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Thomas Fletcher came from Ireland, and entered the service of H.M. Coastguards in 1833. He came to Looe in 1834 and married a local girl, Elizabeth Higgins. Smuggling was rife in Looe at the time and it was not unknown for Coastguards and Revenue men to sympathise with a trade which was so vital for the local economy. Whether by sympathy, fear or simply because it was a lucrative trade, Fletcher appears to have joined Amram's organisation. Smuggling in Looe differed from the well documented business in Polperro, run by Zephaniah Job with the approval of the Trelawneys. The smugglers of Looe left no records, only tales told to Commander Shore, of incidents involving individuals, notably Amram Hooper. A Looe author, Elizabeth Steed Shapcott, writing in the 1930s, adds to the information available from her interviews with her father and an unnamed seamstress who supplied details of ghostly happenings on the Island. Thomas Fletcher went " on the run" ( absconded) from the Coastguard service and reappeared in Looe, as a fisherman in 1837. Rumours abound that he, Amram & Matilda were caught and brought to account for their activities, however,no evidence has yet been discovered and many files were lost after a fire at Fowey coastguard Headquarters. Both men lived to old age and were buried with walking funerals. Amram lies in St Martin's churchyard and Thomas and his wife in Schlerder Abbey. Thomas had a large family, many descendants still live in the area.
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