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Waterguard Office Administration |
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As in most offices, a Waterguard office and those who worked from it, had their share of administrative tasks. These tasks were many and varied and either regulated the officers' working lives or supported the operational tasks that were the office's raison d'etre.
The 'Management' at each port or place assigned the jobs and tasks to the staff available to them, within the Staffing Complement, on a 'day to day' and 'week to week' basis - often over a 13 week 'roster period' at a large port. Swapping shifts, or even whole weeks of shifts, between individuals was allowed at some places and schemes to regulate it were introduced locally - often by promulgation in Local Standing Orders.
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At LAP 'Working rosters' were published weekly in advance to let staff know where people were working that week. An example of such a roster for the LAP Boarding Station - w/c 19th June 1972 - can be seen as a PDF by selecting the 'button' to the right. |
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The daily attendance of officers was recorded on the Station by their signing on and off in an attendance register - form C 831 (Short). This allowed for daily management checks and a basis for calculating any overtime worked. An example of C 831 can be seen in PDF format by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
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An employment record - Form C&E 838 - was submitted each month with a record of all the hours worked. This was the basis for the payment of overtime and shift allowance etc. |
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Almost all Annual Leave was 'minuted' - pre-planned by seniority or by a leave roster although swaps between individuals were sometimes allowed. Un-minuted leave was sometimes allowed on request to local management but was only granted if the contingencies of the service allowed or there was a genuine and urgent domestic or personal reason necessitating the leave.
All periods of Sick Leave of more than a day had to be covered by a Certificate issued by a doctor or notified in advance by a hospital appointment letter.
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All periods of absence - annual leave and sickness etc. - were reported to the Collector's Office for recording on the officer's central absence record - C & E 199. An example can be seen here in PDF format. |
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Cash, including cheques, was collected from passengers and crew and was recorded, secured and brought to account. Larger Waterguard offices had a designated Cash officer who accepted and was responsible for paying the cash to the Collector's Office or depositing it in a local bank which held the Bank of England agency for credit to the Collector's Office account. Whilst any cash was in a Waterguard office, it was kept under lock and key - in a cashbox or more usually a small safe, under the designated Cash officer's control.
All payments to the Collector's Office had to be accompanied by a 'voucher' which formed the basis of the separation of the cash and bookkeeping functions. The procedure of bringing the cash to account depended on the reason the payment was made.
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Occasionally cash was the subject of an offence - Exchange Control - or was evidence in an offence case. In such cases the cash was not brought to account. The actual notes or coin were material to the case, not the monetary value they represented and as such were treated as any other detained or seized goods. Such cash was wrapped and sealed in a parcel, and the parcel recorded as 'One package said to contain £xxx in cash' and deposited in the Waterguard Lockup.
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Waterguard offices, and those who worked in them, shared Official Correspondence with HQ, other Waterguard offices and amongst themselves.
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Select the 'button' on the right for a selection of such correspondence received and generated between 1934 and 1962 at the Maldon and Burnham on Crouch Waterguard offices. |
Some stationery items with numbered pages held as stock, such as Duty Slip Books, Request & Receipt Books and Receipt Books, as well as postage stamps were regarded as high security items. They were as valuable as cash in the wrong hands and were therefore kept under lock and key and were subject to recorded receipt and issue and regular management inspection.
Pier Head Book
A Pier Head Book was maintained at each Waterguard Boarding Office. Forming a running record of all the vessels arriving at the Station, it was a digest of information gathered from the Ships’ Blue Books.
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C 568 - A record of the Net tonnage of all vessels in COASTING TRADE and an account of the ARRIVAL of vessels from both Foreign and Coastwise was held on each Waterguard station and a report made each month. A PDF copy of a 1964 version of the C568 record and report form can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
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C 568A - A record of the Net tonnage of all vessels in COASTING TRADE and an account of the SAILING of vessels in both Foreign and Coastwise was held on each Waterguard station and a report made each month. A PDF copy of a 1964 version of the C568A record and report form can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
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Seized goods were wrapped, sealed and recorded in the station's Seizure Record before being transferred to a King's or Queen's Warehouse, often via a Waterguard Lockup, for eventual disposal. Two documents were involved:
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C 457 - Seizure Note - which recorded the details of the seizure and acted as a notice to the Collector's Office and the King's or Queen's Warehouse officer. A PDF copy of a 1973 version of a form C457 can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. & C 458 - Seizure Report - which gave details of the seizure and was a formal report of it to the Collector via local Waterguard management. A PDF copy of a 1965 version of a form C458 can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
One officer on each watch would be designated the Waterguard Lockup officer and would be responsible for all receipts and withdrawals from the 'lockup' during his watch. The designated officer would check the 'lockup' record against the items actually in the 'lockup' and sign for the receipt of the contents and the 'lockup' keys from the designated officer of the previous watch.
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Until 1924, when its transfer to a 'cleaning grade' was foretold in part 5 of General Order 61/1924, the cleaning of Waterguard offices was laid to the Boatman/Preventive Man/Assistant Preventive Officer grade. Part 5 of General Order 61/1924 can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
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Surveys 107 - A Notice Relating To The Loading Of Grain Cargoes - was presented to the Waterguard by Masters of vessels from foreign with a cargo of grain exceeding one third of the vessels Net Registered Tonnage. The form was sent to the Board of Trade Marine Surveyor for the port. A PDF copy of a Surveys 107 can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
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C143 - a list of packages of merchandise and of small addressed packages intended as presents and not on the vessels report - was presented to the Waterguard boarding officer by the Master of the vessel. The boarding officer then gave it to the Landing staff who dealt with the declared goods. A PDF copy of a 1965 version of a C143 can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
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C 101 - A 'precis' of the ship's report was forwarded from the Long Room to the relevant Waterguard Station for control purposes. A PDF copy of a 1962 version of a C101 can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
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232/TAY - Under the Diseases of Animals Act 1950, the Master of a vessel was required to complete a form 232/TAY - Notice to the Police - which the Waterguard forwarded to the local police station. A PDF copy of a Scottish 232/TAY can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
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S 23 - During World War II, S 23 reports were sent to the Chief Officer of Police of all the vessels in the port flying the flag of any nation with whom relations were strained; and all vessels in port of whatever flag, except those flying the flag of a nation with whom relations were strained, loading articles of contraband of war which there was reasons to suppose were intended for the use of the nation with whom relations were strained; and all British vessels in port loading goods of any sort which were the property of, or were consigned to, companies or nationals of the nation with whom relations were strained. A PDF copy of an S 23 can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
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Many Waterguard stations had one or more official vehicles for use by the staff on official business. These ranged from small 'run-abouts' for dock and coast patrol work, to larger saloons for rummage crew transport, Land Boundary patrols and higher management use. These vehicles were generally unmarked but were often distinguished by displaying a Road Tax exemption certificate instead of the usual Tax Disk.
As official vehicles were neither taxed nor insured - the Crown covered its own liabilities - only named Official Drivers were allowed to drive official vehicles. Official drivers were issued with a permit to drive official cars and a record was kept of permit holders and the status of their 'civilian' Driving Licence. Driving lessons, at Crown expense, were provided at certain ports to ensure there were enough official drivers!
Each vehicle had an official Log Book. In it was recorded that the daily maintenance checks had been done and by whom, the name of the driver using the vehicle with dates, times and mileage, the dates the vehicle was refuelled and the amount of fuel taken and any accidents had whilst driving the vehicle.
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Fuel was normally obtained on account from a local garage but at larger ports, such as LAP, fuel was obtained on account from another port user with whom the Department had an arrangement. The amount of fuel obtained was recorded in the vehicle's official log book. On occasion, when far away from base and fuel had to be bought locally, staff paid for it from their own funds and reclaimed the cost on form EX 30. An example of a form EX 30 in PDF format, but for a different claim, can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
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Routine maintenance of official vehicles was the responsibility of station staff who had a list of checks to perform whenever a vehicle was used. Routine servicing, replacement of tyres and exhaust systems and general repairs to official vehicles were normally carried out by the local GPO vehicle maintenance facility.
When an official vehicle was not available - or the Waterguard station was not issued with one - and the planned journey merited it, officers were permitted to use public transport or to use their own private vehicles and reclaim the cost. Many officers baulked at using their private vehicles in this way as although the amounts paid as a mileage allowance were generally considered fair, the use had to be covered by the officers own fully comprehensive insurance policy and a condition of the payment of the allowance ceded rights of general use to the Department.
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