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LOCAL NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
9th July 1859
Tempest In Sheppey
On Sunday morning last, about 1 o'clock, a violent thunderstorm, accompanied
by vivid flashes of lightning, passed over the Isle of Sheppey; heavy rain
accompanied the storm, and the heavy crops of corn in many places were knocked
down. An elderly man, in the Coast Guard service, named Robert Burchart,
when between Leysdown and Shellness stations, was struck by the lightning on the
back of the neck; the fluid appears to have passed down his watch guard to his
watch, from thence down his legs into his boots, rending and setting fire to his
clothes in its passage. The poor fellow fell senseless; his boots were
rent to pieces, his watch guard and glass entirely disappeared, and one of the
shattered boots was found several yards from the body. Another Coast
Guardsman, named Thomas Nodes, happened to come from an opposite
direction and found his injured comrade lying on the ground, his clothes
burning, and pistol cartridges in pocket, which latter must have shortly
ignited. The small box in which the cartridges are kept, and one of which
Burchart had in his possession, was split in pieces, but fortunately without
setting fire to the cartridges. The Coast Guardsman, Nodes, immediately
proceeded to assist the injured man, Burchart, and while doing so, was himself
twice struck by the lightning slightly, but fortunately without being seriously
hurt. The poor fellow who was first struck, was found to be very much
burned, but is likely to recover.
(see 1861 Shellness Census for Nodes)
15th October 1859
Extensive Smuggling Capture
For some time past, the Board of Customs have had reasons to suspect that an
extensive trade has been carried on in Sheerness in connection with the various
men of war in the harbour, from the sale of smuggled tobacco stems and
tobacco. This suspicion, as now appears, was not without some
foundation. Mr Todhunter, the principal coast-guard officer here,
was put on the alert, and after a sharp "look out," obtained
possession of some information late on Wednesday evening which has led to
several detections. On Thursday morning, in company with Serjeant Ovenden
and Alfred Bell, a custom house tide waiter, they proceeded to a house in
Blue Town, occupied by Peter Young, belonging to the steam reserve, where
a quantity of tobacco-stems were discovered. They then proceeded to the house of
a man named Lynch, who was once a labourer in the dockyard, but who was
subsequently turned out for felony, and who is alleged to be an old offender
against the customs' laws. Here 1,1/4 cwt. of tobacco was found. As
soon as Lynch saw "the authorities of the law," he
"bolted." The officers of justice made their way to Chatham by
the first boat, where they suspected a nephew of Lynch was carrying on a
lucrative trade in smuggled goods. Lynch, in the mean time, made his way
to Chatham, by means of King's Ferry, so as to avoid arrest. The
custom-house officers arrived in Chatham about a quarter-of-an-hour before him,
and on searching the premises of the nephew, discovered from 20 to 30 lbs. of
tobacco concealed in a garret. Through the activity of Mr. Todhunter, this
is the largest seizure that has been made in Sheerness for a long time.
The three offenders will of course be prosecuted, the particulars of which we
shall give at the time.
(see 1861 and 1881 Sheerness Census for Todhunter and 1861 Sheerness for Bell)
Other information:
Coastguard station abandoned.
In 1896 the coastguard station at East End Lane, near Minster, was abandoned
on account of its close proximity to the edge of the Sheppey cliffs. The
staff were transferred to new quarters about half a mile inland.
There had been several subsidences of land over the previous years in the
vicinity of the station, and the buildings were about 60 yards from the edge of
the cliffs.
May 1837
A boat containing 61 tubs of spirits was seized by Lt. Dunster of the
Coastguard, Leysdown, Isle of Sheppey, and taken to the Custom House, Faversham.
It would appear that after sunset, Lt. Dunster observed a boat about 4 miles out
to sea, under suspicious circumstances. He immediately manned a galley and
pursued the boat, and after a chase of more than an hour, succeeded in coming up
with the boat containing the spirits, four men and a boy, near the Nore light
vessel. The three men jumped overboard and one of them being an excellent
swimmer, dived under the water several times to escape observation. The
other two secreted themselves for a time by clinging to the mooring chains of
the Nore-light with their heads just above water. They were however, all
caught and safely landed.
Medal Award 1911
A bronze medal was awarded to William Hall, leading boatman of his
Majesty's Coast Guard, Leysdown, for rescuing the master of the barge Cecil
Rhodes, of Faversham, which stranded near the Warden Cliffs, Isle of Sheppey on
January 12th 1911.
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