Falmouth is a small port town located where the river Fal meets the sea in Cornwall, on the very Southwestern tip of England. In the 18th Century, it was known for the Falmouth Package Service, which served publically as a mail service for the British Empire and privately as a smuggling operation, as they were exempt from customs searches due to being employed by the government. Additionally, Falmouth was one of the ports in Cornwall where slave traders would bring their captives. One notable figure in the slave trade rooted in Falmouth is Thomas Corker, who led a slave trading operation that spanned centuries. In Equiano's "Interesting Narrative," he first comes to Falmouth when he was around twelve years old, saying, "It was about the beginning of the spring 1757 when I arrived in England, and I was near twelve years of age at that time. I was very much struck with the buildings and the pavement of the streets in Falmouth; and, indeed, any object I saw filled me with new surprise" (ch. 3). He goes on to write of his first time seeing snow in Falmouth, and mistaking it at first for salt. During his time in Falmouth, while his master was rooming with a family there, he befriends a young girl, but they are soon forced to leave the port town.
