AT GUILDHALL LIBRARY
This leaflet is about the history and functions of the
Corporation of Trinity House. There is a complementary
leaflet on sources for family history - "The
Corporation of Trinity House -family history sources
at Guildhall Library".
BACKGROUND
The Corporation of Trinity House was incorporated by royal charter in 1514. There is a tradition which dates the existence of a Trinity guild from the 13th century but there is no firm evidence to support this. When the charter was granted, Trinity House had a hall and almshouses at Deptford. Premises were acquired in Ratcliff and Stepney in the 17th century and meetings were held at all three sites. The Corporation bought a property in Water Lane in the City of London in 1660. The Hall in Water Lane burnt down and was rebuilt twice, in 1666 and 1714. When it proved too cramped for proposed improvements in the 1790s, the Corporation bought land at Tower Hill on which Trinity House was built 1793-6. The present building retains the 1790s facade but a bomb on 30 December 1940 destroyed most of the rest of the original building which was sympathetically rebuilt in 1952-3.
FUNCTIONS
The Corporation of Trinity House has had three main functions for most of its history :
1) General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar. It is therefore responsible for providing lighthouses, light vessels, buoys and beacons. Until 1836 however, the Corporation of Trinity House did not have a monopoly on the erection of lighthouses and many were built by private entrepreneurs. This competition occurred because of the large sums of money which could be raised from "light dues", charges levied on ships entering or leaving port. Light dues were collected by Customs officials in each port, acting as collectors for the Corporation of Trinity House and the other proprietors. From 1841, when the Corporation bought the last lighthouse in private hands, all lighthouse keepers were employed as Trinity House staff. The dues continued to be collected by H M Customs and the money was paid (from 1898) into the General Lighthouse Fund.
The archive includes some records of lighthouses which predate the Corporation's acquisition of them. These records were probably acquired by purchase or gift and were found amongst the papers of Captain Chaplin, an elder brother with an antiquarian interest in the Corporation's history.
2) Principal Pilotage Authority for London and forty other districts (known as outports) including Southampton but excluding Liverpool, Bristol and several ports in the North-East of England. Although the Corporation had general powers to regulate pilotage from 1514 and the exclusive right to license pilots on the Thames from 1604, the system of outports was only formally established in 1808. Separate records of examination and licensing of pilots only begin in 1808.
Until the Corporation lost its role as a pilotage authority in 1988, it licensed but did not employ pilots who were all self- employed. The pilotage service provided by the Corporation was financed by a levy on pilots' earnings, by dues paid by vessels and by pilots' licences. Each pilot had to renew his licence yearly when his general health, eyesight and knowledge of local waters were tested. The Corporation remains the licensing authority for deep sea pilots.
3) Charitable organisation for the relief of mariners and their dependants in distress. Until 1854, the Corporation was able to extend assistance to mariners and their families throughout the UK (independent of any previous connection with Trinity House) because some of the large income from light dues was channelled to charitable purposes. The Corporation also raises money from estates left by elder brethren and other benefactors. In 1815, for example, it supported 144 almspeople and 7,012 out- pensioners.
The Corporation of Trinity House has had many other functions, largely carried out or supervised by the Board of 10 Elder brethren. Elder brethren are elected (for life) from the pool of around 300 Younger brethren who are primarily Merchant Navy captains (with a few Royal Navy officers). These functions have included the supply of ballast to ships in the Thames; sitting in the Admiralty Court to hear collision cases; the examination of Royal Naval navigation officers in pilotage; and the examination of Christ's Hospital mathematical scholars in navigation.
ACCESS TO THE RECORDS
The records of the Corporation of Trinity House have suffered from fire in 1666 and 1714 and from bombing in 1940. Though the court minutes survive from 1660, many other series of records are only present from the 19th century. Because of the many ways in which the Corporation of Trinity House has touched on British maritime life, the records which survive are still very rich and extremely varied.
The archive is subject to a fifty year closure period and researchers must seek permission to see any record less than fifty years old. Please contact the Manuscripts Section for further details.
Because of shortage of staff time, Guildhall Library is unable to carry out detailed searches of the Corporation of Trinity House archive. Enquirers are welcome to visit the Manuscripts Section in person or to hire a record agent (details are given in the access leaflet).
The Printed Books Section of Guildhall Library holds a number of published works on the history of the Corporation of Trinity House, at L63.7 in the London subject catalogue.
This leaflet is about sources for family history. The history and functions of Trinity House are described in a complementary leaflet - "Records of the Corporation of Trinity House at Guildhall Library".
1) LIGHTHOUSE KEEPERS AND OTHER EMPLOYEES Until 1836, the Corporation of Trinity House did not have a monopoly on English and Welsh lighthouses. Records of lighthouse keepers and the crews of light vessels and Trinity House cutters are all 20th century AND ARE CURRENTLY RESTRICTED. Ask at the Manuscripts enquiry desk for details.
Family history sources are : Register of staff appointed 1914-72 (Ms 30121) "Station book" listing keepers and crews 1941-55 (Ms 30122) Register of pensionable staff (staff born 1870-1931) (Ms 30055)
2) PILOTS Pilots were licensed, not employed, by the Corporation of Trinity House. When a pilot first applied to be licensed, he had to have British nationality, have several years' experience as a watch-keeping officer of a ship, hold a foreign-going Master Mariner's certificate (or Naval certificate of service) and be under 35. The Corporation examined London Pilotage district pilots itself (about two-thirds of all pilots). The London Pilotage district extended from Felixstowe to Dungeness, taking in all the intermediate harbours and the River Thames up to London Bridge. In the forty outport districts, sub-commissioners of pilotage, appointed by the Corporation, examined pilots and recommended them for licences. In the smaller ports, "Trinity House pilots" were often fishermen.
Major family history sources are : Register of pilots' licences (London) 1808-1929 (Ms 30172) (indexed in Ms 30173A, held on Reading Room open shelves) Register of pilots' licences (outports) 1808-76 (Ms 30174) Both these series of registers give pilot's age, residence, qualifications and physical description. Lists of pilots already working in outports 1808 (Ms 30193) Returns of pilotage listing pilots (by port) (Ms 30198) giving name, age and qualification
3) ALMSPEOPLE AND OUT-PENSIONERS To receive a Trinity House pension or enter an almshouse, one had to petition the Corporation. Petitions survive from 1787-1854 and are a useful family history source:
Main series of petitions 1787-1854 (Ms 30218A) Second series of petitions 1787-1853 (Ms 30218B) (indexed in a volume "Trinity House Petitions" on Reading Room open shelves) THEY MUST BE CONSULTED ON MICROFILM. Other family history sources are : Registers of almspeople and pensioners 1729-1946 (Ms 30218) giving age and reason for assistance (indexed 1907-39 only) Registers of almspeople only 1845-1971 (Ms 30219) giving age and reason for assistance (indexed)
4) ELDER AND YOUNGER BRETHREN Merchant and Royal Navy officers elected to the fellowship of Trinity House.
Family history sources are : Lists of Elder brethren1685-1984 (Ms 30302) Lists of Elder brethren1660-1950 (indexed) (Ms 30307) Lists of Younger brethren1628 and 1660-1850 (Ms 30324) Admission of Younger brethren are entered (and indexed) in court minutes thereafter (Ms 30004)
5) MERCHANT NAVY MASTERS AND MATES Masters and mates, if examined by the Corporation of Trinity House, could be granted pilotage exemption certificates to enable them to pilot their own vessels in waters where they would otherwise need to take an independent pilot.
Family history sources are : Registers of exemption certificates 1850-1957 (Ms 30182) giving age and physical description, and the vessel's name and shipping company. Registers of masters' & mates' examinations 1864-1986 (Ms 30184)
6) TRINITY HOUSE WATERMEN The Corporation of Trinity House had the right to license mariners to row on the Thames as watermen. These watermen were both older and fewer in number than the apprentices and freemen of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen. (Guildhall Library also holds the records of the Watermen and Lightermen's Company - an introductory leaflet is available.) The only surviving register of Trinity House Watermen covers 1829-64 (Ms 30335)
7) CHRIST'S HOSPITAL MATHEMATICAL SCHOOL Mathematical school boys were examined by Corporation of Trinity House elder brethren and bound as apprentices for seven years to ships' captains. The only surviving register of "ships' apprentices" covers 1816-57 (Ms 30338)
GENERAL INFORMATION As these records are all bound volumes, Guildhall Library regrets that for conservation reasons it is not possible to supply photocopies of original documents. Microfilm print-outs (of Trinity House petitions) may be made by personal callers only. Guildhall Library also regrets that shortage of staff time prevents detailed searches of the Trinity House archive. Enquirers are welcome to visit the Manuscripts Section in person or to hire a record agent (details are given in the access leaflet).
RELATED FAMILY HISTORY SOURCES Records of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution are held at RNLI HQ, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1HZ. Records of HM Coastguard are held at the Public Record Office. Records of Trinity House Newcastle are held at Tyne & Wear Archives, Blandford House, Blandford Square, Newcastle-Upon Tyne NE1 4JA. The other Trinity Houses retain their own records : Trinity House, Trinity House Lane, Hull, Humberside HU1 2JE. Trinity House (Leith), 99 Kirkgate, Edinburgh EH6 6BJ. Records of Scottish Lighthouses are held by the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, 84 George Street, Edinburgh EH2.