The Imperial Lighthouse Service (ILS) was the official
general lighthouse authority for the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
outside the British Isles.
The Imperial Lighthouse Service came under the control of the
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
and was responsible for the provision and maintenance of navigational aids such as
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Ligh ...
s,
lightvessels, and
buoy
A buoy (; ) is a buoyancy, floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents.
History
The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navig ...
s in all colonies of the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
.
With the end of the British Empire, most of these lighthouses were taken over by the newly-independent countries and the Imperial Lighthouse Service stopped its operations by the late 1970s.
Anguilla
Anguilla had the distinction of hosting the last ILS lighthouse in the
West Atlantic Ocean at
Sombrero,
Anguilla
Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Sa ...
.
The inspector, however, was based in
St. Kitts.
Australia
The Board of Trade was responsible for navigation aids in Australia until the passing of the Commonwealth Navigation Act 1912, some 12 years after federation.
Bahamas
The Bahamas was the headquarters of the Imperial Lighthouse Service in the
West Indies
The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
.
One of the oldest lighthouses in the
Bahamas
The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...
is the Hole in the Wall lighthouse at the southernmost tip of the
Abaco Islands
The Abaco Islands lie in the north of Bahamas, The Bahamas, about 193 miles (167.7 nautical miles or 310.6 km) east of Miami, Florida, US. The main islands are Great Abaco and Little Abaco, which is just west of Great Abaco's northern tip.
T ...
.
It was built by the Bahamas' Imperial Lighthouse Service in 1836.
Similarly, the iconic
Hope Town lighthouse was built by the service in 1863, while Dixon Hill lighthouse was built in 1886. Lighthouses maintained by the service included those at
Great Isaac Island, North Rock,
Gun Cay, and Riding Rock.
In 1929, the pay for an inspector was £800/year.
Each lighthouse was issued with signal flags to warn residents and ships of impending hurricanes. In 1932, the lighthouses operated solar sensors that were used to automatically turn lights on and off.
When the Bahamas gained independence in 1973, the colony's ILS was turned over to the new Ministry of Transport,
and the employment of its 90-odd staff terminated. The last inspector was Commander John Coaker who was to stay on in the Bahamas following independence for a transitional period of up to a year.
Ceylon
The ILS operated lights in
Ceylon
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
.
The head office for the service was located at Lightservice House, Horton Place,
Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
.
In 1916, Commander G. Stapleton was serving as the inspector for Ceylon and
Minicoy
Minicoy, locally known as Maliku (), is an island in Lakshadweep, India. Along with Viringili, it is on Maliku atoll, the southernmost atoll of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a census town in the Indian States and territories ...
.
In 1921, Commander J.C. Kerkham was superintendent.
Other
The ILS operated lights in the Falkland Islands.
While the Imperial Lighthouse Service was the responsible authority for the colonies,
*
Trinity House was the responsible authority for
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...
, the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
,
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
and the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...
;
*
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
and the
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
fell under the auspices of the
Northern Lighthouse Board
The Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) is the general lighthouse authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for ocean, marine navigation aids around coastal areas.
History
The NLB was formed by ...
; and
*
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
was under the control the
Commissioners of Irish Lights.
References
See also
*
List of lighthouses in Sri Lanka
*
List of lighthouses in the Bahamas
British Empire
Lighthouse organizations
Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom
Board of Trade
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