HM Waterguard

The Board of Customs has a very long history. Originally, the term customs meant any customary payments or dues of any kind - for example, to the King, a Bishop or the church - but later became restricted to duties payable to the King on the import or export of goods. The centralised English customs system can be traced to the Winchester Assize of 1203-4, in the reign of King John, from which time customs were to be collected and paid to the State Treasury. Legislation concerning customs can be traced to King Edward I. Under the nova custuma in 1275, Collectors of Customs were appointed by Royal patent and, in 1298, custodes custumae were appointed in certain ports to collect customs for the crown. The first Customs officers were appointed in 1294, and later on included Geoffrey Chaucer, Thomas Paine, Robert Burns and Richard Whittington - also known as Dick Whittington.

A Board of Customs was effectively created by ordinance on 21 January 1643, under which the regulation of the collection of customs was entrusted to a parliamentary committee.

As soon as Medieval taxes were charged on imports and exports, people began smuggling, shipping goods unseen by Customs officers. In the eighteenth century, Custom duties were imposed on luxuries like silk and lace, tea, tobacco and brandy. At each port, staff from the Custom House searched cargoes and collected dues. At sea, Customs Revenue Cruisers watched for vessels illegally offloading cargo. From 1698 Riding officers patrolled the coast to catch smugglers as they beached cargoes and carried them inland.

The 1743 estimate that half the tea drunk in Britain was illegally imported shows that smuggling was highly profitable. This well organised �free trade� employed and supplied many people, from paupers to peers. Smugglers have often been romanticised but the reality was brutal. Local people lived in fear, with violent reprisals on informers and the murder of conscientious Revenue officers, while corruption enabled captured smugglers to evade harsh penalties.

EXCISE

The Board of Excise is not so ancient. Excise duties are inland duties levied on articles at the time of their manufacture, such as alcoholic drinks and tobacco, but duties have also been levied on salt, paper and windows. A Board of Excise was established by the Long Parliament, and Excise Duties first levied, in 1643. The Board of Excise was merged with the existing Board of Taxes and Board of Stamps to create the new Board of Inland Revenue in 1849. Famous Excise Officers include Robert Burns & Thomas Paine.


Geoffrey Chaucer 1347-1400

Richard Whittington 1350-1423

Thomas Paine 1737-1809

Robert Burns 1759-1796

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CUSTOMS & EXCISE

The 1908 Finance Act transferred the management of Excise Duties and the associated powers and duties of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, to the Commissioners of Customs. The Commissioners of Customs were renamed The Commissioners of Customs and Excise. The Customs and the Excise Services were amalgamated by an order in Council from 1 April 1909 to be administered by the Board of Customs and Excise and became known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.

During the early period of a joint Customs and Excise department there were some changes in management as Excise Districts absorbed Customs Stations. A 1913 edition of 'General Instructions to Surveyors and Officers Employed upon Excise Duties' reflects the change in a section referring to the supervision of Preventive Men on Preventive Stations. An extract in PDF form can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: Instructions to Surveyors & Officers

Employed upon Excise Duties :::

An insight into the history of the Customs and the Customs & Excise services at Gravesend in Kent from the earliest times until 1935 was given in a series of articles by Frank C. Bowen published in �The Gravesend Reporter' during the years 1934 -1936.The relevant passages, which reflect the services at many other ports, are reproduced here as a PDF which can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: A History of Gravesend Customs :::

An article by Geoffrey Williamson in the 'Illustrated Magazine' dated 16 November 1946 - They Watch Our Coasts Day and Night - provides a spotlight on the Waterguard service and the increase in smuggling after WWII. The article is interesting from two perspectives. First it describes the task of meeting the challenge that fell upon the Preventive Branch of Customs and Excise which was busy training new recruits. Second, it mentions 'a vast reorganisation scheme, bringing the divisions into which the country is divided for customs purposes up to fifteen by the addition of new establishments at Harwich, Bristol, Salford and Belfast'. It can be seen in PDF form by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: They Watch Our Coasts Day and Night :::

Another insight into the history of the Customs and the Customs & Excise, this time by Eric Keown writing in the 21 May 1952 edition of Punch magazine after a visit to the Board of Customs and Excise private museum in Finsbury Square, London. The article entitled 'Painful Duties' is also reproduced here as a PDF which can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: Painful Duties by Eric Keown :::

An article by Hugh Popham which was written for the Esso Newsline - an 'in house' magazine - and published in 1965. It gives an insight into the customs work at the Fawley oil terminal and puts it into an historical perspective. It can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: Anything to declare? by Hugh Popham :::

COASTGUARD - PREVENTIVE WATER GUARD

HM Coastguard owes its origins to the efforts made to combat smuggling throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. The Board of Customs and the Board of Excise were responsible for the prevention of the evasion of duty by smuggling and by the end of the 17th century they had a small fleet of boats and a few men on the coast. The service was expanded throughout the 18th century with the use of the naval vessels, revenue cruisers, dragoons and a shore based mounted force called Riding Officers. Despite these efforts, it was estimated that towards the end of the 18th century, about two thirds of the brandy drunk in this country had been smuggled in.

The aid given to Napoleon by the smugglers spurred the government to strengthen the preventive forces and a Preventative Water Guard was established in 1809. The coast was divided into three divisions, Carlisle to Landsend, Landsend to North Foreland and North Foreland to Berwick. Naval Officers with the title of Inspecting Captains were appointed to each division with this title and given command of a small fleet of cruisers and boats.

The end of the Napoleonic War saw the discharge of 300,000 soldiers and sailors who provided a fertile recruiting ground for the smugglers. Further measures were therefore necessary and the preventative forces were strengthened and reorganised and 'Land Waiters', 'Tide Waiters' and 'Searchers' were employed on customs work. In 1816 the Preventative Water Guard was made responsible to the Treasury, they appointed Captain Hanchett RN as Comptroller General of the force. The preventative cruisers came under the Admiralty and Riding Officers under Customs. The Preventative Water Guard operated in coastal waters to tackle smugglers who evaded revenue cruisers. If the weather was rough, they operated from the shore. All recruitment was from demobilised Royal Navy sailors.

But in 1816 the Preventive Water Guard had been withdrawn from parts of Kent in favour of shore based naval crews when a naval commander introduced a scheme whereby Royal Navy shore patrols would catch the smugglers as they came ashore. The Admiralty favoured this Coast Blockade, as it was known, as a reserve of trained seamen, and later extended it from the Isle of Sheppey to Seaford, Sussex. The Blockade's methods were harsh and uncompromising but they proved to be the most effective force yet applied. The Blockade functioned until 1831 when it was absorbed into the Coast Guard..

Captain Hanchett built up a sound and efficient organisation and by 1821 the Water Guard was divided into 31 districts, each under an Inspector Commander and 151 stations were established round the coast commanded by a Chief Officer with a Chief Boatman and Boatmen to kept guard. Inspecting Commanders were required to make frequent checks on the stations and combined operations with the revenue cruisers and the Riding Officers were conducted in order to test the efficiency of the system. A similar force was established in Ireland in 1819, at first under Captain Hanchett, and then a year later under their own Comptroller-General.

Although the primary objective of the Water Guard was to prevent smuggling, it was also made responsible for giving every assistance when a ship was wrecked. Each Water Guard station was issued with Manby's Mortar which was invented by Captain G B Manby, a boyhood friend of Nelson. The mortar fired a shot with a line attached from the shore on to the wrecked ship. It was a device which was to save many lives and was used by the Water Guard and later by the Coastguard for many years to come.


				Revenue Cruiser chasing Smuggling Lugger (from the original painting by Charles Dixon, R.I.) Before firing on a smuggler the cruiser was bound to hoist his Revenue colours - both pennant and ensign - no matter whether day or night.

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In 1821 a Committee of Enquiry examined every aspect of the Customs service. It recognised the Preventive Water Guard as a major force against smuggling and recommended that it be again controlled by the Board of Customs along with the Riding officers and Revenue cruisers. On 15 January 1822 the Treasury accepted the proposal noting that the new force would be called the Coast Guard. Also about this time the Preventive Water Guard were instructed to take responsibility at shipwrecks to safeguard cargoes and vessels from looters. In addition boatmen were to train with life saving equipment, supplied by the Board of Ordnance.

When, in 1831, it was decided that the Board of Customs Coastguard should replace the Coast Blockade on the whole coast the Admiralty made its own proposal. It won the right to appoint Coastguard officers and to select boatmen from paid off naval crews, so setting the scene for the Coastguard as a naval reserve and recruiting agency.

Within a decade Coastguard vigilance was praised for greatly reducing smuggling, though lower taxes helped end illegal trade. The Admiralty was already re-styling the Coastguard with naval style uniform and drill, and training on large guns for coast defence. The Coastguard continued to take charge at wrecks and to save lives. The Board of Trade issued life saving apparatus to Coastguard stations, thus fulfilling its responsibility for safety at sea imposed by the 1854 Merchant Shipping Act. The role of naval reserve and coastal defence force was sealed when the Coast-guard Service Act (1856) passed control from the Board of Customs to the Admiralty. Though still available for revenue protection, Coastguards trained to supplement naval crews. A PDF copy of the Coast-guard Service Act (1865) is reproduced here.

::: The Coast-guard Service Act 1856 :::

Within a decade Coastguard vigilance was praised for greatly reducing smuggling, though lower taxes helped end illegal trade. The Admiralty was already re-styling the Coastguard with naval style uniform and drill, and training on large guns for coast defence. The Coastguard continued to take charge at wrecks and to save lives. The Board of Trade issued life saving apparatus to Coastguard stations, thus fulfilling its responsibility for safety at sea imposed by the 1854 Merchant Shipping Act. The role of naval reserve and coast defence force was sealed when the Coast Guard Act (1856) passed control from the Board of Customs to the Admiralty. Though still available for revenue protection, Coastguards trained to supplement naval crews.

Following the final adoption of Free Trade, in 1860, the Preventive Water Guard was amalgamated with the Landing Staff with an approved staff complement for London of:

One Inspector General.
One Controller.
Twelve Surveyors & Inspectors.
Sixteen Assistant Surveyors and Registrars.
A hundred and thirty Land Waiters and Tide Surveyors.
Eight hundred and twenty Lockers, Weighers and Tide Waiters.

But a distinct body of the Watermen were employed solely on Waterguard duties.

Following the conclusions of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Goschen, in his report of 1891, rummage was considered to be the first line of defence of Customs Revenue and called for experienced, well supervised, Waterguard Officers to undertake the work. General Order 57/1891 defined the Duties of the Preventive staff, and they were to remain much the same as the Waterguard performed for the next 81 years until it was disbanded in 1972. This new Waterguard was initially organised with a staff complement of:

One Inspector.
One Assistant Inspector.
Six Preventive Surveyors.
Twelve Chief Preventive Officers.
Three hundred and ten Preventive Officers.
One thousand, one hundred and twenty six Boatmen.

The name Waterguard was reintroduced and the rummagers were the Boatmen, supervised by Preventive Officers. However the Waterguard was still not a complete entity as only the seven larger ports had Chief Preventive Officer posts. In the remaining ports Preventive Staff were under the supervision of the local Landing Surveyors and Landing Officers.

In 1898, in the light of 6 years experience, it was considered necessary to reorganise the establishment of the Waterguard Service above the rank of Boatman in order to make it more appropriate to the requirements of the service. The changes were introduced by General Order 18/1898 - 21 March 1898 - which can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right.

::: GO 18/1898 (21 March 1898) :::

By 1900 advancing technology in ships and arms had outmoded the type of naval reserve the Coastguard could provide and the Admiralty proposed reducing the Coastguard. This was opposed by the public, the Board of Customs and the Board of Trade who championed the need for life saving and revenue protection. In 1905 the grade of Boatman was renamed Preventive Man.

In 1912 a House of Commons Committee, in an enquiry into the organization, pay and conditions of employment of the Customs Waterguard Service, found that they could not agree there was any valid argument based on the retrospective grievances. They did, however, find that the service which was primarily a preventive force charged with the duty of protecting the revenue and preventing frauds thereon, had taken on certain duties relating to public health over the years. They reported that ' . . . . the present organization of the service dates from 1891, but since that date there has been an addition of various non-revenue duties performed for other departments, such as those under the Merchant Shipping Acts of 1894 and 1906, the Aliens Act of 1905 and the Diseases of Animals Acts, etc. There has also been a large increase in revenue duties proper, owing to the large increase in passenger traffic'.

Another enquiry, in 1921, found that the Coastguard had become the eyes and ears of many organisations with coastal interests. For the Admiralty they provided visual signaling and telegraphy, reported fleet movements, rendered mines safe, undertook recruitment and reported changes in navigation marks to the Hydrographer. For the Board of Customs and Excise they searched vessels, supervised discharge of cargoes, collected dues from coastal vessels, kept shipping statistics and patrolled the coast. For the Board of Trade they assisted ships in distress, acted as Receiver of Wreck and operated life saving apparatus. In addition Coastguards assisted the Post Office and Lloyds with telegraphy and wireless, provided the Fishery Department with statistics, enforced quarantine regulations for Agricultural Departments, made meteorological reports to the Air Ministry, passed distress calls to the RNLI and reported faulty navigation aids to Trinity House.

1921 also saw the Waterguard making a clean break with the Customs Outdoor Service - the Landing & Shipping Staff - with seven Waterguard Divisions being created under the control of Waterguard Superintendents and the local Collectors.

In 1922 the Irish Free State was created with its capital in Dublin, and Ireland was partitioned with the six northern counties of Ulster remaining under the control of the UK government in London, but by 1937 Eamon de Valera had replaced the 1922 constitution of Michael Collins with his own, and renamed the newly independent country �ire. The 'land boundary' was a new challenge for the Waterguard who, traditionally, in the past had only a coastal boundary to police.

In 1923 the Coastguard was placed under the Board of Trade and its role restricted to life saving, salvage from wreck and the administration of the foreshore - the new force was sanctioned by the Coastguard Act of 1925. Once again HM Customs and Excise had complete control of the Waterguard.

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WATERGUARD

From 1923 until the 'reorganisation' of 1972, The Waterguard was the name given to a division of HM Customs and Excise responsible for the collection of customs and excise revenue from the passengers and crew of ships and aircraft, and other incoming travelers to the United Kingdom. Whilst the grade of Preventive Officer was to continue through to 1972, that of Preventive Man was changed to Assistant Preventive Officer and incumbents were given the right to be addressed as 'Mister' in official correspondence!

1923 also saw the introduction of a new grade. The Coast Preventive Man's role was to patrol a stretch of coast and observe the 'comings and goings' of those who frequented it. At each of the limits of his patrol he had a 'linked' Preventive Officer who acted as an advisor and took a report of any information. Occasional promiscuous visits by the Chief Preventive Officer completed the management chain.

Waterguard were uniformed officers, whose uniform was very similar to that of a present day Royal Navy officer. The most noticeable difference was that the bands of rank extend only half way around the sleeve, instead of forming a continuous band. The name 'Waterguard' is misleading, since their domain was not confined to maritime travelers, but they also patrolled airports and other places of entry into the United Kingdom. Waterguard officers were often - incorrectly - referred to simply as 'customs officers' - a more general term that included the plain clothed officers involved with cargo inspections, audits of traders records and investigation rather than the search of aircraft, vessels, vehicles and passengers baggage.

During World War 2, Waterguard staff from London Port were 'evacuated' to the Clyde Emergency Anchorages to help with the Customs control of convoy shipping. George Coppard, a WW One veteren employed as a Preventive Officer in London Port at the time, was seconded to the War Office as a special security officer and attached to the British Special Services. In an article for the Customs Journal of May 1970 he described his work with them.

The Journal article by George Coppard is reproduced here as a PDF.

::: Customs Evacuees on the Clyde :::