Northern Lighthouse Board Operations and the Skerryvore Lighthouse

Constitution and Powers of the Northern Lighthouse Board

The Northern Lighthouse Board was established in 1786 through an act of Parliament[1]. This act authorized the construction of four lighthouses in the northern parts of Great Britain[1]. The initial commissioners included the Lord Advocate and Solicitor-General of Scotland, the Lord Provost and first Bailie of Edinburgh, the Lord Provost and first Bailie of Glasgow, and the Provosts of Aberdeen, Inverness, and Campbeltown[1]. Sheriffs from various counties were also included[1].

Subsequent acts allowed the Commissioners to add the Provost or Chief Magistrate of the nearest Royal Burgh and the Sheriff-Depute of the nearest county when a new lighthouse was established[1]. This expanded the board's composition[1]. The Board was later erected into a body politic called the "Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses"[1].

The Commissioners initially had the power to levy a duty on British and foreign vessels to fund their operations[1]. However, these duties were later abolished and replaced by tolls regulated by an Act of Parliament in 1836[1]. This act stipulated a toll of one-halfpenny per ton for British vessels and one penny per ton for foreign vessels passing any of the lighthouses, with double the tolls for foreign vessels not granted the same duty as British vessels[1]. The act also required the Commissioners to notify the Corporation of Trinity-House of Deptford Strond before altering any light or erecting a new lighthouse[1]. That Corporation then had six months to provide feedback, although the Commissioners could appeal to the Privy Council if dissatisfied[1]. The Board also had the power to control the exhibition of harbor and local lights[1].

Income and Expenditure of the Board

The annual statement of income and expenditure for 1846, prepared by the Secretary to the Commissioners, Mr. Alexander Cuninghame, provides a snapshot of the Board's finances[1]. (Note: the specific financial figures from 1846 are provided later in this document.)

Improvements and Changes

Since 1821, the Commissioners established seventeen new lighthouses and remodeled several older ones[1]. They implemented changes in illumination methods and began placing beacons and buoys on the coast[1]. They also improved communication with lighthouses through the construction of landing piers and roads[1]. A significant change in lighthouse apparatus was the introduction of revolving lights, which helped distinguish one light from another[1]. My Father first applied it in the year 1827 as a means of distinction for the Light of Buchanness[1]. This distinction consists in giving the frame a greater number of sides or faces, and a more rapid revolution[1].

Refracting lights and lenticular apparatus were also introduced[1]. This system involved placing a lamp behind a lens, which would bend the rays, or successive rings or bent prisms arranged in the form of a hoop[1]. This produced light with more equality in every direction[1]. In 1834, I was sent on a mission to France to report on the dioptric and catoptric apparatus for lighthouse illumination[1]. On my return from France I made a Report, which was printed by order of the Commissioners[1].

The establishment of a system of Beacons and Buoys on the coast of Scotland for the purpose of affording additional facilities to navigation, had long been looked upon as a desirable extension of the operations of the Northern Lights Board[1]. In 1840, the Engineer reported to the committee upwards of fifty stations for Beacons, and nearly a hundred for Buoys[1].

The Skerryvore Lighthouse in the Board's Mission

The construction of the Skerryvore Lighthouse was an undertaking of the most formidable kind[1]. Expense considerations and uncertainty of success led to delays, even though the Act of Parliament authorizing its erection was obtained in 1814[1]. The Skerryvore rocks were a known danger to mariners, lying in the track of vessels sailing around the north of Ireland from the Clyde and the Mersey[1]. The establishment of a light at this location was of utmost importance for vessels heading to the North Irish Channel[1].

The Lighthouse Board aimed to transform this obstruction into “acheering guide for the benighted mariner”[1]. My labours were also continually interrupted by the urgent calls of my official duties; and, on several occasions, I was forced to dismiss unfinished chapters from my mind for a period of several months[1]. There was no loss of either life or limb amongst us. expressing heartfelt thankfulness to ALMIGHTY GOD for merciful preservation in danger, and for the final success which terminated our arduous and protracted labours[1].

Annual Statement of Income and Expenditure of the Northern Lights Board for 1846

The gross amount of duties received for the year 1846 was £46,001:11:28[1]. After deducting commissions and repayments, the net amount of duties for the year was £43,381:7:1[1]. This represented a deficiency compared to the £52,391:8:4 received in 1845[1]. The deficiency was attributed to reductions in light duties, including those for the Bell Rock, Corsewell, Mull of Galloway, and Pladda lights[1].

The commissioners spent £90,268:12:1 overall for the Skerryvore Lighthouse, and £58,580 for the Skerryvore Tower[1]. In 1846, the ordinary expenditure of the Board was £32,063:6:3, resulting in a surplus of £13,938:4:11 to meet extraordinary expenditure[1]. Total expenditure for the year, however, was £60,374:15:9, exceeding the surplus, an over expenditure of £12,479:7:0[1].


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