For hundreds of years, Poole was one of the few English ports to have its own admiralty court. Newly catalogued records in the Poole Borough Archive give an insight into the town’s maritime heritage.
From time immemorial, Poole had its own admiralty jurisdiction. The Winchelsea Certificate of 1364 is the oldest surviving document in the Poole Borough Archives referring to Poole’s seaward boundaries. In 1526, the town’s exemption from the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England was confirmed,
“all and every the lands, possessions and ports, as well by land as by water and sea, as also the fermholders and all other men holding any possession within the demesne of the liberties of Poole…are fully exempted from all kind of jurisdiction and power of the admiral of England…as used from custom prescribed from time through time immemorial”
The Mayor of Poole was given the additional title of ‘Admiral of the Port’ and sessions of the Admiralty Court were supposed to be held roughly once a year on Poole Quay or near Broomhill Stone. The court’s business included inquiring into crimes aboard ships, the activities of pirates and illegal fishing, along with recording goods salvaged from the sea and issuing licences. The court was abolished in 1835.
Beating the Bounds
As part of their duties, town officials would walk the boundaries of Poole’s jurisdiction, carrying out the ancient ‘Beating of the Bounds’ ceremony – a way of teaching and remembering land rights in a time before widespread mapping!
This tradition has been preserved into the modern day. In recent years the ceremony has been carried out to mark important events, anniversaries and jubilees. A detailed narrative account of 1821 by George Welch Ledgard, Mayor and Admiral, describes the perambulation which took place on the occasion of the Coronation of George IV – celebrations included the reading of the Winchelsea Charter, a procession to the boundary stone at Broomhill and the laying of a stone to mark the boundary at Redcliff Attwell.
The Records
Dorset History Centre holds records of the Admiralty Court dating from 1550. Among these records, you will find:
Court record book 1550-1834
This calf skin-bound volume documents proceedings in the Admiralty Court, including presentments, jury lists and memoranda of various ‘perambulations’ of the bounds of the town [ref: DC-PL/C/F/1/1/1].
Information, examinations and convictions 1631-1834
Court papers, mainly relating to fishing with illegal nets, dredging oysters outside permitted hours or the dumping of ballast in the harbour [ref: DC-PL/C/F/2].
Oyster fishing licences 1821-1824
To prevent over-dredging of Poole’s important oyster beds, the Admiral granted half-yearly licences to fishermen. Licensed fishermen had to comply with a number of rules and regulations which governed the types of boats to be used, maximum daily catch, hours of operation and where the catch was to be sold [ref: DC-PL/C/F/3].
Statement and award for the salvage of the ‘Catherine’ of Sunderland which had run ashore ‘off Poole Pit at the back of the Bar’ 1821
One of over twenty records relating to the salvage of goods from wrecked or damaged ships in the waters around Poole [ref: DC-PL/C/F/5/17].
Design for the Admiral of the Port flag, 31 Jan 1967
Although the Admiralty Court had been long since abolished, the Mayor of Poole continued to hold the ceremonial title of ‘Admiral of the Port’. The flag bears Poole’s heraldic coat of arms featuring a dolphin, scallop shells and wavy bars representing the sea.
