As landmarks--because of their affording variety, among other reasons--
are pleasant objects of contemplation to the weary traveller on a long
and dusty road, so landmarks in a tale are useful as resting-places. We
purpose, therefore, to relieve the reader, for a very brief period, from
the strain of mingled fact and fiction in which we have hitherto
indulged--turn into a siding, as it were--and, before getting on the
main line again, devote a short chapter to pure and unmitigated fact.
So much has been said in previous chapters, and so much has yet to be
said, about the lights, and buoys, and beacons which guard the shores of
Old England, that it would be unpardonable as well as ungracious were we
to omit making special reference to the ancient CORPORATION OF TRINITY
HOUSE OF DEPTFORD STROND, under the able management of which the whole
of the important work has been devised and carried into operation, and
is now most efficiently maintained.
It cannot be too urgently pressed upon un-nautical--especially young--
readers, that the work which this Corporation does, and the duties which
it performs, constitute what we may term _vital service_.
It would be too much, perhaps, to say that the life of the nation
depends on the faithful and wise conduct of that service, but assuredly
our national prosperity is intimately bound up with it. The annual list
of ships wrecked and lives lost on the shores of the kingdom is
appalling enough already, as every observant reader of the newspapers
must know, but if the work of the Trinity House--the labours of the
Elder Brethren--were suspended for a single year--if the lights, fixed
and floating, were extinguished, and the buoys and beacons removed, the
writer could not express, nor could the reader conceive, the awful crash
of ruin, and the terrific cry of anguish that would sweep over the land
from end to end, like the besom of destruction.
We leave to hard-headed politicians to say what, or whether,
improvements of any kind might be made in connection with the Trinity
Corporation. We do not pretend to be competent to judge whether or not
that work might be _better_ done. All that we pretend to is a certain
amount of competency to judge, and right to assert, that it is _well_
done, and one of the easiest ways to assure one's-self of that fact is,
to go visit the lighthouses and light-vessels on the coast, and note
their perfect management; the splendid adaptation of scientific
discoveries to the ends they are designed to serve; the thoroughness,
the cleanliness, the beauty of everything connected with the _materiel_
employed; the massive solidity and apparent indestructibility of the
various structures erected and afloat; the method everywhere observable;
the perfect organisation and the steady respectability of the
light-keepers--observe and note all these things, we say, and it will be
impossible to return from the investigation without a feeling that the
management of this department of our coast service is in pre-eminently
able hands.
Nor is this to be wondered at, when we reflect that the Corporation of
Trinity House is composed chiefly (the acting part of it entirely) of
nautical men--men who have spent their youth and manhood on the sea, and
have had constantly to watch and guard against those very rocks and
shoals, and traverse those channels which it is now their duty to light
and buoy. [See note 1.]
It has been sagely remarked by some philosopher, we believe--at least it
might have been if it has not--that everything must have a beginning.
We agree with the proposition, and therefore conclude that the
Corporation of Trinity House must have had a beginning, but that
beginning would appear to be involved in those celebrated "mists of
antiquity" which unhappily obscure so much that men would give their
ears to know now-a-days.
Fire--which has probably been the cause of more destruction and
confusion than all of the other elements put together--was the cause of
the difficulty that now exists in tracing this ancient Corporation to
its origin, as will be seen from the following quotation from a little
"Memoir, drawn up the present Deputy-Master, and printed for private
distribution," which was kindly lent to us by the present secretary of
the House, and from which most of our information has been derived.
"The printed information hitherto extant [in regard to the Corporation
of Trinity House] is limited to the charter of confirmation granted by
James the Second (with the minor concession, by Charles the Second, of
Thames Ballastage) and a compilation from the records of the Corporation
down to 1746, by its then secretary, Mr Whormby, supplemented by a
memoir drawn up, in 1822, by Captain Joseph Cotton, then Deputy-master.
But the _data_ of these latter are necessarily imperfect, as the
destruction by fire, in 1714, of the house in Water Lane had already
involved a disastrous loss of documentary evidence, leaving much to be
inferentially traced from collateral records of Admiralty and Navy
Boards. These, however, sufficiently attest administrative powers and
protective influence scarcely inferior to the scope of those
departments."
More than a hundred years before the date of its original charter (1514)
the Corporation existed in the form of a voluntary association of the
"shipmen and mariners of England," to which reference is made in the
charter as being an influential body of long standing even at that time,
which protected maritime interests, and relieved the aged and indigent
among the seafaring community, for which latter purpose they had erected
an almshouse at Deptford, in Kent, where also were their headquarters.
This society had inspired confidence and acquired authority to establish
regulations for the navigation of ships and the government of seamen,
which, by general consent, had been adopted throughout the service. It
was, therefore, of tested and approved capacity, which at length
resulted in the granting to it of a charter by Henry VIII in 1514.
From this date the history proper of the Corporation of Trinity House of
Deptford Strond begins. In the charter referred to it is first so
named, and is described as "The Guild or Fraternity of the most glorious
and undividable Trinity of Saint Clement." The subsequent charter of
James I, and all later charters, are granted to "The Master, Wardens,
and Assistants of the Guild, Fraternity, or Brotherhood of the most
glorious and undivided Trinity, and of Saint Clement, in the parish of
Deptford, in the county of Kent." The grant of Arms to the Corporation
is dated 1573, and includes the motto, _Trinitas in Unitate_.
No reason can now be assigned for the application of its distinctive
title. The mere fact that the constitution of the guild included
provision for the maintenance of a chaplain, and for the conduct of
divine service in the parish church, is not, we think, sufficient to
account for it.
In the house or hall at Deptford, adjoining the almshouses, the business
of the Corporation was first conducted. Afterwards, for the sake of
convenient intercourse with shipowners and others, in a house in
Ratcliffe; next at Stepney, and then in Water Lane, Tower Street. The
tenement there falling into decay--after having been twice burnt and
restored--was forsaken, and an estate was purchased on Tower Hill, on
which the present Trinity House was built, from designs by Wyatt, in
1798.
A good idea of the _relative_ antiquity of the Corporation may be
gathered from the fact that about the year 1520--six years after the
date of the first charter--the formation of the Admiralty and Navy
Boards was begun, and "on the consequent establishment of dockyards and
arsenals, the Deptford building-yard was confided to the direction of
the Trinity House, together with the superintendence of all navy stores
and provisions. So closely, indeed, were the services related, that the
first Master of the Corporation, under the charter, was Sir Thomas
Spert, commander of the `Henry Grace-a-Dieu,' (our first man-of-war),
and sometime Controller of the Navy. The Corporation thus became, as it
were, the civil branch of the English Maritime Service, with a naval
element which it preserves to this day."
Government records show that the Trinity Brethren exercised considerable
powers, at an early period, in manning and outfitting the navy; that
they reported on ships to be purchased, regulated the dimensions of
those to be built, and determined the proper complement of sailors for
each, as well as the armament and stores. Besides performing its
peaceful duties, the Corporation was bound to render service at sea if
required, but, in consideration of such liability, the Brethren and
their subordinates were exempted from land service of every kind. They
have been frequently called upon to render service afloat, "and notably
upon two occasions--during the mutiny at the Nore in 1797, when the
Elder Brethren, almost in view of the mutinous fleet, removed or
destroyed every beacon and buoy that could guide its passage out to sea;
and again in 1803, when a French invasion was imminent, they undertook
and carried out the defences of the entrance to the Thames by manning
and personally officering a cordon of fully-armed ships, moored across
the river below Gravesend, with an adequate force of trustworthy seamen,
for destruction, if necessary, of all channel marks that might guide an
approaching enemy."
We cannot afford space to enter fully into the history of the Trinity
Corporation. Suffice it to say that it has naturally been the object of
a good deal of jealousy, and has undergone many searching
investigations, from all of which it has emerged triumphantly. Its
usefulness having steadily advanced with all its opportunities for
extension, it received in 1836 "the culminating recognition of an Act of
Parliament, empowering its executive to purchase of the Crown, and to
redeem from private proprietors, their interests in all the coast-lights
of England, thus bringing all within its own control. By Crown patents,
granted from time to time, the Corporation was enabled to raise, through
levy of tolls, the funds necessary for erection and maintenance of these
national blessings; ... and all surplus of revenue over expenditure was
applied to the relief of indigent and aged mariners, their wives,
widows, and orphans." About 1853, the allowance to out-pensioners alone
amounted to upwards of 30,000 pounds per annum, and nearly half as much
more of income, derived from property held in trust for charitable
purposes, was applied to the maintenance of the almshouses at Deptford
and Mile-end, and to other charitable uses for the benefit of the
maritime community.
The court or governing body of the Corporation is now composed of
thirty-one members, namely, the Master, four Wardens, eight Assistants,
and eighteen Elder Brethren. The latter are elected out of those of the
class of younger Brethren who volunteer, and are approved as candidates
for the office. Eleven members of this court of thirty-one are men of
distinction--members of the Royal Family, Ministers of State, naval
officers of high rank, and the like. The remainder--called Acting
Brethren--are chiefly officers of the mercantile marine, with a very
few--usually three--officers of Her Majesty's navy. The younger
Brethren--whose number is unlimited--are admissible at the pleasure of
the court. They have no share in the management, but are entitled to
vote in the election of Master and Wardens.
The duties of the Corporation, as described in their charters generally,
were to "treat and conclude upon all and singular articles anywise
concerning the science or art of mariners." A pretty wide and somewhat
indefinite range! At the present time these duties are, as follows:--
To maintain in perfect working order all the lighthouses, floating
lights, and fog-signal stations on the coasts of England; and to lay
down, maintain, renew, and modify all the buoys, beacons, and
sea-signals; to regulate the supply of stores, the appointment of
keepers, and constantly to inspect the stations--a service which entails
unremitting attention upon the members, some of whom are always on duty,
either afloat in the steam-vessels or on land journeys.
To examine and license pilots for a large portion of our coasts; and to
investigate generally into all matters relative to pilotage.
To act as nautical advisers with the Judge of the High Court of
Admiralty, a duty which frequently engages some of the Brethren for
considerable periods of time on intricate causes of the greatest
importance.
To survey and inspect the channels of the Thames and the shoals of the
North Sea, and other points of the coast at which shifting, scouring,
growth or waste of sand may affect the navigation, and require to be
watched and notified.
To supply shipping in the Thames with ballast.
The Elder Brethren have also to perform the duty of attending the
Sovereign on sea-voyages.
In addition to all this, it has to superintend the distribution of its
extensive charities, founded on various munificent gifts and legacies,
nearly all given or left for the benefit of "poor Jack" and his
relatives; and to manage the almshouses; also the affairs of the House
on Tower Hill, and the engineering department, with its superintendence
of new works, plans, drawings, lanterns, optical apparatus, etcetera--
the whole involving, as will be obvious to men who are acquainted with
"business," a mass of detail which must be almost as varied as it is
enormous.
The good influence of the operations of the Trinity louse might be shown
by many interesting instances. Here is one specimen; it has reference
to ballast-heaving:--
"Formerly the ballast, when laid in barge or lighter alongside the ship
to be supplied, was heaved on board by men who were hired and paid by
various waterside contractors, and subjected to great hardships, not
only from the greed of their employers, but from a demoralising system
of payment through publicans and local harpies. These evils were
altogether removed by the establishment of a Heavers' Office under
control of the Trinity House, where men could attend for employment, and
where their wages could be paid with regularity, and free from
extortionate deduction."
Many more examples might be given, but were we to indulge in this strain
our chapter would far exceed its proper limits.
The light-vessels belonging to the Corporation are 43 in number: 38 in
position and 5 in reserve to meet casualties. [See note 2.] Of
lighthouses there are 76; sixty-one of which, built of brick, stone, or
timber, are on shore; eleven, of granite, are on outlying rocks; and
four, on iron piles, are on sandbanks. There are 452 buoys of all
shapes and sizes on the coast, and half as many more in reserve, besides
about 60 beacons of various kinds, and 21 storehouses in connection with
them. Also 6 steam-vessels and 7 sailing tenders maintained for
effecting the periodical relief of crews and keepers, shifting and
laying buoys, etcetera.
The working staff which keeps the whole complex machinery in order,
consists of 7 district superintendents, 11 local agents, 8 buoy-keepers,
21 storekeepers, watchmen, etcetera; 177 lighthouse-keepers, 427 crews
of floating lights, 143 crews of steam and sailing vessels, and 6
fog-signal attendants--a total of 800 men.
Among the great and royal personages who have filled the office of
Master of the Corporation of Trinity House, we find, besides a goodly
list of dukes and earls--the names of (in 1837) the Duke of Wellington,
(1852) H.R.H. Prince Albert, (1862) Viscount Palmerston, and (1866)
H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh. The last still holds office, and H.R.H.
the Prince of Wales heads the list of a long roll of titled and
celebrated honorary Brethren of the Corporation.
We make no apology for the interpolation of this chapter, because if the
reader has skipped it no apology is due, and if he has not skipped it,
we are confident that no apology will be required.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note 1. The service which the Corporation of Trinity House renders to
the coasts of England, is rendered to those of Scotland by the
Commissioners of Northern Lights, and to those of Ireland by the
Commissioners of Irish Lights--both, to some extent, under the
supervision of the Trinity House.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The floating lights of England are illuminated by means of lamps with
metallic reflectors, on what is styled the catoptric system. The
dioptric system, in which the rays of light are transmitted through
glass, has been introduced into the floating lights of India by the
Messrs. Stevenson, C.E., of Edinburgh. The first floating light on this
system in India was shown on the Hoogly in 1865. Since then, several
more dioptric lights have been sent to the same region, and also to
Japan in 1869, and all reports agree in describing these lights as being
eminently successful.