COMMISSIONERS OF CUSTOMS AND EXCISE: SHIPPING REGISTERS

These records were received from the Registrar of British Ships at the Port of Shoreham on the 16th of October 1980, and consist of registers of ships registered at the Ports of Arundel, Chichester, Littlehampton, and Shoreham in West Sussex

The general statutory registration of sea-going British merchant vessels was introduced by the Shipping Act of 1786. Ships were registered at their home ports and the system is still in operation, under the terms of the Merchant Shipping Act of 1894

The Shipping registers are not a record of the movement of ships, arriving and departing at the ports, but constitute a document of title to property, and therefore provide full details of the dimensions, characteristics, ownership, history, and ultimate fate of each ship registered in each port, in chronological order of registration

The records that have been deposited are the closed registers. They are classified as public records for the purposes of the Public Records Act 1958 and 1967, and have been transferred to the West Sussex Record Office by appointment of the Lord Chancellor. Later registers are retained at the Customs and Excise Office at the port of registration, and permission to view must be sought by application to the Secretary, H.M. Customs and Excise, King's Beam House, London EC3

The post -1902 Littlehampton and post -1916 Shoreham Sea Fishing Boat Registers were received from the Registry of Shipping and Seamen in Cardiff on 29 July 2002

• <corpname>Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, 1872-1992</corpname>
• <corpname>Board of Customs, Register General of all Trading Ships in Britain, 1707-1872</corpname>

Records are open for consultation unless otherwise indicated