The Waterguard was a division of

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was t ...

(HMCE) responsible for the control of vessels, aircraft, vehicles and persons arriving into and departing from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. This included crew members and passengers, as well as persons travelling on foot. Waterguard officers were responsible for applying the allowances provided for in law and for collection of customs and excise revenue on the excess. The officers were also responsible for the enforcement of the prohibitions and restrictions, including controlled drugs and plant and animal health. With the reorganization of HM Customs and Excise in 1972 the Waterguard was renamed the 'Preventive Service' and the functions of the Waterguard continued to be carried out as part of the HMCE (and its successor

HM Revenue and Customs HM Revenue and Customs (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or HMRC) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the His Majesty's Government, UK Government responsible fo ...

) until the establishment of the

UK Border Agency The UK Border Agency (UKBA) was the border control agency of the Government of the United Kingdom and part of the Home Office that was superseded by UK Visas and Immigration, Border Force and Immigration Enforcement in April 2013. It was f ...

in 2008.

History

Formed in 1809 as the "Preventive Waterguard" (also known as the Preventive Boat ServiceHouse of Commons Sessional Papers 1819 (569) XVII, 77; "A Return of Officers and Men appointed to the Preventive Boat Service between November 1816 and March 1819") to combat

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are variou ...

, the Waterguard was an independent arm of revenue enforcement and complemented the " riding officers" (stationed along the south coast of England) who patrolled the shore on horseback, and the offshore revenue cutters (which were owned and operated by both the

Board of Customs HM Customs (His or Her Majesty's Customs) was the national Customs service of England (and then of Great Britain from 1707, the United Kingdom from 1801) until a merger with the Department of Excise in 1909. The phrase 'HM Customs', in use si ...

and the Board of Excise). The Waterguard was initially based in watch houses around the coast, and boat crews patrolled inshore waters around the coast in small boats each night. It was placed under

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

control from 1816 to 1822, when it and the riding officers and cutters were amalgamated under the control of HM Customs and renamed the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

(itself placed under Admiralty control in 1856). With the Coast Guard having moved away from preventive work in the years that followed, the Waterguard was re-formed as part of HM Customs in 1891 and absorbed into the Customs and Excise department in 1909. The name "Waterguard" became misleading after 1923, when their domain was extended to the border between

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

and the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

(now the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

), and they also came to carry out controls at airports and other places of entry into the

. Waterguard officers were often referred to simply as "customs officers", although until 1972 officers of Customs and Excise were non-uniformed, the outdoor service, and were responsible for the examination and clearance of cargo (rather than passengers), as well as control of Purchase Tax. When Purchase Tax was replaced by VAT, control of this tax became the responsibility of HM Customs and Excise.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Report of the Committee on the Customs Waterguard Service and the Customs Watchershm-waterguard.orgUK Web Archive of HM Waterguard
Defunct law enforcement agencies of the United Kingdom History of taxation in the United Kingdom Customs services 1809 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1809 Organizations disestablished in 1972

History

See also

References

External links