Maritime smuggling networks through insular contexts: Geo-spatial hinterlands of Isle of Man and Channel Islands illicit trade, c. 1680-1832

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In his study of inter-colonial illicit trade from 1600-1800, Wim Klooster (2009) aphoristically observed 'it takes two to smuggle'. Klooster's statement precipitates questions: who was smuggling; where this activity was taking place; and how extensive was the distribution of smuggled goods. My project will concentrate on a specific maritime, littoral and hinterland geography and develop an innovative methodology to answer these questions. As an inherently spatial-temporal phenomena smuggling is a promising area for applying GIS to map the locations of smuggling networks through identifying incidences of goods being acquired, shipped, or sold as well as network analysis of the connectivity between individuals involved in illicit trade. This study will participate in history's 'spatialturn', using GIS to bring subaltern activity into close study. Smuggled goods were observed by contemporaries to be extraordinarily prevalent in the British Isles throughout the long eighteenth century. There is, therefore, a clear rationale in re-evaluating the mechanism of illicit trade through the British Isles littoral and questioning how extensive the diffusion of smuggled goods from insular-located nodes were in domestic markets.