Coast Guard graves, Kimmeridge
Along the western edge of the churchyard, a row of gravestones in memory of coastguards of the Kimmeridge stattion.
Leftmost:
TO THE MEMORY
OF
THE LATE JOHN LAVERY
Boatman in the Coast Guard
Aged 26 Years
who lost his life by accidentally
Falling over the Cliff while
in the Execution of his duty
on the night of October 7th 1839.
THIS STONE IS ERECTED BY HIS
OFFICER AND BOATMEN
AS A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT.
Seek ye the LORD while he
may be found; call ye upon Him
while He is near.
In the centre, a memorial to JOHN PERREN(?), 'who was drowned in Kimmeridge Bay while in the Execution of his duty on the night of April (29th?) 1838, Aged 26 Years'.
On the right, a memorial to 'ALEXANDER SIMPSON, a Boatman in the Coast Guard at Kimmeridge who was accidentally killed by his own firearm while in the Execution of his duty...'
According to www.genuki.org.uk/big/Coastguards/S.html : Alexander Simpson was born 1815, died 1841. "According to the Kimmeridge PR Alexander Simpson of the Kimmeridge Coast Guard station was shot on duty, accidentally falling on his own pistol."
***
"The Coastguard was formed in 1822 by the amalgamation of three services set up to prevent smuggling:
•the Revenue Cruisers
•the Riding Officers
•the Preventive Water Guard
In 1831 the Coastal Blockade also became part of the Coastguard.
From 1822 several different departments were responsible for the Coastguards, so Coastguard records are widely scattered in The National Archives.
After 1856 the duties of the Coastguard were defending the coast, providing a reserve for the Royal Navy, and preventing smuggling.
In 1925 the focus shifted towards saving lives, salvaging wrecks and supervising the foreshores.
The establishment books used the following abbreviations for coastguard ranks:
•chf officer = chief officer
•boatn = boatman
•chf btman = chief boatman
•permt extn = permanent extraman
•comd bn = commissioned boatman
•tempoy exn = temporary extraman".
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/co...
***
"In 1809 the Preventative Water Guard was established and can be regarded as the immediate ancestor of HM Coastguard. Its primary objective was to prevent smuggling, but it was also responsible for giving assistance to shipwrecks.
Each Water Guard station was issued with Manby's Mortar which was invented by Captain George William Manby. The mortar fired a shot with a line attached from the shore to the wrecked ship and was used for many years.
In 1821 a committee of enquiry recommended that responsibility for the Preventative Water Guard be transferred to the Board of Customs. The Treasury agreed and in a Minute dated 15 January 1822, directed that the preventative services, which consisted of the Preventative Water Guard, cruisers, and Riding Officers should be placed under the authority of the Board of Customs and in future should be named the Coast Guard.
In 1829 the first Coast Guard instructions were published and dealt with discipline and directions for carrying out preventative duties. They also stipulated that when a wreck took place, the Coast Guard was responsible for taking all possible action to save lives, to take charge of the vessel and to protect property."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Her_Majesty's_Coastguard
***
"...it didn't do for Coastguards to become too well acquainted with the local people, and they were transferred quite frequently... The use of the word 'stations' is not strictly accurate, because, until the familiar blocks of Coastguard cottages were built during the second half of the nineteenth century, personnel were dispersed in ordinary houses in towns or villages round the coast (several hulks were moored in the creeks of Kent, Essex and other counties to accommodate Coastguard men and their families)..."
www.genuki.org.uk/big/Coastguards/
***
"Until the late 20th century accommodation was provided
for most ranks of the Coastguard service and their families –
that is District Officers/Inspecting Officers; Station Officers/
Chief Officers; and Boatmen/Coastguardsmen (the titles
have varied over time). This usually took the form of rows
of cottages, of up to 16 properties for the Admiralty and
three or four for the Board of Trade and its successors...
Because the Admiralty era stations might
need to be defended from attack it has been said that the
houses were designed to be intercommunicating and the
number of entrances was kept to a minimum. Gardens
were provided to allow for the growing of vegetables.
Sometimes the senior officer’s house was built separately;
otherwise it might be placed at one end of the terrace.
The difference in accommodation between the officer’s house
and the cottages for the men does not seem to have been
great. The former may have had four bedrooms while the
latter had two, or later more commonly, three. The Admiralty
provided some furniture but under the Board of Trade the
perception was that the quarters had been inadequate and a
considerable sum of money was spent in the 1920s bringing the
houses up to standard and in providing new accommodation.
Sometimes the officer’s house contained a watch room (see
below). If so, this was provided with separate access and was
unconnected to the residence. From the 1920s this space
was usually called the duty room and contained the station
telephone; it was sometimes provided with a canted bay
window from which a watch could be maintained.
WATCH ROOMS OR WATCH HOUSES
These spaces were used to store arms and ammunition,
which in the 1850s included muskets, bayonets, pistols, swords
and powder. Signalling and observation equipment, such as
telescopes, binoculars, signal lamps, foghorns, megaphones
and rockets, may also have been kept here. It was also the
place in which Coastguards were mustered and orders were
issued. Watch rooms seem to be more a feature of pre-1920s
Coastguard stations, after when the duty room may have
served a similar function."
www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/iha-coastguard-s...
Coast Guard graves, Kimmeridge
Along the western edge of the churchyard, a row of gravestones in memory of coastguards of the Kimmeridge stattion.
Leftmost:
TO THE MEMORY
OF
THE LATE JOHN LAVERY
Boatman in the Coast Guard
Aged 26 Years
who lost his life by accidentally
Falling over the Cliff while
in the Execution of his duty
on the night of October 7th 1839.
THIS STONE IS ERECTED BY HIS
OFFICER AND BOATMEN
AS A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT.
Seek ye the LORD while he
may be found; call ye upon Him
while He is near.
In the centre, a memorial to JOHN PERREN(?), 'who was drowned in Kimmeridge Bay while in the Execution of his duty on the night of April (29th?) 1838, Aged 26 Years'.
On the right, a memorial to 'ALEXANDER SIMPSON, a Boatman in the Coast Guard at Kimmeridge who was accidentally killed by his own firearm while in the Execution of his duty...'
According to www.genuki.org.uk/big/Coastguards/S.html : Alexander Simpson was born 1815, died 1841. "According to the Kimmeridge PR Alexander Simpson of the Kimmeridge Coast Guard station was shot on duty, accidentally falling on his own pistol."
***
"The Coastguard was formed in 1822 by the amalgamation of three services set up to prevent smuggling:
•the Revenue Cruisers
•the Riding Officers
•the Preventive Water Guard
In 1831 the Coastal Blockade also became part of the Coastguard.
From 1822 several different departments were responsible for the Coastguards, so Coastguard records are widely scattered in The National Archives.
After 1856 the duties of the Coastguard were defending the coast, providing a reserve for the Royal Navy, and preventing smuggling.
In 1925 the focus shifted towards saving lives, salvaging wrecks and supervising the foreshores.
The establishment books used the following abbreviations for coastguard ranks:
•chf officer = chief officer
•boatn = boatman
•chf btman = chief boatman
•permt extn = permanent extraman
•comd bn = commissioned boatman
•tempoy exn = temporary extraman".
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/co...
***
"In 1809 the Preventative Water Guard was established and can be regarded as the immediate ancestor of HM Coastguard. Its primary objective was to prevent smuggling, but it was also responsible for giving assistance to shipwrecks.
Each Water Guard station was issued with Manby's Mortar which was invented by Captain George William Manby. The mortar fired a shot with a line attached from the shore to the wrecked ship and was used for many years.
In 1821 a committee of enquiry recommended that responsibility for the Preventative Water Guard be transferred to the Board of Customs. The Treasury agreed and in a Minute dated 15 January 1822, directed that the preventative services, which consisted of the Preventative Water Guard, cruisers, and Riding Officers should be placed under the authority of the Board of Customs and in future should be named the Coast Guard.
In 1829 the first Coast Guard instructions were published and dealt with discipline and directions for carrying out preventative duties. They also stipulated that when a wreck took place, the Coast Guard was responsible for taking all possible action to save lives, to take charge of the vessel and to protect property."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Her_Majesty's_Coastguard
***
"...it didn't do for Coastguards to become too well acquainted with the local people, and they were transferred quite frequently... The use of the word 'stations' is not strictly accurate, because, until the familiar blocks of Coastguard cottages were built during the second half of the nineteenth century, personnel were dispersed in ordinary houses in towns or villages round the coast (several hulks were moored in the creeks of Kent, Essex and other counties to accommodate Coastguard men and their families)..."
www.genuki.org.uk/big/Coastguards/
***
"Until the late 20th century accommodation was provided
for most ranks of the Coastguard service and their families –
that is District Officers/Inspecting Officers; Station Officers/
Chief Officers; and Boatmen/Coastguardsmen (the titles
have varied over time). This usually took the form of rows
of cottages, of up to 16 properties for the Admiralty and
three or four for the Board of Trade and its successors...
Because the Admiralty era stations might
need to be defended from attack it has been said that the
houses were designed to be intercommunicating and the
number of entrances was kept to a minimum. Gardens
were provided to allow for the growing of vegetables.
Sometimes the senior officer’s house was built separately;
otherwise it might be placed at one end of the terrace.
The difference in accommodation between the officer’s house
and the cottages for the men does not seem to have been
great. The former may have had four bedrooms while the
latter had two, or later more commonly, three. The Admiralty
provided some furniture but under the Board of Trade the
perception was that the quarters had been inadequate and a
considerable sum of money was spent in the 1920s bringing the
houses up to standard and in providing new accommodation.
Sometimes the officer’s house contained a watch room (see
below). If so, this was provided with separate access and was
unconnected to the residence. From the 1920s this space
was usually called the duty room and contained the station
telephone; it was sometimes provided with a canted bay
window from which a watch could be maintained.
WATCH ROOMS OR WATCH HOUSES
These spaces were used to store arms and ammunition,
which in the 1850s included muskets, bayonets, pistols, swords
and powder. Signalling and observation equipment, such as
telescopes, binoculars, signal lamps, foghorns, megaphones
and rockets, may also have been kept here. It was also the
place in which Coastguards were mustered and orders were
issued. Watch rooms seem to be more a feature of pre-1920s
Coastguard stations, after when the duty room may have
served a similar function."
www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/iha-coastguard-s...