Journey to Flushing, Cornwall, a village where Georgian elegance meets a surprising history of naval warfare and smuggling. Delve into the lives of packet ship captains and crews, and the hidden wealth that shaped this picturesque waterside location.
Flushing, now a quiet village, facing Falmouth across the natural harbour, has become a popular holiday location, tiered with Georgian houses. The town was much developed as a base for the mail boats (packet ships). As Britain spent much of the Eighteenth and early Nineteenth centuries at war with its continental neighbours, it was safer to dispatch mail, bullion, and couriers by ship to the colonies from this distant location. The village was given its name by Dutch engineers, probably directed by Cornelius Vermuyden, who built the two main quays in the town.
The grand houses on St Peter's Hill, the road that leads into the village, were owned by captains of the packet ships that docked in nearby Falmouth. James Silk Buckingham (1786–1855) spent his childhood here and writes that most of the packet captains and officers, and their families, as well as the crews, lived in the village. Dinners, balls, and evening parties were held most evenings at some of the captains' houses, and there were dances for the sailors at the more humble places. Much of it was paid for by prize money and the profits from the contraband carried by the packet ships. The packet ships were built for speed but were also armed; they were not subject to searches by HM Customs and Excise, and therefore, officers and crew were able to smuggle items for sale.
In addition, naval prize money was most frequently awarded for the capture of enemy ships or of cargoes belonging to an enemy in time of war and distributed to the crew in proportion to rank. On one memorable occasion, a French privateer was seriously damaged and three crew members killed after an engagement with a packet ship, in which the packet passengers joined in the engagement with small arms fire!. Flushing, Cornwall, UK