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The Deal Boatmen

Deal, Kent

A town of smugglers whose boats were burned by the Prime Minister.

The boatmen of Deal were famous for daring rescues on the Goodwin Sands, but also for smuggling goods from France. In 1784 Prime Minister William Pitt sent soldiers to Deal, and they burned the town's smuggling boats on the beach while the townspeople watched.

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When
1700s
Where
51.2200, 1.4000
Group
Pirates

Visiting

Deal has a pier, a Tudor castle and the Timeball Tower museum.

Cover of Blood and Gold by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

Blood and Gold

Sixteen true stories of mutiny, mercy, treasure and the gallows from the Golden Age of Piracy: Henry Every, Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts, Edward England, Howell Davis, Christopher Moody, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, Charles Vane, Benjamin Hornigold, Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, Israel Hands, Calico Jack, Edward Low, Captain William Kidd and Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy. Where the record is uncertain, the book says so.

Buy on AmazonAll books by Cale Mills

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