THE CORPORATION T R I N I TY H O U S E DEPTFORD STROND fl 9192111 0 11 3 E G I N ’h S T O I Y 8 N T T S u C I O N S . J p Q , j i , ; f P R I N TE D ( F O R P R ] V A TE D I S TR I B U TI O N ) B Y N R O W W SMIT H E BBS P O ST E R T O E R H IL L . , 5, , M D C I I I I I I I I I TO H I S R O YAL H I GH N ESS T H E U E O F E I N U R GH K . G. K. T. D K D B , , , aste: of fi s fi nr or ti of O rinit 0 11 3 2 w g g a nu g £ , T H E F O L L O W I N A AR E G P GES , BY E R I I O N P M SS , O R E P E U LY I CA M ST S CTF L DED TED , I H T H E L O YAL U Y W T D T , P R F D E E M O O U N E ST , A N D S P E C I AL C O N GR AT U L AT I O N F T H E I R O CO MP LE . Y H TRINIT OUSE , 74 1 1 8 8 7 3 4 6 . 8 9 5 8 6 1 T O T H E ELD E R B R E THR E N O F T H E C O R P O R ATI O N O F TR I N I TY H O U S E O F E R R N D PTFO D ST O D . R E R N B TH E , Upon the election o f the P R I N CE ‘ ALFR E D to the O ffic e o f M aster of this Corporation 1 866 I o f in , had the honour receiving his Royal ’ m Highness command to submit, for his infor ation , a short account of the O rigin, History , and Duties of this Ancient and H onourable Fraternity . I thereupon drew up such a statement , in the o f H I S R O YA I GH N E shape a Letter to L H SS , which , after having the good fortune to prove acceptable o u r to M aster , was submitted to our Court ; and , a general wi sh being then expressed that the subject matter thereof should be printed fo r the information O f I the Brethren, have put it into the form of a brief I memoir, adding whatever thought would tend to make it more complete . These additions are com O O R A T O N O F T N T O S E vi C RP I RI I Y H U . piled from very many and various records in this e House, and are altogether either verbally transcrib d from , or substantially identical with, the actual reports f ’ o r minutes o the Corporation s affairs . m I t is at best but an imperfect and brief emoir , is I but, such as it , trust it may be found useful in affording some slight assistance to those who wish t o master the numerous details of those important increasing public duties which the Elder Brethren are w called upon to fulfil , and that its pag es ill be accept able to the M embers of this Corporation . I have the honour to be R H R E N B ET , r r Your ve y faithful and obedient se vant , F R E D E R I C K AR R O WR T RINITY HOUSE, ’ u l 1 868 fr y, . & ’ A M E M O I R , J . v a&& fair O R I GI N ALLY suggested by research undertaken in obedience to a desire expressed by H is R oyal Highness t the Mas er , the following pages have been prepared , in the belief that a brief memoir Of the records, purposes, and functions of this ancient Corporation may prove w o n l o elcome, not y t its administrative heads and o m Officials , but to many interests identified with the c m r ia l e c and nautical prosperity of Great Britain . The printed information hitherto extant is limited to the Charter of Confirmation granted by James I I . o f (with the minor concession , by Charles I I , Thames o f Ballastage) , and a compilation from the records 1 6 the Corporation , down to 74 , by its then secretary , W ho r mb M r . y, supplemented by a memoir drawn up 1 82 2 . B u t in , by Captain J oseph Cotton , then M aster da a O f the t these latter are necessarily imperfect , as 1 1 the destruction by fire, i n 7 4 , of the house in Water Lane had already involved a disastrous loss of docu mentaryevidence , leaving much to be inferentially traced from collateral records o f the Admiralty and a d B . T N avy oards hese, however, sufficiently attest - F o r Mast er r e a d Deput y M a st er . R O A O N O F T N Y O S E 8 CO P R TI RI IT H U . ministrative powers and protective influence , scarcely d inferior to the scope of those epartments . T e r o f o f h histo y the Corporation Trinity H ouse , ‘ p r o p e r Iy be g in m n g Witht he original Charter o f King H nr I i 1 1 t e yV I I n 5 4 , has claim to yet higher antiqui y, for that de e d t i’ only m e ntions the Almshouse at D eptford (erected some hundred years before) a s the - Or o f head quarters , seat, the Society Of M ariners which O f it enrols , but affords evidence a practically corporate influence already long existing . As an Association for protection Of maritime interests , and for relief Of the aged and indigent, the Society had manifestly so inspired confidence and acquired authority as to estab lish regulation s fo r the navigation o f ships and .t he t o f governmen seamen, which, by general consent , had been adopted throughout the service and the power conferred by the Charter to confirm and enforce such regulations , so far as consistent with the laws o f the R ealm, appears to have been a natural recognition Of tested and approved capacity , which had gradually attracted Official attention and respect . Originally , then , a voluntary association o f the & o f Shipmen or M ariners England, the Corporation o f Trinity H ouse Of D eptford Strond, was first so entitled in the Charter granted by Ki n g H enr y VI I I where they are described as & The Guild or Fraternity o f of the most glorious and undividable Trinity St . & 8t h Clement . The subsequent Act ( ) Of Elizabeth o f refers to the Master, Wardens , and Assistants t he O R O R A T O N O F N I T Y O S E C P I TRI H U . 9 ’ T r in it v H o u se o f D eptford Strond ; and the Charter f & o James I . and all later Charters are g ranted to The o f Master, Wardens , and Assistants the Guild, Frater o r nity, Brotherhood Of the most glorious and undivided Trinity, and Of St . Clement , in the parish Of D eptford , f & in the county o Kent . I The Grant Of Arms to the Corporation, dated 573 , z— Gu le s be t we e n prescribes Argent , a plain cross , four ships Sable, the fore and topsails up , and underneath , o n o f - R a wreath their colors , a D emi Lion ampant Gardant, and crowned with a crown imperial O r in o m e ll his right paw an arming sword Argent , hilt and p o O r, langued and armed Azure, doubled Gules . M ott , ' ' Tr z n ia s in /z z t a t e ( U . Whether the distinctive name be referable to the r e lig io u s element in the constitution o f the Guild— which O f included provision for the maintenance a chaplain , and fo r conduct Of D ivine ‘Service in the parish church —O r o f whether , as the wording the original Charter m may be construed to i ply, it was conferred at the pleasure of the Sovereign , does not certainly appear . Whencesoever derived , it is reverently valued and cherished by the holders , not only as deeply symbolic f o unity and brotherhood , but as an abiding relic Of the o u r - rooted, simple piety of sea faring ancestors , yet manifest in the preambles Of their trade indentures , v and in the traditions which tenaciously sur ive them . Undoubtedly the like title was conferred u pon t wo o f d publi c bodies similar kin and purpose , incor A T N F T N Y S E 1 0 CORPO R IO O RI IT HO U .