Isaac Gulliver
Isaac Gulliver (1745–1822) was an English
Life
Gulliver was born at
An extremely wealthy man, Gulliver was able to build many grand houses, among them 'Howe Lodge', in Kinson, Bournemouth, a purpose-built smuggling stronghold. When the house was demolished in 1958, a number of hiding places were found within, including a secret room only accessible through a door 10 feet up a chimney.[3] It was at Howe Lodge that he allegedly covered his face in white powder and lay in an open coffin. When the customs men arrived to arrest him his wife told them he had died during the night and showed them the 'body'. When they went away, Gulliver got out of the coffin and escaped.[3] Later, a mock funeral was held using a coffin filled with stones.
A 1788 report from the Custom House, Poole, to His Majesty's Commissioners of Customs in London mentioned that:
- "Gulliver was considered one of the greatest and most notorious smugglers in the west of England and particularly in the spirits and tea trades but in the year 1782 he took the benefit of his Majesty's proclamation for pardoning such offences and as we are informed dropped that branch of smuggling and afterwards confined himself chiefly to the wine trade which he carried on to a considerable extent having vaults at various places along the coast and "in remote places".[2]
Gulliver became a respected citizen, gentleman and banker. He retired to Gulliver's House, West Borough,
Family
Gulliver's only son, Isaac (1774–98) died unmarried, but his daughters married into the Fryer family whose interests and wealth ranged from the Newfoundland fisheries to banking.
In literature
Willibald Alexis's historical romance Walladmor (1823) includes a smuggler character whom the novel's English translator Thomas De Quincey recognized as based on Isaac Gulliver. De Quincey used the identification to add further material.[7]
Gulliver appears as a character in Leon Garfield's novel The Drummer Boy (1970).
Legacy
In 1993, the Dolphin Inn public house in
See also
References
- ^ BBC. "Smugglers Cove - in Kinson?". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f "The King of the Smugglers". The Dorset Page. Archived from the original on 10 July 2016.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7524-5704-8.
- ^ "Chettle Parish Records, Dorset".
- ^ "A Garden Shed's Unique Place in History | Looking Back". 11 July 2021.
- ^ "History of Modern Cremation in Great Britain from 1874: The First Hundred Years". The Cremation Society of Great Britain. 1974. Archived from the original on 11 October 2003.
- ^ Frederick Burwick, British Drama of the Industrial Revolution; Cambridge University Press, 2015; p.209
- ^ "Remembering pubs' pasts..." Bournemouth Echo. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2023.