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Waterguard Work at Sea Ports |
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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.
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General Order 57/1891 defined the Duties of the Preventive Officer, and they were to remain much the same as the Waterguard performed for the next 81 years until it was disbanded in 1972. Select the 'button' on the right to see a PDF copy of General Order 57/1891 |
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Instructions to Coast Preventive Men were issued from time to time. They were to guard the stretch of coastline allotted to them - the prevention of smuggling and the landing of goods contrary to the Customs Laws and Regulations and to carry out such non-revenue work as is provided for in the CPMs' book of Instructions or as they were called upon to perform from time to time by their line managers. Select the 'button' on the right to see a PDF copy of the CPMs' instructions issued in 1935. |
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In the early 1800's vessels were boarded by Tide Waiters who remained onboard until the ship had discharged all the inward cargo. By the middle of the century, whilst the security of the revenue was paramount this system had several obvious inconveniences and hardships. It was suggested by the Comptroller at Liverpool, that these problems might be overcome by substituting a system of regular, shore based patrols within enclosed docks. The patrol system was successfully tried in Liverpool in 1850 and introduced throughout the UK over the following ten years. The dock patrol remained the basis of Waterguard work until 1972.
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The 1856 HM Customs Report contained a favourable report on the New Patrol System. Select the 'button' on the right to view a PDF copy of the relevant extract from that report. |
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Vessels arriving from abroad were ‘Boarded’ as soon as possible by the Waterguard at a Boarding Station - a place appointed by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise at which vessels arriving from abroad were obliged to ‘heave to’ for inspection and the Boarding and Embarking of Customs Officers. The Boarding Crew usually consisted of a Preventive Officer accompanied by an Assistant Preventive Officer.
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At the outbreak of World War II, a warning Notice to all British and Allied vessels - S 12 - was given to Masters informing them that War had broken out between the British Empire and the Axis Powers and that they must not go to certain ports, and reminding them that vessels proceeding to enemy countries were liable to be treated as enemy vessels. A PDF copy of the notice S 12 can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
If any irregularities were discovered during the Boarding or during subsequent visits to a vessel, the Smuggling Regulations were applied.
The Boarding Staff had the initial responsibility for monitoring the Health of vessels on arrival from foreign parts. For vessels in the Home Trade - those trading with the UK from the European coast between the ports of Le Havre and the North Bank of the River Elbe - a verbal declaration that everyone on board was ‘fit and well’ was sufficient, but vessels in the Foreign Trade were obliged to fly a yellow ‘Q’ flag - ‘heave to’ - and produce a Maritime Declaration of Health to the Boarding Preventive Officer.
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Select the 'button' on the right to view a PDF copy of a Declaration of Health for the Port of Workington. |
After the Preventive Officer had examined the Declaration of Health and was satisfied there were no Health problems on board the vessel, he would issue the Master with a Certificate or Licence of Pratique signalling that the vessel could proceed to its Berth.
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Select the 'button' on the right to view a PDF copy of a C221 Certificate of Pratique. |
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A short history of HM Customs & Excise involvement in the 'quarantine regulations' at UK ports was reproduced as an article that appeared in the February 1978 edition of the 'The Mariner's Mirror'. A PDF copy can be seen by accessing the 'button' on the right. |
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After dealing with the Maritime Declaration of Health, the Preventive Officer would inspect the vessel’s documents and copy the vessel’s details from the Ship's Register to the front cover of a Blue Book. Then, on the inner pages, the ship's surplus stores on arrival and how the crew's declared effects were dealt with was recorded. Select the 'button' on the right to view a PDF of a 1959 copy of a Ship's Blue Book - C233 (Large). |
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The C233 (Folder) was a buff coloured, 4 page version of the Ship's Blue Book used for quick turn round vessels such as Ferries, and as a 'cover' for Waterguard cargo entries. |
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Up until the completion of discharge of cargo, the Ship's Blue Book was the main Waterguard 'working' record of the vessel's stay within the port. All the subsequent various activities would be recorded in it - details of dutiable ship's stores placed under seal, measurements of Deck cargo, examination of passengers and their baggage, dealing with the crew's declarations and their dutiable goods, penalties arising from seizures etc.
All subsequent visits to the vessel and any further work carried out - releasing dutiable stores in regulated quantities, any transfers of stores to Queen’s Warehouse, any further rummages, any seizures and penalties etc. were all recorded in the Blue Book which became a short history of the vessel whilst it was discharging - Select the button on the right to view a PDF copy of a completed form C233 Ship's Blue Book.
When all the various receipts and documents had been received, the Blue Book was sent to the Custom House Long Room to be added to the Landing Officer's records of the various work that he performed in relation to the cargo, to complete the vessel's file.
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The crew's Private Stores and effects, either for landing on leaving the vessel or to remain on board, were declared on form C142 against the crewman's signature. They were then cleared as the crewman's personal allowance or concession, cleared on payment of any duty if they were to be landed or placed under seal if they were to remain on board - Select the 'button' on the right to view a PDF copy of a form C142 declaration. |
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Select the 'button' on the right for details of the crews' concessions - allowances - from the 1965 'Green Book'. |
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Any surplus Ship's Stores, including those left out for the use of the crew remaining on board, were tallied by the Boarding Officers and recorded in the Blue Book. They were then either released on payment of the duty, transferred to another entitled outbound vessel or placed under seal in a secure 'bonded' locker or cupboard on board the vessel.
Ship's Surplus Stores were placed under seal on board using tape and a wax seal on a paper or cardboard backing. Examples of the Brass Seals used by the Waterguard can be seen on the Stores & Equipment Page of this site.
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Only vessels exceeding 40 tons registered tonnage and having entered outwards with cargo or with the proper Ballast Declaration could ship stores free of duty. Once the stores were on board the vessel, Waterguard Officers tallied them against the shipping documents, examined them, and if required, sampled them. Goods under official seal were not examined internally. All other goods - tobacco, wines, spirits and beer, and particularly just after World War II, tea, coffee, dried fruit and sugar were examined or sampled to specific criteria before the officers certified shipment.
Any beer, wine, spirits or tobacco goods were placed in the bond locker under seal. The new stores were recorded on the Master's copy of the C569 Inward Clearance Bill or Jerque Note.
The amount of Light Dues paid by a ship when arriving or departing from a UK port was calculated on the amount of freight she carried - nominally the Net Registered Tonnage. The original measurements of a vessel's Net Registered Tonnage would have been made by a Board of Trade Ship Surveyor and inscribed in the Ship’s Register when it was being prepared.
But some vessels carried cargo in spaces on the open deck or in other spaces not included in the Ship's Register. These unregistered spaces were potentially freight earning. The measurement also included any fuel oil carried in the vessel's double bottomed tanks. The measurement was only applied to vessels in 'Foreign Trade'. Vessels in 'Home Trade', that is those trading with the UK from the European coast between the ports of Le Havre and the North Bank of the River Elbe, were exempted.
Until the early 1950's, Light Dues were also collected for Colonial Lights which were chargeable when vessels went through certain passages between some British Colonial islands.
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In practice, measurements were taken with a special tape supplied by the Board of Trade - in feet and tenths - of the space occupied by cargo in the unregistered spaces and recorded on form SUR 105 and a Certificate SUR 104 was issued to the Master of the vessel. If a vessel had a Shelter Deck, that could reduce the net registered tonnage of the vessel provided it had a Tonnage Well, in which case payment was only paid on the Shelter Deck if it contained any cargo. After six payments in any one year the vessels became exempt. The resulting cubic space, divided by 100, was added to the Net Registered Tonnage of the vessel as shown in the Ship's Register, and the result was the total tonnage figure on which the owners of the vessel paid inward Light Dues. Outward Light Dues were declared by the Master of a vessel on a form Surveys 104A and paid at the time of Clearance Outward. The Dues collected were transferred to the Board of Trade and to maintain Lights and Buoys around the coasts and islands of the UK and Ireland - the Republic and Ulster. |
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The PSA's Small Ports Guide gave valuable assistance to Waterguard officers at Single Officer Small Ports on the subject of Deck Cargo and Light Dues. A 1929 copy is available as a PDF by selecting the 'button' to the right. |
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An image of the special tape supplied by the Board of Trade can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right |
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Copies of the Board of Trade forms referred to above can be seen as PDFs by selecting the appropriate 'buttons' below:
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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.
The point at which a vessel had discharged all cargo for the UK and ceased to be treated as 'inwards from foreign'. If it was a British vessel with no further 'orders' and being laid up, any stores on board were either cleared to duty or transferred to warehouse. If the vessel had further 'orders' and was about to begin loading outward cargo, either at that port or another UK port, and the Master or his agent had made his Outward Report at the Custom House, the vessel was deemed to be 'outwards to foreign'.
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At Clearance Inwards all the cargo spaces were rummaged to ensure all cargo had been discharged and if satisfied a form C569 Inward Clearance Bill or Jerque Note was issued by the Waterguard boarding staff to the Master. A duplicate copy was sent to the Long Room at the Custom House. Select the 'button' on the right to view a PDF of the Long Room copy of a C569 Jerque Note. |
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The boarding Preventive Officer used the reverse of the master's copy of the C569 to record any further official visits and activities until the vessel departed. Details of any fresh Bonded stores from a Ship’s Chandler received and placed under Seal on board were noted, and the controlled issues of Bonded stores for use of the ships crew were recorded. Select the 'button' on the right to view a PDF of the Masters copy of a C569 Jerque Note. |
Most cargo was the preserve of Landing and Shipping staff but the supervision of the discharge of 'bulk cargo' was laid to the Waterguard. As well as goods actually in bulk such as grain or loose ore, this included cargo bundled, baled or trussed such as esparto grass, cork, hay and straw. At some Small Ports, Sub-Ports and Creeks, the term 'bulk cargo' was extended to include bagged cement, fertiliser, grain and potatoes.
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