Privateering in the Channel Islands

In Guernsey at the moment and it is noticeable that there was a sudden influx of money at the start of the nineteenth century. The main evidence for this are the number of stone cottages with dates from around this period. The reason for this sudden wealth was the wars against Napoleon. The wars might have cut off the trade with France and destroyed the traditional trade routes, but it did bring with it a whole new way of making a living: privateering. Privateering is basically legalised piracy. A privateer carries a letter from the government allowing them to attack any and all shipping belonging to the enemy. The profit come if they capture anything because it gets taken as a prize so any cargo can be resold, as can the ship itself, which would raise a lot of money. Many privateers ran out of the Channel Islands harassing the French coastal shipping, and they brought back a lot of money. So much money that for a brief period these tiny islands became one of the worlds major maritime powers.