Benson's Cave, on Lundy: reputed to be where Benson stored contraband goods. Thomas Benson (1708 – c. 1771), of Knapp House (''alias'' Nap),

Appledore Appledore may refer to: Places England * Appledore, Kent ** Appledore (Kent) railway station * Appledore, Mid Devon, near Tiverton * Appledore, Torridge, North Devon, near Bideford United States * Appledore Island, off the coast of Maine In fic ...

, on the north

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

coast of England, was a ship-owner and merchant who was

Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Kings's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative f ...

in 1746–47 and MP for

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

between 1747 and 1754.Matthews, Shirley
"BENSON, Thomas (1708–72)"
''History of Parliament Online''. In 1753 he fled to Portugal from British justice, having been accused of customs duty evasion and maritime insurance fraud.

Biography

He was the second son of John Benson (died 1739) of Knapp by his wife Grace Melhuish. The Bensons were long established merchants at Bideford, with an established trade to France, Portugal and Placentia in Newfoundland. They also owned lime-kilns in

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, South West England. It is the main town of the Torridge District, Torridge Districts of England, local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bi ...

, near Appledore. In 1737 Benson married his cousin Frances Melhuish (died 1752), a daughter of Roger Melhuish by his second wife Eleanor Barber. By Frances he had two sons and two daughters. On his father's death in 1739 Benson inherited some of his ships and some property in Appledore together with £1,000. This was augmented when he became heir to his elder brother Peter, who died in 1743. In his will Peter tried to dissuade his brother Thomas from continuing in the family trade, as he considered the future economic climate to be unfavourable. In 1745 Benson presented a silver punch bowl, inscribed with his armorials, to Barnstaple mayor and corporation.Baring Gould, p.234 He was elected to Parliament as the member for

in 1747, and the following year he acquired a lease of the island of

Lundy Lundy is an English island in the Bristol Channel. It forms part of the district of Torridge in the county of Devon. About long and wide, Lundy has had a long and turbulent history, frequently changing hands between the British crown and ...

, off the North Devon coast, for a rent of £60 per annum from

John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower, PC (10 August 1694 – 25 December 1754) was a British Tory politician who served as Lord Privy Seal from 1742 to 1743 and again from 1744 to 1754. Leveson-Gower also served in the Parliament of Great Brita ...

. Some time before 1753, Benson also purchased the estate of Halsbury in the parish of

Parkham Parkham is a small village, civil parish and former manor situated 5 miles south-west of the town of Bideford in north Devon, England. The parish, which lies within the Kenwith ward in the Torridge district, is surrounded clockwise from the n ...

, near Bideford, from Roger Giffard (died 1763). Risdon, Tristram (died 1640), ''Survey of Devon'', 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.414 In 1747 he obtained a contract from the Government to transport English convicts, and gave the usual bond to the

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

to ship them to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

or to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. However he shipped them instead to

where he employed them as slave labourers in building walls, etc. His defence was that sending convicts to Lundy was the same as sending them to America, saying "they were transported from England, no matter where it was so long as they were out of the kingdom". His interpretation of the law was upheld.

Illegal activities

Despite the advice his brother left in his will, Benson continued to trade and expanded his operations into illegal activities including avoidance of paying customs duties on his imports, a large part of which were of tobacco from the American colonies, a trade in which Bideford was pre-eminent. He stored his smuggled goods in a cave on Lundy, which were discovered and the Sheriff of Devon was directed to levy the penalties on Benson. In 1752 he failed to pay some £8,000 of duty on imports valued at £40,000 and was prosecuted in the Court of Exchequer for non-payment. His estates, including Nap, were sequestered by the Crown. In 1752 he obtained insurance at

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

for his ship ''Nightingale'' which was fully laden with a valuable cargo of pewter, linen and salt, supposedly sailing for

in America. However he gave orders to his captain and relative by marriage, John Lancey, to secretly unload the goods onto Lundy, and to scuttle the vessel. On 3 August 1752 the captain put the plan into action and scuttled the vessel in the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...

. The plot was discovered by the authorities following a confession by a crew member and Lancey was convicted, and hanged at

Execution Dock Execution Dock was a site on the River Thames near the shoreline at Wapping, London, that was used for more than 400 years to Execution (legal), execute Pirate, pirates, smugglers and mutiny, mutineers who had been sentenced to death by Admiralt ...

in London on 7 June 1754. The episode is the subject of crime novel ''Hell and High Water'' by Tanya Landman. Benson fled to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in 1753,Taylor, p.16 and his English assets and lands were seized by the Crown. Halsbury was later sold to the Davie family of nearby Orleigh. In Portugal he was joined by two of his remaining ships, and with his nephew Thomas Stafford he established one of the largest English trading companies in that country.Taylor, p.18 He is said to have died in

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

in 1771 at the age of 64, but no direct evidence of this has been found.

Notes

References

Sources

* *Taylor, M.C., biography of Thomas Benson, Barnstaple Heritage Booklet no. 5, Barnstaple, 2001

Biography

Illegal activities

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading