………………….. i Abstract Research into the career of the merchant-smuggler John Nisbet of Gunsgreen House, Eyemouth has led to a ‘bottom up’ analysis in this thesis of the North Sea smuggling business in the second half of the eighteenth century. Building on previous work, but supplemented by a range of new material, this thesis challenges some assumptions, notably about direct links between smaller Scottish ports and Gothenburg and highlighted the role of the merchant- smuggler in managing the import of tea from Sweden. It has also highlighted the significance of ‘Gottenburgh Teas’ as a brand, extensively advertised in newspapers in Scotland and the north of England. As well as this important addition to our understanding of the northern smuggling world, the thesis examines in detail the activities of the small port of Eyemouth, developing a knowledge of the methods adopted by smugglers and their relationships with each other and with the customs. It will also review the North Sea timber trade of the period, challenging earlier preconceptions about both the source of much of the timber that came to Scotland and how the business was managed. What it shows is that it is now possible to undertake micro historical research of a small port with, apparently, minimal local records, by combining a wider range of material, including much now available online, such as family history resources and the British Newspaper Archive. In this case, too, evidence is provided by Gunsgreen House itself, its physical fabric – the so-called tea chute, for example – and its symbolic importance for John Nisbet. The result is a detailed analysis of northern smuggling, including the importance of the role of Scottish merchants in Gothenburg, some of whom were Jacobite exiles, and of the business processes involved in smuggling which were essentially those of regular merchants. ii Contents List of illustrations v List of tables vi Introduction 1 Chapter 1 The economic background of the cross-border region before 37 and after the Treaty of Union 1.1 Introduction 1.2 The Union of 1707 37 1.3 The impact of the Union on the cross-border region 39 1.4 Coal and Salt 44 1.5 Agriculture 47 1.6 Conclusion 49 Chapter 2 The development of the port of Eyemouth and its trade 52 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Early development of the port of Eyemouth 52 2.3 The growth of agriculture and harbour improvements, 1740– 61 1797 2.4 The overseas trade of Eyemouth, 1750–1790 67 2.5 Comparisons 69 2.6 Eyemouth merchants 71 2.7 Eyemouth as a centre of smuggling 73 2.8 Conclusion 77 Chapter 3 Social and mercantile networks in Eyemouth, c.1750–1790 78 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The concept of the network applied to eighteenth-century 78 trade 3.3 The merchant communities in Dunbar and Eyemouth 79 3.4 Networking opportunities in Eyemouth 81 3.5 The Nisbets, the Robertsons and their relationships 85 3.6 Conclusion 113 Chapter 4 Smuggling in south-east Scotland 116 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The conduct of business in the eighteenth century 117 4.3 The operation of a smuggling business 118 4.4 Supply and demand 127 4.5 The key players 134 4.6 The customs and excise services 134 4.7 The reaction of other authorities 149 4.8 Smuggling elsewhere in Britain 153 4.9 Conclusion 156 iii Chapter 5 How and to whom contraband was distributed 158 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Importation 158 5.3 Distribution 162 5.4 Sale to the consumer 174 5.5 The attraction of smuggled goods to the consumer: tea and 177 claret 5.6 Conclusion 185 Chapter 6 The international dimension: smuggling in the North Sea 187 6.1 Introduction 6.2 The scale of tea smuggling from Sweden and Denmark 188 6.3 The distribution and sale of contraband tea in Scotland and 192 the north of England 6.4 The Swedish East India Company and the Danish Asiatic 198 Company 6.5 Smuggling from Sweden and Denmark 202 6.6 The Low Countries 216 6.7 Conclusion 220 Chapter 7 The changing face of smuggling in south-east Scotland in the 223 late eighteenth century 7.1 Introduction 7.2 The failure of John Nisbet 224 7.3 James Renton 247 7.4 John Lyon 251 7.5 John Lyell 253 7.6 The Gibsons of Fairnieside 256 7.7 Conclusion 258 Conclusion 262 Appendix 1 Eyemouth merchants c.1740–1790 268 Appendix 2 Glossary of smuggling and associated terms 270 References 272 iv List of illustrations Figure Title Page No. Intro/1 Gunsgreen House 1 Intro/2 ‘The Cornish Mandrin’, Leeds Intelligencer, 29 July 1755 19 Poster for French educational film issued by Les Petites Intro/3 20 Histoires Intro/4 Logo of the Hawkhurst Gang Smugglers Trail 21 The image of Louis Mandrin (L) as a romantic hero contrasts Intro/5 25 with the portrayal of the Hawkhurst Gang as ‘Bloody Villains’ 2/1 South-east Scotland (1920s), Bartholomew ½" series 53 A Correct Chart of the German Ocean’, Paul Rapin de 2/2 54 Thoyras, London 1745 A Plan of Aymouth, or Eyemouth, [Berwickshire] taken in 2/3 1557, in which year it was fortified by Henri Clutin, Sieur 56 d'Oysell et de Ville Parisis Smeaton’s Plan for his breakwater (l) showing the 1748–1752 2/4 63 pier with the elbow (r) In 1948 land floods were still violently destructive, despite nineteenth century changes to the layout of the Harbour. 2/5 64 www.facebook.com/groups/eyemouthpast, accessed 13 March 2016 Dunbar High Street showing the former Dunbar House across 3/1 80 the end of the street Edinburgh Evening Courant, October 1787: copy in Central 3/2 109 Library, Edinburgh Bill on behalf of Robert Robertson for William Douglas, 3/3 110 Gothenburg Key locations in Berwickshire; John Thomson, Berwickshire, 4/1 140 published by Baldwin and Cradock, 1821 Evidence of soldiers in Eyemouth; Manchester Mercury, 3 4/2 144 May 1757 Account of the raid on the Customs Warehouse, Norfolk 4/3 146 Chronicle, 12 August 1780 Advertisement placed by the Justices of the Peace of the 4/4 150 Shire of Berwick, Caledonian Mercury, 8 August 1748 The claimed effect of a county resolution against smuggling, 4/5 152 Caledonian Mercury, 23 July 1744 The Scottish Borders and East Lothian, from Bartholomew’s 5/1 163 1887 Gazetteer of the British Isles Advertisement for the sale of Robert Dawson’s wagons and 5/2 167 horses, Leeds Intelligencer, 1 January1765 5/3 Advertisement for the disposal of Thomas Wallis’ stock 172 Advertisement for a wagon service between Newcastle and 5/4 172 Leeds, Newcastle Courant, 1 July 1758 Announcement of a new wagon service between Edinburgh 5/5 173 and Newcastle, Caledonian Mercury, 4 June 1745 Advertisment for the Edinburgh Tea Company, 5/6 175 Newcastle Courant, 25 July 1778 5/7 Gunsgreen House, Eyemouth: the ‘tea chute’ 177 6/1 Caledonian Mercury, 9 January 1750 194 6/2 Newcastle Courant, 30 June 1770 195 6/3 Leeds Intelligencer, 27 June 1779 195 v 6/4 Newcastle Courant, 15 August 1778 196 6/5 Eyemouth and the North Sea 201 6/6 Early members of the Bachelors’ Club 205 The state of Nisbet’s account with Pillans, 23 September 7/1 229 1774 7/2 Nisbet’s bill to Gavin Young, 6 December 1783 234 7/3 Summary of Nisbet’s debts, 1788 238 7/4 Nisbet’s Promissory Note for £100 to Paterson 241 Notice of James Renton’s bankruptcy sale, from the 7/5 250 Newcastle Courant, 27 December 1788 Reverse of Bill of Exchange showing John Lyon’s 7/6 253 signature for payments by John Nisbet Notice of ships cleared for over sea from Shields, from the 7/7 Newcastle Courant, 17 June 1780, showing the John Lyall 255 bound for Hamburg List of Tables Smuggles involving named Eyemouth Ships before and after Table 2/1 75 1776 Smuggles identified as conducted by John Nisbet and Table 2/2 76 associates, compared to the two other busiest smugglers Table 3/1 The Nisbets’ ships 95 Table 3/2 Masters who worked regularly for the Nisbets 96 Table 4/1 Recorded movements of Peggy/Providence of Kinghorn 125 Table 6/1 Tea Imports from China 1734–1784, in tonnes 190 Ports of departure in south Norway for ships arriving in Table 6/2 211 Eyemouth with timber, 1744–1785 Voyages from Gothenburg for Henderson and Renton or Table 7/1 James Renton. Voyages where John Gibson acted as agent 251 identified (JG) vi Introduction Background For a period of some forty years in the middle of the eighteenth century, the port of Eyemouth in the far south-east of Scotland had a small, but steady trade across the North Sea, importing timber, iron and tar from Sweden and Danish Norway and exporting grain.