Customs' practice; Maritime Tales with Stephen Guy of Merseyside Maritime Museum Flash back.Byline: Stephen Guy SINCE the days when tobacco and brandy were landed on remote beaches from sailing ships, beating smugglers at their own game has taken ingenuity and daring. Watching what is going on at our ports, airports and other access points is where much of the day-to-day work lies. Frontline officers check containers, vehicles, ships and aircraft - sometimes examining their contents. They are on constant lookout for suspicious looking passengers and goods, often acting on information received from law-enforcement agencies abroad. Until the 1960s this was a male-dominated world. It's only recently that female officers have joined the front line. These days some tasks once undertaken by Revenue & Customs are carried out by the Border and Immigration Agency The Border and Immigration Agency is a new executive agency of the Home Office, created on 1 April 2007. The Agency assumes the responsibilities of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) for managing immigration control in the UK. . Two of my ancestors, John Guy (1731 - 1792) and his younger brother Wiki is aware of the following uses of "'Younger Brother":
They were both tide waiters who would meet incoming vessels arriving on the high tide and make sure they tied up at the right place on the quayside quay·side n. The area adjacent to a quay or wharf or a system of quays, especially in a port city. quayside quay n → Kai m . Tidewaiters needed to ensure that the cargo was not unloaded on another jetty jetty: see coast protection. out of sight of three other officials - the customs controller, collector and surveyor. The brothers spent periods as mariners while Peter was Liverpool's only letter carrier (postman) at one time. During his time as letter carrier, in 1775, the people of the growing port of Liverpool The Port of Liverpool is the name for the enclosed dock system that runs from Herculaneum Dock to Seaforth Dock, on the east side of the River Mersey, combined with the facilities built around the Great Float on the west side of the river. applied to the Post Office for more postmen to be appointed. However, the application was rejected because only one letter carrier was allowed in any town in England. There are fascinating displays in Seized: Revenue &Customs Uncovered, the new gallery at Merseyside Maritime Museum The Merseyside Maritime Museum is a museum based in the city of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The city’s seafaring heritage is brought to life within the historic Albert Dock. . There is a tuck stick disguised as a walking stick. Manufactured by the Dring & Fage instrument company of London in the late 19th century, it was used by customs officers to detect contraband. It would be used to probe bundled products such as tea and cotton. There are examples of seals used by officials. A water guard's button seal was used to stampred wax seals on taxed goods after inspection after 50 years ago. There is an official reference manual from the same period. A1960s customs officer's cap (pictured) shows a portcullis portcullis (pôrtkŭl`ĭs), grating or framework of strong bars of wood or iron, sharp-pointed at their lower ends, sliding vertically in the grooved jambs of a fortified portal as a protection in case of assault. topped by a crown, the symbol of customs until 2005when the new Revenue &Customs service was created. Buy the Maritime Tales book a book containing the names of such as are admitted of the tales. See also: Tales (pounds 3.99) at the Mersey side Maritime Museum open seven days a week, admission free, and at bookshops, newsagents and merseyshop.com. CAPTION(S): CRIME IN PROGRESS: A painting entitled Smugglers Unloading Barrels in a Rocky Cove Entrance by Thomas Luny |
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