Polperro villagers get back historic smugglers’ banknotes
I’m down in Cornwall this week consulting on the development of a landscape partnership. Around the fringes of the flora and fauna we have been discussing local initiative and amongst other things the importance, as in may rural places of the “informal economy”.
This story reminds us that it was and is often more structured and potent than we might think. Never mind the Totnes pound – we are talking here of something more visceral and powerful 200 years older. The article tells us:
Cornish bank notes issued by a notorious businessman known as the “Smugglers’ Banker” are to go on display in Polperro after being sold at auction in London.
Free-trading – a Cornish term for smuggling – was at its height during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and Zephaniah Job was one of several men who put the activity on to a sound financial footing. By organising cargoes with Guernsey crews, Job provided a good living for Polperro fishermen