YO HO HO! A PIRATE’S LIFE RIFE ON WALES’ COASTLINE
FOR centuries, the seas of the British Isles were rife with piracy, and Wales in particular was a hotbed of illicit trade, with communities across the southern coastline heavily involved in smuggling.
According to author Richard Platt, who wrote Smuggling in the British Isles, piracy in the Bristol Channel had been going on since at least the 15th century and lasted well into the 19th.
The area was also home to some of the most notorious pirates in history.
Almost everybody has heard of Sir Henry Morgan, better known as Captain Morgan. Although his background is relatively obscure, he is described by historians as being born in South Wales in the 1630s. He was born locally, but Morgan made a name for himself as a privateer in the Caribbean, where he became famous for sacking Spanish colonies.
Another Welsh pirate who made a name for himself a century earlier than Morgan, and who carried out his smuggling within Wales itself, was John Callice.
According to Dr John Appleby, a historian at Liverpool Hope University, Callice was born in Tintern and knew the coastline of the Severn like the back of his hand.
Active from around 1574 to 1585, Callice actually claimed to be a privateer (a profession which, in reality, was a pirate in all but name), but was arrested for piracy by English authorities.
In 1576, he attacked four French ships and took more than 20,000 livres’ worth of goods. After the French understandably responded badly, authorities began looking for Callice.
In October, he was known to be hiding out in Newport, but he remained on the run for the next year, looting more ships as he went along. The goods from one of the ships ended up in Newport docks in 1577, being sold off by his supporters
But Callice eventually ended up at the Tower of London later that year for his crimes, although he was soon pardoned by Queen Elizabeth I on the agreement that he would go on to work for her, as part of a team of transatlantic voyagers.
Why was piracy so prevalent in Wales? Towns along the border became hives of smuggling activity largely due to the fact that there was no duty placed on goods coming into Wales by the Crown in the early 16th century.
Because goods shipped into Wales were not taxed, traders would only need to pay duty for them when they were taken across the border into England. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this resulted in ships bringing goods into ports in Wales, particularly those in the south.
Customs officers were not placed in Wales until 1563 because the English authorities simply didn’t see the need for them. And, after they were, they often faced violence.
One such incident from 1791 is described by Richard Platt, in which a Newport customs officer tried to board a ship anchored in the Usk.
The ship came from Barry – another notorious spot for pirates and privateers – and had been made specifically for the purpose of smug. gling.
The customs officer was told not to set foot on the vessel by its crew, who warned him that if he did try to come aboard they would “blow his brains out”, all the while brandishing a pistol and a cutlass.
Newport saw a boost to its smuggling trade in the 17th and 18th centuries due to the surge in popularity of tobacco.
At this point, Newport’s docks became a hub of illicit dealing and in 1784, customs officers seized 10,000lbs of tobacco and 40 gallons of brandy from ships in one go. A few months later, they seized another 130 gallons of brandy.
Being so close to the English border, the Newport area was the perfect location for carrying out smuggling activities. Ships could dock in Newport, Chepstow and Goldcliff and goods could be easily shipped in smaller vessels across the Severn into Bristol and other nearby ports.
The Usk and the Severn may see rather less smuggling these days, but the exploits of those who lived hundreds of years ago have helped shape the idea of pirates as we know them today.