The life of a Riding Officer or preventative in the golden age of smuggling

As smuggling became common around the coasta of Britain any Riding Officers were employed to look after a specific section of the coast. These riding Officers kept in touch with other preventatives. They passed on any rumours they had heard. They patrolled difficult areas of coast such as Robin Hood's Bay where smugglers would sneak in their contraband.

These Officers were paid well and swore oaths of office. They ventured out in all wheathers keeping an eye out for suspicious activity. They could call on the dragoons if they encountered trouble. In theory these were an effective deterrent.

In practise Riding Officers and preventatives were completely inneffective. They were employed from the local populations and they therefor led a very lonely life if they tried to carry out their job properly. They were shunned by family and friends. They were hassled by smugglers who outgunned them. They vainly trundled up and down the coast often chasing up a false rumour. They were lured away so a ship could safely land its contraband.

They had to search through houses and villages which were designed for smuggling. Each house had its own hidden cupboards and tunnels. Robin Hood's Bay had underground passages allowing escape. This was a serious business and also very profitable. Robin Hood's Bay was surprisingly rich and prosperous for a small secluded village with the most dreadful roads you could imagine. Its wealth came from the smuggling and people knew this. Laws will only be upheld if the vast majority believe in them. The only losers were the Government situated hundreds of miles away. No one cared about them.

Many Riders did not take their job seriously. They often falsified the journals they had to keep. They used this as a second income to suppliment their main occupation as tradesmen. They were never paid enough to take their job seriously. Often ex smugglers were employed as Preventatives - it takes a smuggler to catch a smuggler!

Incentives were provided for the Riders to bring prosecutions. They were paid bonuses. But these were inneffective as the riders had to pay for any legal costs. Smugglers were found not guilty because virtually everyone was in on it. The juries were drawn from the general population who generally supported smuggling.

These cold and wet and very miserable Riders were outgunned. They had the unenviable task of taking on several determined smugglers. In practice they could not call on soldiers since the barracks were often miles away.

The coast of North Yorkshire is a cold, dark, wet and miserable place in the middle of the night. There was no street lighting and no modern technology. Just the need for pure determination to uphold the law. Yet waged against these poor Customs Officers were well paid and organised gangs.

Preventatives had to be frequently moved on as they were bribed. Yet as they were moved or were replaced they again returned to square one. New people had to take over and patrol a coast they knew little of.

Those who took their job faced serious danger. Preventatives were beaten and occasionally shot. Most had the sense to simply accept the futility of their job. They were taking on whole communities not individual criminals. One Officer of the Excise, John Smith was shot whilst on duty by Valentine Bailey. Bailey was executed for the crime on 3rd April 1769. When sent down he knocked down one of his fellow smugglers - a woman who had given evidence against him.

SOURCE
- Meadleys memorials

OTHER ARTICLES
• The Yorkshire smuggler - the smuggling of contraband
• The fishermen and fisheries of Robin Hood's Bay in 1838
• Smuggling of contraband along the Scarborough coast
• Robin Hood's Bay - The Storm family website
• The Smuggling of contraband and the coastguard in Flamborough
• Customs Officer during golden age of smuggling in Scarborough
• French merchants and smugglers on the Yorkshire coast
• Smuggling at Robin Hood's Bay
• Thomas Crimlisk - First of the Crimlisks
• Sharks and big fish along the Robin Hood's Bay coast
• The origin of Robin Hood's Bay - its name
• The coastline and cliffs of Robin Hood's Bay
• The smuggling along the Yorkshire coast - Cloughton Wyke
• Shipbuilding at Scarborough - the wooden barques and schooners
• Coastal erosion in the 19th Century around the North Bay and Scarborough Castle area
• Havens on the North Yorkshire coast. An article on scarboroughs maritime history by John Rushton
• Stories from Robin Hood's Bay and Whitby
• Famous fishing families - the Whitby Storr family and the Leadleys
• The 200 year history of scarboroughs RNLI

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