Snippets from Poole Archives

In July 1759 Poole’s custom officers wrote to their superiors in London to protest their innocence of being involved in smuggling. 

William Ireland, the Customs Supervisor, had publicly stated in Wimborne, that…  “the Officers of the Customs at Poole were Smugglers, and considerable ones”. They also noted that he was very drunk at the time.

The profits of smuggling were high and corruption was known to extend to the high levels of society.