Isaac Gulliver

Isaac Gulliver was the King of the Smugglers in the 1770s, a gentle man who never killed a man, despite the scope of his vast smuggling business. He lived in Sixpenny Handley, 30 miles inland from where he ran his business. He had 15 tuggers bringing in gin and tea, lace and silk from the Continent to Poole and Lyme. Dangerous work, though. Churchyards were excellent places to hide the contraband, but the Preventative Men knew that, too. One time Gulliver was stashing his goods in an empty tomb when he heard the Preventatives enter the churchyard. He quickly rubbed chalk on his face and hopped into a nearby coffin and played dead. Things were dangerous for the Preventative Men, too. Another time, Gulliver’s men caught them spying, hung them over the cliff by their feet, and brazenly unloaded their goods in front of them. Then they hauled up the Preventatives and left them, still tied up, in a nearby field. Hopefully, someone found them!