Headstone dedicated to James Smith and Henry Nevil, All Saints, Birchington, Kent. © Carole Tyrrell
This headstone has intrigued me ever since I first saw it while exploring the fascinating churchyard of All Saints. The church is the oldest building still standing within the village and there may have been one on the site in Saxon times. So many questions came to mind. Firstly, what is an officer of excise? And why are they buried together with such a disparity in their dates of death? And finally, what is the near illegible verse carved at the base of the headstone?
The epitaph reads:
‘OFFICERS of EXCISE
JOHN SMITH HENRY NEVIL
died the 27th died the 29th
of Oct 1746 April 1745
Aged 23 years Aged 59 years
At the top of the headstone are two entwined hands, both with fashionable (at the time) frilly cuffs, and above them is what appears to be an old fashioned curtain with two drapes hanging down on either side. This could be a reference to The Final Curtain. This is often associated with the theatrical world in that it indicates the end of a show, the end of an evening, and, in funerary symbolism terms, the end of a life. The drapes on either side of the hands also resemble downturned torches which are a symbol of extinguished life. The two hands could be a variant of the ‘shaking hands’ indicating that two friends have been reunited in death. Decorative scrolls surround the images enhance the design and are typical of the period.
The top of the headstone showing the symbols. © Carole Tyrrell
According to the Birchington Heritage Trust the facts are these:
‘In April 1745, there was a disastrous smuggling run on the Kent coast at an unknown location. Two Excise Officers, Henry Nevil, aged 59 and John Smith, aged 23, were badly injured for the smugglers gave no quarter. Henry died soon after the event but John lingered on for a further 18 months before finally dying in October 1746.’
The parish buried John with Henry after his death and erected a beautifully carved headstone in their memory. The verse at the base of the stone reads:
“Two gagers have met a fatal doom,
One past his prime, the other in his bloom,
Whose truth and justice bore, on equal scale,
And Christian virtues did o’er vice prevail.”
A ‘gager ‘was the nickname given to seamen when they left the service. Most excise men were ex-seamen hence the reference in the verse as it stuck to them in their new profession. It is still in use today as a term for anyone involved in preventing tax evasion.
The verse at the base of the headstone. © Carole Tyrrell
Clashes between Excise men and smugglers were often violent and bloody. The smugglers were well organised and large armed gangs would descend on a location armed to the teeth with cutlasses, blunderbusses and clubs. It was big business for the time.
According to the Borrowing Cats substack:
‘A notorious affray in 1786 saw Customs officers ‘severely beaten and near drowned’, at nearby Minnis Bay when attempting to seize kegs of brandy.’
Even now a pub in Birchington village is named ‘The Smugglers’.
Smugglers unloading illicit cargo. © starsider
Excise men were not popular. As the National Archives research guide describes it:
‘Excise duty is a tax imposed on certain goods at the time of manufacture. They differ from Customs in that excise is an inland duty and customs is a border tax. Excise was originally imposed in 1643 by the Long Parliament for the war against the Crown. The revenue reverted to King Charles 11 after the Restoration and he was able to allow Nell Gwynn, one of his mistresses, £500 from these monies. Excise was imposed on anything that was popular at the time. Thus when wigs were fashionable there was a tax on their powder. When people had servants, they were taxed on male servants. Later taxes included tea; coffee; chocolate; beer; wine and spirits. In addition excise was levied on candles and other taxes were also imposed on salt, paper and windows.’
The National Archives hold records for Customs and Excise officer applications. In 1792, salaries varied from £800 pa for Commissioners to £50 a year for the Excise Officers.
‘The duties of an Excise Officer meant that they were allocated ‘a ride’. Every county was split into two divisions and each division into ‘rides’ i.e. the distance a man could ride on a horse in a day. The Excise Officer would have to visit at least twice during the manufacture of any goods, and in the case of beer, wines and spirits they would need to sample them to test for alcoholic and quality. They then needed to record these details which were used to determine the amount of duty levied. This is why the application to become an Excise Officer required them to be literate and possess a good standard of arithmetic. Needless to say, officers involved with the testing of wines, spirits and beers were occasionally found intoxicated and this led to punishment or dismissal. Famous Excise men were Robert Burns and Thomas Paine.’
However, there are also smugglers buried in the same churchyard and this includes three members of the Darby family who stated their occupation as ‘smuggler’. A ‘Riding Officer’, Thomas Thunder was also buried there in 1789. Another man whose occupation was listed as ‘smuggler’ was Thomas Hollands who was on the Burial Register in 1814 aged 34.
Smugglers and Exciseman dated 1774. © cuckfieldconnections.org
However there is a grisly legend of a male skeleton being discovered during 19th century renovations at the Vine Hotel, Skegness. He had been bricked into a cavity opposite the reception area and was still wearing the very tattered remnants of a uniform with buttons bearing the Royal insignia. But no hard evidence exists for this such as the current location of the skeleton or what happened to it although there have been rumours of ghostly happenings at the Hotel.
The Vine Hotel, Skegness.
There is also a very gruesome painting dated 1774 entitled ‘Bostonians Paying the Excise man or Tarring and Feathering.’
So under spreading trees lie the two Officers of Excise, together for eternity, in a country churchyard. But what a story they tell of smuggling and the men trying to foil them. RIP gentlemen you have done your duty.
© Carole Tyrrell
© Text and photos Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise indicated.
References and further reading:
https://birchingtonheritage.org.uk/Excise Men
https://birchingtonheritage.org.uk/SMUGGLERS in ALL SAINTS CHURCHYARD
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/customs-excise-tax-officers.htm – author Linda Taylor
shadows fly away 