 Through the 17th and 18th centuries the island was used by smugglers to avoid the British Government's revenue cutters out of Plymouth and Falmouth.The Old Guildhall Museum in Looe hold information and research about the smuggling families of Looe Island and information is also available in the more recent publications about the island.In the 20th century, Looe island was owned (and inhabited) by two sisters, Babs and Evelyn Atkins, who wrote two books