Editing Trinity House (section)

==History==
The corporation came into being in 1514 by [[Royal Charter]] granted by [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] under the name "The Master, Wardens, and Assistants of the Guild, Fraternity, or Brotherhood of [[Holy trinity|the most glorious and undivided Trinity]], and of [[Pope Clement I|St Clement]] in the [[Deptford St Nicholas|Parish of Deptford]] [[Coast|Strond]] in the County of Kent."<ref>{{cite web
  | title = Current Royal Charters 1685–1978
  | publisher = Trinity House
  |date=February 2009
  | url = http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/7768/response/18726/attach/2/CURRENT%20ROYAL%20CHARTERS%201685-1978.PDF.pdf
  | access-date =2009-07-12 }}</ref> 
The charter came as a result of a petition put forward on 19 March 1513 by a [[guild]] of [[Deptford]]-based [[mariner]]s. They were troubled by the poor conduct of unregulated pilots on the [[River Thames|Thames]] and asked the king for licence to regulate pilotage. [[Sir Thomas Spert]], Vice-Admiral of [[Henry VIII|Henry]]'s flagship ''[[Mary Rose]]'' and the ''[[Henry Grace à Dieu]]'' was elected the first master; the corporation's name derives from the [[Trinity|Holy Trinity]] and [[Clement of Rome|St. Clement]], the patron saint of mariners.

As John Whormby, [[Clerk]] to the Corporation, wrote in 1746, their general business was:<ref>Whormby, John (1746). An Account of the Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond and of Sea Marks in General 1746-1861. Smith & Ebbs, 1761, reprint 1861. pp. 1–2.</ref>

{{Blockquote|to improve the art and science of mariners; to examine into the qualifications, and regulate the conduct of those who take upon them the charge of conducting ships; to preserve good order, and (when desired) to compose differences in marine affairs, and, in general, to consult the conservation, good estate, wholesome government, maintenance and increase of navigation and sea-faring men; and to relieve decayed seamen and their relatives.}}

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Sea Marks Act 1566
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of England
| long_title            = An Act concerning Sea-marks and Mariners.
| year                  = 1566
| citation              = [[8 Eliz. 1]]. c. 13
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 2 January 1567
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 1864
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = [[Merchant Shipping Repeal Act 1854]]
| repealing_legislation = [[Thames Conservancy Act 1864]] 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
[[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I's]] '''{{visible anchor|Sea Marks Act 1566}}''' ([[8 Eliz. 1]]. c. 13) enabled Trinity House:

{{Blockquote|at their wills and pleasures, and at their costs, [to] make, erect, and set up such, and so many beacons, marks, and signs for the sea… whereby the dangers may be avoided and escaped, and ships the better come into their ports without peril.}}

[[File:Lightship 'John Sebastien' - geograph.org.uk - 639316.jpg|thumb|The ''John Sebastian'', Trinity House [[Lightvessel|L.V.]] No 55 (1886 built as a batch order of three, LV54, LV55 and LV59) in [[Bathurst Basin]], Somerset]]

With the increasing number of ships lost along the [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] to [[London]] coal route, Trinity House established the [[Lowestoft Lighthouse]] in 1609, a pair of wooden towers with candle illuminants. Until the late 18th century, candle, coal, or wood fires were used as lighthouse illuminants, improved in 1782 with the circular-wick oil-burning [[Argand lamp]], the first ‘catoptric’ mirrored reflector in 1777, and [[Fresnel]]’s ‘dioptric’ lens system in 1823. [[Nore|The Nore]] [[Lightvessel|lightship]] was established as the world's first floating light in 1732.

Trinity House took over the management of all public buoys in the [[Kingdom of England|kingdom]] in 1594 from the [[Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom|Lord High Admiral]]. A royal warrant, dated 11 June 1594, granted the corporation the right of:

{{blockquote|... making, erecting, setting up, placing or laying out, all buoys, beacons, marks and signs, for the sea or seashore, to hold the same with all profits and emoluments thereunto belonging, as of the manor of East Greenwich, in free and common soccage.<ref>''The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol.III'', London (1847), Charles, Knight, pp.933-34</ref>}}
By 1847, revenue collected from this source was £11,000 to £12,000 per year.<ref>''The National Cyclopaedia'' ... P.934</ref>

In 1836, Trinity House accepted powers in the [[Lighthouses Act 1836]] ([[6 & 7 Will. 4]]. c. 79) to levy out the last private lighthouse owners and began refurbishing and upgrading its lighthouse estate.

In 1803, the corporation established the Blackwall Depot as a buoy workshop, and six district depots were later established at Harwich, Great Yarmouth, East Cowes, Penzance, Holyhead and Swansea. In December 2002, Trinity House announced that the Great Yarmouth, Penzance and East Cowes depots would close. Today, Trinity House's operational headquarters are based at [[Harwich]], supported by depots in [[Swansea]] and a flight operations base at [[St Just in Penwith|St Just]] in [[Cornwall]]. Its operations are also supported by three vessels; the two large tenders THV ''Patricia'' and THV ''Galatea'', and the Rapid Intervention Vessel THV ''Alert''. It retains a small secretariat based at [[Tower Hill]].

During the First World War, the corporation served a number of functions: it buoyed shipping lanes and naval operations, moved lightvessels, and laid hundreds of buoys. During the Second World War, Trinity House kept sea lanes marked and lighted for [[List of Allied convoys during World War II by region|Allied convoy]]s. The Pilotage Service guided ships to their ports under hazardous conditions; at the time of the [[Dunkirk evacuation]], a number of pilots helped in piloting vessels to and from the beaches.

On the night of 29 December 1940, Trinity House was destroyed by the most severe of the [[Strategic bombing|air attacks]] on London; the interiors were completely gutted and many archives and treasures were lost. (The restored [[Townhouse (Great Britain)|building]] was reopened by [[Elizabeth II]] on 21 October 1953.)

In preparation for the [[D-Day]] [[Normandy landings|landings]] on 6 June 1944, Trinity House laid 73 lighted buoys and two lightvessels to indicate a safe route for landing craft. Trinity House pilots were responsible for all commercial vessels involved and many of the service vessels. In the month following D-Day, nearly 3,000 vessels were handled by 88 river pilots and nearly 2,000 ships by 115 sea pilots working day and night.

In 1969, Trinity House initiated the debut of helicopter reliefs to and from offshore lighthouses, succeeding the boat reliefs. These had been susceptible to being delayed by months during inclement weather. Trinity House played a major part in the design of the IALA Maritime Buoyage System, laying the first buoy off [[Dover]], watched over by representatives of 16 nations on 15 April 1977.

By the 1960s, Trinity House licensed about 500 pilots, of whom about 350 were in the London District, handling an estimated 60% of the nation's piloted tonnage. The [[Pilotage Act 1987]] authorized Trinity House to pass its District Pilotage responsibilities to various [[Competent harbour authority|local harbour authorities]], becoming instead a licensing authority for deep sea pilotage.

The completion of the lighthouse automation programme came with a ceremony held at the [[North Foreland#Lighthouse|North Foreland Lighthouse]] on 26 November 1998, attended by the last six keepers and master, [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]]. On 9 June 1989, the last crewed lightvessel was towed from the Channel lightvessel station to Harwich.

[[Richard Woodman]] served as elder brethren and member of the court from 2000 until his death in 2024.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite web | last=Jones | first=Julia | title=Richard Woodman obituary | website=the Guardian | date=2024-10-24 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/oct/24/richard-woodman-obituary | access-date=2025-02-22}}</ref> In 2011, the Princess Royal succeeded [[Prince Philip|her father]] as Master.<ref name="e884">{{cite web | last=Murray | first=Ben | title=The Princess Royal | website=Maritime UK | date=1950-08-15 | url=https://www.maritimeuk.org/about/our-people/princess-royal/ | access-date=2025-02-22}}</ref> She was aboard ''Trinity House Motor Boat No.1'' during the [[Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Diamond Jubilee]] [[Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant|pageant]].

In 2014, the [[Royal Mint]] issued a [[Two pounds (British coin)|two pound coin]] commemorating the 500th anniversary of the grant of Trinity House's royal charter.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Royal Mint announces coins for 2014|url=http://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/news/2014-coins-revealed|access-date=13 May 2015|publisher=Royal Mint|date=6 January 2014}}</ref>

From 2011 to 2024, [[Ian McNaught|Captain Ian McNaught]], a Merchant Navy Officer served as Deputy Master.<ref name="Lower1"/> In 2024, he was succeeded as Deputy Master and Chief Executive by [[Iain Lower|Rear-Admiral Iain Lower]].<ref name="Lower1"/>