Coastguard: further research

1. History

1.1 Before the Coastguard

Long before the formal establishment of HM Coastguard, the Board of Customs collected the various duties payable on imported goods and prevented any evasion of payment by smugglers. In times of war, Preventive Officers were appointed as much to prevent the coming and going of passengers and exchange of intelligence and correspondence with France as to hinder smuggling. By the end of the seventeenth century the Board of Customs had a small fleet and a few men on the coast. During 1698, after lengthy discussion between the Board of Customs and the Treasury, the first peace-time force for 'the guard of the coasts of Kent and Sussex' was formally established.

The function of the Riding Officers, as the men of this force were called, was to prevent the movement inland of smuggled goods which had eluded the Revenue cruisers at sea and the customs officials in the ports. The Riding Officers operated in Kent and Sussex: the Revenue Cruisers were largely confined to the Kent, Sussex and East Anglian coasts and the Thames estuary, until the end of the eighteenth century, when they covered the English and Welsh coasts. Scotland had its own fleet.

Confusingly, the Board of Excise had its own Revenue Cruisers and its own officers called Riding Officers: these covered the entire country, not just the coasts of Kent and Sussex, and were concerned with the collection (and preventing the evasion) of excise duty.

In 1809 the Government established a Preventive Water Guard to operate in coastal waters, to tackle any smugglers who had managed to evade the Revenue cruisers further out to sea and to check on the effective functioning of the Revenue cruisers themselves. It was also responsible for giving assistance when a ship was wrecked. In 1816 the Preventive Water Guard was placed under the control of the Treasury and all but a few of the Revenue cruisers passed to the Admiralty, while the Riding Officers remained under the Board of Customs. In the same year a new shore-based service, the Coast Blockade, was established by the Admiralty to complement the existing forces. This new service consisted initially of 92 officers and men and was stationed along the coast between the North Foreland and Dungeness to capture smugglers as they came ashore.

1.2 Formation of the Coastguard, 1822

The existence of so many different preventive services resulted in much overlapping of function and duplication of effort. In 1821 a committee set up to enquire into the operation of the Customs recommended the combination of all the preventive services (with the exception of the Coast Blockade which would remain under the Admiralty) under a single authority, the Board of Customs, though the officers of the newly amalgamated service were to be nominated by the Admiralty. The proposal was accepted, and in 1822 the Preventive Water Guard, the Revenue cruisers and the Riding Officers united to form the Coastguard. In 1831 the Coast Blockade was also absorbed into the Coastguard. These four preventive forces employed nearly 6,700 men at the time of amalgamation.

In 1856, after the Crimean War - during which the Coastguard first functioned as a reserve force for the Royal Navy - control was transferred to the Admiralty. During the next 70 years the service acquired a variety of different responsibilities, ranging from those laid down in the Coastguard Service Act 1856 (to provide for the defence of the coasts of the realm, the more ready manning of the Royal Navy in the event of war or emergency, and the protection of the revenue), to assisting vessels in distress, taking charge of wrecks, operating life-saving apparatus, participating in the lifeboat service, searching for mines and torpedoes lost at sea, and performing sundry duties in connection with signals, telegraphs, buoys, lighthouses, wild birds and rare fish washed ashore.

The Coastguard as run by the Admiralty consisted of three distinct bodies; the Shore Force, the Permanent Cruiser Force and the Guard Ships, naval ships which lay at major ports to act as headquarters of Coastguard districts.

1.3 The Coastguard in the twentieth century

During the 20th century, the Coastguard service has been administered successively by:

Because the Coastguard has been administered by so many departments, documents relating to the service are widely scattered among the public records. There is no single index of names of persons or places, though some classes have fairly comprehensive means of reference.

2. Records of service

2.1 Early records

For the history of the seventeenth and eighteenth century precursors of the Coastguard the records of the Admiralty and the Treasury are the major sources. The Admiralty and Secretariat Papers (ADM 1) contain many references to Preventive Officers and Revenue cruisers, although these are not always easy to find. There are indexes to these papers in the class ADM 12. The Treasury Board Papers (T 1) are likewise not easy to use. For the period 1556-1742 there are published Calendars of Treasury Papers (HMSO) but for the rest of the eighteenth century the finding aids are very imprecise.

The Admiralty and Treasury Papers continue to contain Coastguard material into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but from 1816 there are, in addition, separate series of Coastguard records.

2.2 Records of service: published

A good place to start may be with the published reports made to Parliament about the operation of the various preventive services. These are available to view online at The National Archives, Kew. These reports can include information such as name, age, place of birth, date of appointment, etc. Examples include officers and men appointed to the Preventive Boat Service (the Preventive Water Guard), November 1816-March 1819 (Session 1819, Paper number (569)), and Coastal Blockade men killed in conflicts with Kent and Sussex smugglers, 1821-1825 (Session 1825, Paper number (95)). Later reports on the Coastguard can give details of earlier service in the preventive services. Pension records for c.1818-1825 are in CUST 40/28.

The published Parliamentary Papers on the Coastguard can provide information such as name, age, place of birth, date of appointment, etc., for commanders of Revenue Cruisers in Scotland, 1822-1823; captains and commanders in the Preventive or Coastguard service and Revenue Cruisers on 1 July 1833 ; and chief (warrant) officers of the Coastguard, with previous service, 1853 .

A number of papers printed for Parliament during the nineteenth century contain information about members of the preventive services

• A Return of Officers and Men appointed to the Preventive Boat Service between November 1816 and March 1819 (House of Commons Sessional Papers 1819 (569) XVII, 77; provides name, age, place of birth, trade, length of time at sea, salary, other allowances or appointments
• Names of Commanders of Revenue Cruisers in Scotland 1822-1823 (House of Commons Sessional Papers 1823 (94) XIV, 293
• Names of Men Killed on the Kent and Sussex Coasts in Conflicts between the Coast Blockade and Smugglers 1821-1825 (House of Commons Sessional Papers 1825 (95) VXIII, 385
• A Return of Captains and Commanders in the Preventive or Coastguard Service and Revenue Cruisers on 1 July 1833 (House of Commons Sessional Papers 1833 (744) XXIV, 285; provides name, rank, date of appointment, salary and other emoluments
• Return of Names, Age, Date of Appointment, Gross Pay and Allowances of all Chief Officers of the Coastguard, with Previous Service (House of Commons Sessional Papers 1857 XXVII, 253

2.3 Records of service: unpublished

There are registers of Admiralty nominations of officers and ratings to the Coastguard in England, 1819-1866 (ADM 175/74 to ADM 175/80, with indexes in ADM 175/97, ADM 175/98 for 1823-1866); in Ireland, 1820-1849 (ADM 175/74, ADM 175/81, ADM 175/99, ADM 175/100); and in Scotland, 1820-1824 (ADM 175/74). Nominations for England may also be found in ADM 6/199 (1831-1850), and in ADM 175/101 (1851-1856).

Discharge records for 1858-1868 are in ADM 175/102. Many people from the Bengal Marine entered the Coastguard after 1856, when the East India Company gave up its navy. Between 1866 and 1886 there is an unexplained gap in the records. For Coastguard officers, 1886 to 1947, there are indexed Service Registers (ADM 175/103 to ADM 175/107, 109-111). For Coastguard ratings, 1900-1923, there are service record cards (ADM 175/82A to ADM 175/84B, alphabetical, 1900-1923; ADM 175/85 to ADM 175/89, with an index in ADM 175/108, 1919-1923; and ADM 175/90 , 1919-1923). Discharge registers for 1919, when large numbers of Coastguards were paid off after the First World War, are in ADM 175/91 to ADM 175/96.

Many men of the Coastguard had service in the Royal Navy prior to joining the Coastguard service, consequently a search in the RN rating papers may be necessary. Officers serving in Revenue Cruisers (part of the Coastguard since 1822) are given in the Navy List from 1814. Admiralty appointments to Revenue Cruisers of lieutenants, masters and boatswains for 1816-1831 are in ADM 6/56; for 1822-1832 they are in ADM 2/1127. Quarterly musters of Revenue Cutters, 1824-1857, are in ADM 119.

Men serving on the Revenue Cruisers can also be traced in the ship's Establishment and Record Books, 1816-1879 (ADM 175/24 to ADM 175/73). For the establishment of the Revenue Cruisers between 1827 and 1829, try CUST 19/52 to CUST 19/61. Administration of the Revenue Cruisers was split between the Customs and the Admiralty, with the latter appointing the officers and men after 1816; this system continued when the Revenue Cruisers were merged into the Coastguard in 1822. Officers serving in Revenue Cruisers are given in the Navy List from 1814. Admiralty appointments to Revenue Cruisers of lieutenants, masters and boatswains for 1816-1831 are in ADM 6/56.

Among the Customs records are some other items relating to the Coastguard. Coastguard minute books, 1833-1849, are in CUST 29/40, CUST 29/41, CUST 29/42; Coastguard statistics are in CUST 38/32 to CUST 38/60; and CUST 39/173 contains the salaries and incidents of the Thames Coastguard, 1828-1832. Pension records, 1857-1935, are in PMG 23; other records of pensions, 1855-1935, are in ADM 23. Chief officers were also entitled to receive Greenwich pensions after 1866 (PMG 70).

During the First World War many men of the Coastguard qualified for medals, details of which can be found in ADM 171.

The following abbreviations are used in the establishment books:

ADM 6/199 is an appointment book of Coastguard boatmen 1831-1850. Men serving aboard the Revenue cruisers may be traced in ships' establishment and record books 1816-1879 (ADM 175/24 to ADM 175/73) and, in the period 1824-1857, in Ships' Musters: Coastguard and Revenue Cruisers (ADM 119).

After the First World War, the Coastguard establishment was greatly reduced, and a series of registers of discharges 1919 is in ADM 175/91 to ADM 175/96.

2.4 Pensions

Coastguards' pensions paid by the Admiralty between 1866 and 1926 are recorded in the Additional Pension Books (ADM 23); these include civil pensions. Other civil pensions, 1855-1935, were paid by the Paymaster General and are recorded in the class Coastguard: Civil Pensions (PMG 23). Greenwich Hospital pensions paid to chief officers of the Coastguard under an Order in Council of 16 February 1866 are in the class Naval Establishment: Greenwich Hospital Pensions and Civil Superannuation Allowances (PMG 70). Pensions and superannuations were normally notified to the Treasury by the Board of Customs (before 1856) or the Admiralty (after 1856). Annual lists of names of those superannuated appear in the Treasury 'Public Offices' registers (T 2). Only rarely do the papers to which they refer survive among the Treasury Board Papers (T 1). The text of the Customs letters to the Treasury can usually be obtained from the Out-Letter Entry Books: Extra-Departmental (CUST 30); these often given information about a man's career and his grounds for retirement.

3. Coastguard stations

Some plans of Coastguard stations, officers' houses, cottages, gun batteries, watchrooms and other structures, 1844-1914, are in the class Maps and Plans: Public Buildings in England (WORK 30). A schedule of deeds and leases in respect of coastguard premises in Great Britain in 1857 is in CUST 42/66. References to Coastguard properties may also be traced in the Treasury Board Papers (T 1) and the Admiralty and Secretariat Papers (ADM 1). Information about cottages erected or leased by the Admiralty between 1856 and 1863 can be obtained from a series of Parliamentary Papers (House of Commons, 1860 XLII 275; 1861 XXXVIII 133 and 1863 XXXV 157) available at The National Archives, Kew.

A series of registers, arranged by station, gives information about repairs to buildings and the supply and replacement of equipment 1828-1857: ADM 7/7 to ADM 7/39.

Papers about the station at Pett, Sussex, 1870-1923, are in WO 55/2270.

4. Other records

The Coastguard annual abstracts giving statistical information about salaries, allowances, travelling expenses, rents, cost of buildings, boats and stores between 1828 and 1854 are in CUST 38. This also includes accounts of Coastguard expenses, 1855-1857; expenses of Revenue cruisers and compensation for loss of half-pay, 1855-1857; accounts of superannuations, 1857-1859, and the victualling accounts of the Revenue cruiser, Vigilant 1857-1912.

Entry books of orders, minutes etc relating to the Coastguard between 1833-1849 are in CUST 29/40, CUST 29/41, CUST 29/42. Instructions, memoranda and correspondence produced in 1856 following the transfer of the Coastguard from the Board of Customs to the Admiralty are in ADM 114/11. References to all aspects of the service are among the Papers (ADM 1) and Cases (ADM 116) of the Admiralty. Files earlier than 1906 are among the records of the Board of Trade Marine Department (MT 9); those from 1906 are in the Coastguard and Lifeboat Services: Correspondence and Papers (BT 166). For the period 1875-1940 much policy material is among the Coastguard and Reserves Papers (ADM 120).

The papers of the Coastguard Representation Committee 1924, and the Coastguard Grade Committee 1926-1950, are in BT 167. The lists of enrolled volunteers in the same series name the life-saving volunteers, but not the Coastguard men attached to the life-saving stations.

These series consist chiefly of administrative files and papers. Some contain details of individual members of the service and particular Coastguard stations, but there are no union name indexes. Searching these records for information about particular people and places would be speculative and probably lengthy.

5. Further reading

The following recommended publications are available in the The National Archives' Library.

E Carson, The ancient and rightful customs (1972)

NAM Rodger, Naval records for genealogists (1998)

G Smith, Something to declare! 1,000 years of Customs and Excise (1980)

W Webb, Coastguard: An official history of HM Coastguard (1976)