BEVERLEY ELPHICK

July 2020 ... 

Lewes family: Son Hanged at Tyburn for Smuggling (1747)

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When I published a list of real local smugglers in Retribution, one of whom

was named John Ashcraft of Bishopstone, I wondered if there might be members

of their families still to be found in the Lewes district today. Little did I expect

to hear from a family with such a dramatic and poignant history.

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Diane Hodges of Maidstone contacted me to say she had found, in her genealogy investigations, her great grandparent x 6, Richard Ashcroft, a convicted smuggler who had suffered the misfortune of being hanged at Tyburn following a spell in Newgate prison.

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Richard Ashcroft, 44, was born in Bishopstone; his parents were from Lewes. In 1747 he was convicted at the Old Bailey of being a smuggler and sentenced to death.  He had been caught in the company of 30 armed men who had gathered in Eastbourne intending to carry away goods on which duty had not been paid. 

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Richard Ashcroft (sometimes known as Ashcraft) was a fisherman operating from Bishopstone where he lived with his wife, Jenny (nee Hide), and their seven children. Jenny died in childbirth, in the same year that Richard was hanged, leaving seven orphaned children to the mercy of their native parish.

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In the court records Richard maintained that he had fallen in with the smuggling community whilst drinking in local pubs. His neighbours declared him to be a quiet, harmless man. The transcript of his trial implied that he was not a hardened criminal, but an unfortunate recent participant who did not bear firearms and had only fallen in with the smugglers as drinking companions. He declared that he just happened to be in Eastbourne on the day when the 30 smugglers met a party of five excise officers as they were trying to carry away goods with duty unpaid.

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The five officers were assaulted and threatened with weapons but managed to apprehend four men and a woman who were later convicted, including John Cook, 28, who was hanged alongside Richard Ashcroft. Cook admitted to being a long-time member of the notorious Hawkhurst gang. There is no indication of what happened to the rest of the gang. Presumably they escaped, as it would have been difficult for five to hold 30 armed men.

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Diane’s family tree records four generations named Richard Ashcroft and their close links to Lewes, and to St. John the Baptist Church (Southover). Richard’s parents were married and buried there, as were other members of the family.

Quite where John Ashcraft fits in I don’t yet know. He could be Richard’s brother or close relative. The report in the Sussex Advertiser advising of his arrest (published on 5.3.1746) might simply be mistaken in the Christian name.  More research is needed, I think. Names were fairly fluid at that time.

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I am indebted to Diane for allowing me to tell her family history.