Docklands History Group meeting March 1999 and Strond By Peter Gurnett

Peter explained that there are three bodies responsible for safe navigation around our islands:-Trinity House - responsible for lighthouses, light vessels, buoys and beacons around the coast of , Wales, the Channel Islands, and Gibraltar. Until recently it was also the principal Pilotage Authority for the UK, with responsibilities for London (including River Pi- lots) and forty other districts, including such ports as Milford Haven and Falmouth. Trinity House is now only responsible for deep-sea pilotage. The Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses are the general Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. The Irish Lights Commissioners are the general Lighthouse Authority for the whole of Ireland. There are in addition separate Trinity Houses operating at the ports of Hull, Newcastle and Dover.

Around 1511, Thomas Spert (who spelt his name Spertt, as was the convention - ed.’s note) founded the Corporation of Trinity House at Deptford Strond, and its existing Hall with Alms houses behind St. Nicholas Church. Spert is generally agreed to be the true founder of the Corporation of Trinity House, as we know it today. This happened during the early years in the reign of Henry VIII. Spert was then serving as the sailing master of that ill-fated but now famous ship, the from 1511 to late 1513. In 1514 the Great Harry, correctly titled Henri Grace a Dieu, was built at Woolwich and Spert was transferred to her prior to launching as First Sailing Master.

Henry’s largest ship, the Great Harry was a vessel of around 1000 tons, compared with the 600 ton Mary Rose. The year 1514 was also generally thought to be that when Trinity House was granted its ‘Charter of Incorporation’, by Henry VIII. The Charter carries Henry’s signature on it, and as it dates from the early part of 1513, it may be one of the earliest documents outside of Henry’s personal correspondence containing his signature. In 1513, Henry had set up the famous Royal Dockyard at Deptford, near St. Nicholas Church.

St. Nicholas Church was variously known as “The Admirals’ Church” or the “Westminster Abbey of the Navy”.

Various Acts have given Trinity House powers to make laws, ordinances and statues in controlling the passage of shipping round the English coast, with legal powers to levy charges and enforce them for the services provided, including levying fines for non-payment. It also assumed responsibility for the charitable protection of its less fortunate members. The alms-houses of Deptford were built probably earlier in the 15th century to cater for the needs of old and impervious members. The motto of the Corporation is ‘Trinitas Immunitate’, which roughly translates as ‘All one under the Holy Trinity’.

At around 1520, the Admiralty and Navy Board were formed and were known to have held their meetings at Deptford. This probably had some bearing on the appointment of Spert in 1524, as ‘Clerk Controller of the King’s Ships’. He appeared to have become an administrator from now on, because in this year his deputy Thomas Jermyn took over as Master of the Henri Grace a Dieu, presumably to leave Spert free to carry out his full time duties of Clerk Controller which would have involved such things as provisioning, manning and paying the crews etc, of ships. He held this position until July 1540, when it passed to John Bartelot. This post was later re-named ‘Secretary of the Navy’. In November 1529 Thomas Spert was knighted at York Place by Henry VIII. He died in 1541.

The Trinity House Charter was renewed by Mary I in 1553, and by Elizabeth I in 1558. An Act was passed in 1566, concerning the placing of sea-marks by Trinity House at dangerous parts of the coast to ensure the safety of ships and mariners.

In 1573, Trinity House was granted a seal and a Coat of Arms. In 1594, Elizabeth granted Trinity House by Act, the rights on the river Thames of all mastage, that is duty paid for the right to dispose, stow and tally goods on ships, ballastage, beaconage and buoyage and setting up of channel navigation markers, which were also dutiable. These provided Trinity House with a steady and lucrative income for the next 300 years.

In 1604, James I further revised Trinity House’s Charter to include the rights granted by Elizabeth in 1594. The new Charter was primarily concerned with the governing of the Corporation, which divided into 31 Elder Brothers, the group from which all executives are elected, and an unspecified number of Younger Brothers. All Elder Brothers must have been Commanders or Masters for a period of not less than four years, to ensure that experience would be added to all decisions made by the Corporation. Trinity House was given the exclusive rights to licence all pilots on the Thames. Existing and successive Acts now gave Trinity House the charge in respect of laying buoys and erecting beacons for safe navigation. Ships of the Royal Navy to be built or purchased were laid down to their design, or accepted or rejected on their certificates. Provisions, cordage, ordnance and ammunition for Royal and Merchant Ships all passed through their control. They were also responsible for pressing crews in time of war, both Masters and Seamen, and had the right to appoint Consuls in certain foreign countries e.g. Leghorn and Genoa. They acted as hydrographers for the navy and all the limits and boundaries of seas themselves were referred to them.

In the very early 1600’s, an additional meeting house was acquired at Ratcliffe near Limehouse. Meetings were recorded as being held there in 1608. Ratcliffe and Wapping were busy maritime centres then and provided crews for ships on many famous voyages of discovery. In 1618, the headquarters was moved from Deptford to Ratcliffe.

By the early 17th century relations between Trinity House and the Admiralty had become very close. Trinity House had now effectively become the civil arm of the Navy. As far as can be ascertained the first purpose-built lighthouses were two built in Caister in Norfolk in 1620. These were built by a private owner and later passed into Trinity House hands. In 1638 Trinity House was raising wrecks from the Thames and were helping to suppress pirates around the English coast. At around 1650, Trinity House acquired a lease of part of a building in Stepney. It was about this time that St. Dunstan's took over from St. Nicholas Church at Deptford as the regular Trinity House Church. It was also in 1650 that Samuel Pepys was appointed clerk of the Acts to the Navy (Board), a similar position to that was held by Spert earlier. He attended St. Olave’s Church, in nearby Hart Street, which was later to supersede both St. Dunstan’s and St. Nicholas’ Churches, to become the Trinity House Church of today. During the reign of the Commonwealth, 1647-1650 approx., Trinity House was dispossessed of all rights and all their activities were carried out by a Commonwealth appointed committee.

In 1660, Charles II was back on the throne, and a new Charter restored the status quo, with Trinity House acquiring a new headquarters building at Water Lane, at Eastcheap near the Tower. He appointed General George Monke and Edward Montagu as Master and Deputy Master - they had already been made the Duke of Albermarle and the Earl of Sandwich respectively, for their part in Charles’ restoration.

In 1661, Edward Montagu, the first Earl of Sandwich, and Lord High Admiral, was elected Master of Trinity House and Pepys, along with most of his colleagues, were elected Younger Brothers.

In 1666, the Great Fire of London, burnt down the Water Lane headquarters building. A large number of Trinity House records and old documents were lost. Trinity House moved its headquarters to temporary accommodation in Whitehorse Lane in Stepney, not far from St. Dunstan’s Church.

In 1671, Samuel Pepys was elected an Elder Brother. Sir Richard Brown gave land for projected new alms-houses in Church Street at Deptford. In 1672, Sir Richard resigned as clerk to the Privy Council’s special committee, a position he had held since 1661, and was elected Master of Trinity House.

A mathematical school was founded at Christ’s Hospital by Charles II, and examination of the bouys was entrusted to Trinity House Brethren, to produce new navigators and ships. In 1673 John Evelyn was sworn in as a Younger Brother of Trinity House and Pepys was appointed Secretary of the Navy. Pepys himself, became Master of Trinity House in 1676, and immediately reorganised it into a more efficient body, and took the lead in the Commons against removal of Trinity House’s right to licence Thames Watermen. Trinity House were empowered to inspect vessels and exact any fines they thought to be due.

Pepys was elected Master of Trinity House for the second time in 1685, as the King’s nominee. In 1691, Captain Henry Mudd, who was then Deputy Master, died and was buried in St. Dunstan’s Church. He left a gift of land in Mile End, for the site of a second group of alms-houses. In 1694 a Commission comprising the Master, Warden and Elder Brothers of Trinity House and including Evelyn, as treasurer, and Christopher Wren as architect, was appointed to build and establish Greenwich Hospital. The Hospital was granted a lighthouse at the North Foreland to augment funds.

Samuel Pepys died at Clapham in 1703, aged 70, and was buried in St. Olave’s Church in Hart Street. In 1714, the headquarters of Trinity House in Water Lane was burnt down again and a new one built. More early records and documents were lost, as was the flag taken from the Spaniards by Sir Francis Drake during the Armada. The first effective lightship was built by David Avery on the Thames at the Nore in 1732 under licence from Trinity House.

The second quarter of the 18th century saw Trinity House appointed to examine the competency of Ships Masters to grant and navigate ships of His Majesty’s Navy. In 1774, both sets of alms-houses at Deptford were renewed, at the Stowage and at Church Street.

The headquarters building in Water Lane had been very badly reconstructed and in 1790 required costly repairs. As it was considered to be cramped and inconvenient, a move to a new site on Tower Hill was mooted. Building commenced on the new headquarters in 1793, to the design of Trinity House Surveyor Samuel Wyatt at an estimated cost of £12,000. The building was finally completed in 1798, at a cost of around £26,000 after considerable amendment to the interior had been insisted upon by the Trinity House Court. The last Court meeting was held at Water Lane in 1796.

On the threat of a French invasion in 1803, Trinity House undertook the defence of the Thames. They raised and equipped a body of men sufficient to man ten frigates. In 1804, the Trinity House workshops at Blackwall was set up to repair and maintain buoys, sea marks and light vessels etc. This became the principal repair depot until quite recently, when it was closed down and its work transferred to Harwich.

In 1837, the Duke of Wellington was elected Master of the Hall at Deptford. Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, took over as Master, and was in fact the last Master to be elected at Deptford, in 1853. Since then, the election has always been held at Tower Hill, and the commemoration service in the nearby church of St. Olave’s in Hart Street.

Latterly, Trinity House has effectively been split into two bodies. The Corporation itself deals with all charitable work, with a separate body called ‘The Lighthouse Service’ dealing with aids to navigation and having the right to levy charges under governmental control. Financial restraints have lately caused considerable cutback in staffing and premises used. Lighthouses were no longer manned as from Christmas ‘98. The headquarters at Tower Hill has been completely refurbished after war damage by incendiary bombs, as closely as possible to the design of Samuel Wyatt in 1790.

The present Master of Trinity House is Prince Philip. During the numerous questions which followed, Peter said that he had spent ten years researching the history of Deptford Strond and Trinity House. It was a matter of deep regret that the developers of the Stowage site at Deptford had not done more to save the remains of the old alms-houses, which had been uncovered by archaeologists. This was an historic site and deserved to be commem- orated as such.