My great grandfather, William BROE (1856-1920) was a coastguard along the south coast of England including the counties of Sussex, Kent and Hampshire.

He was paid off from the Royal Navy and became a coastguard in 1886 when according to his naval record he was stationed in Worthing until late 1888 when he was transferred to Brighton. There he stayed until the end of 1890 moving on to Lydd in Kent. According to the 1891 census he was stationed at the Grand Redoubt coastguard station with his family and I believe he also served in Dungeness. In May 1896 he returned to Sussex and served at the Haddocks coastguard station at Fairlight where he remained until March 1899. He then moved on to serve in Portsmouth and Ireland.

His children are as follows:-

• John Francis born 11th September 1887 at the coastguard station in Goring.
• Patrick Joseph (my grandfather) born 22nd October 1888 also at Goring.
• Mary Theresa born 15th March 1890 at 24, Cannon Street, Brighton.

Three more children were born in Lydd, Kent, and then

• Ethel May born 11th May 1897 at Haddocks coastguard station, Fairlight.
• Jame Anthony born 9th February 1899 also at Haddocks.

With the aid of old maps I have located the stations at Goring and Fairlight I am not so sure about Worthing and Brighton. Can anyone help me locate these stations and is there anything remaining of them today?

William was awarded a silver medal for lifeboat service by the Norwegian government which is dated 11th November 1891. Does anyone know how I can find details of any incident at sea on the East Sussex/Kent coast at this time.

Many Thanks

Mike Broe. Membership number 11550

Contact Mike Broe by email