Jack Rattenbury, nicknamed Rob Roy of the West (1778, in
Beer, Devon
Beer is a village and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England. The village faces Lyme Bay and is a little over west of the town of Seaton. It is situated on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and its picturesque clif ...
– 1844), was an English
smuggler
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are various ...
. In 1837, after thirty years at sea as a fisherman, pilot, seaman and smuggler, he wrote about his life in a book called ''Memoirs of a Smuggler'' with the help of a local
Unitarian clergyman.
Life
Jack Rattenbury was born in
Beer
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
in 1778.
His mother, Anne Newton, came from Beer, and his father, John Rattenbury, came from
Honiton
Honiton ( or ) is a market town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, north east of Exeter in the county of Devon. Honiton has a population estimated at 11,822 (based on mid-year estimates for the two Honiton Ward ...
. Going to sea from the age of nine, Jack Rattenbury first became involved in smuggling at the age of sixteen. In 1800 he married Anna Partridge from
Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and beaches on the Heri ...
.
[ He died aged sixty-five, and was buried on 28 April 1844 in Seaton churchyard, at an unmarked spot close to the north transept. (He's actually buried in Branscombe church's graveyard). ]
The Beer Quarry Caves were of great use to smugglers as they could be used to store contraband, hidden from the excise officials. One cave that was used was the Adit
An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, ventilated, and minerals extracted at the lowest convenient level. Adit ...
between Branscombe
Branscombe is a village in the East Devon district of the English County of Devon.
The parish covers . Its permanent population in 2009 was estimated at 513 by the Family Health Services Authority, reducing to 507 at the 2011 Census. It is ...
and Beer Head
Beer is a village and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England. The village faces Lyme Bay and is a little over west of the town of Seaton. It is situated on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and its picturesque cliffs, ...
, located in the area known as the Hooken Undercliff. The entrance is up on the cliffs in Branscombe and local legend has it, it leads through to the church in Branscombe.
Rattenbury in fiction
In 1879 Sir Walter Besant
Sir Walter Besant (14 August 1836 – 9 June 1901) was an English novelist and historian. William Henry Besant was his brother, and another brother, Frank, was the husband of Annie Besant.
Early life and education
The son of wine merchant Willi ...
and James Rice published a book of stories, '' 'Twas in Trafalgar Bay'', about Rattenbury.
In 1900 Sabine Baring-Gould
Sabine Baring-Gould ( ; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,2 ...
wrote a novel about him entitled ''Winefred: a story of the chalk cliffs''.
Author Mary Upton wrote a 2007 novel about him entitled ''Rattenbury: a novel based on the memoirs of a West Country smuggler''.
Works
*
Memoirs of a smuggler, compiled from his diary and journal: containing the principal events in the life of John Rattenbury, of Beer, Devonshire; commonly called "The Rob Roy of the West
" With a portrait, and a correct map of the coast and country twenty miles each way round Beer'', Sidmouth, 1837
References
1778 births
1844 deaths
English smugglers
People from East Devon District
British fishers
Criminals from Devon
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