La Manche

1817 - La Manche was a small fishing smack, engaged in smuggling, driven ashore in a fierce gale.   She was wrecked and her crew of three were drowned and buried at Oxwich the following day.   Papers carried by the Captain included a letter in French to a Dartmouth address and details of the cargo: 100 casks of spirits, “ready slung with small cordage, thus clearly indicating that the intention was to run it on some part of the coast”.   Word of the wreck spread and “a number of persons ... collected ... with an evident design of plunder”.   However the wreck was well guarded and the Customs Officer retrieved the casks and secured them safely at Swansea. (Ref: 068)