of maintaining landmarks and buoys was first granted to the Corporation of Liverpool (8 Anne c. 12). This, however, does not seem to have been acted upon.

By a statute of George I., passed in 1714, it was provided that at least three buoys and two landmarks should be placed to denote the entrance to the Formby Channel, and also two buoys on the Hoyle Sand, one on its north-west and the other on its north-east spit, which arrangement was to be carried out by the 25th December, 1718.

The next record that we have is from a survey of Liverpool Bay, made in 1736-7, by Messrs. Fearon and Eyes, the chart of which shows two landmarks at Formby, two buoys for the Formby Channel, and two buoys to indicate the spits of Hoyle Sands. The Rock perch remained as shown in 1689. The Formby Channel had depths varying from nine to twelve feet, and the Rock Channel four feet.

No parliamentary power to erect and maintain lighthouses seems to have been obtained until the year 1761, when by 2 George III. the corporation were empowered to purchase land for the purpose between Hilbre Island and the Black Rock, and between Formby Point and the town of Liverpool. By the same act it was provided that no dues were to be levied for their maintenance until four lighthouses had been erected on the Cheshire shore.

In 1763, or one hundred and thirty-one years ago, the present Leasowe Lighthouse was built, and a later chart of Messrs. Fearon and Eyes, dated 1767, shows four lights on the Cheshire shore, viz., two at Hoylake, and two at Leasowe. The lights above mentioned were the first in which Catoptric Mirrors were introduced. These were the invention of William Hutchinson, water bailiff, and one of them, with its lamp and reflector, was exhibited

by the Trinity House at the Liverpool Exhibition of 1886.

A survey and chart dated 1771, executed by M. Mackenzie, shows the old Formby, Rock, and Horse Channels, the former with twelve feet as the least water, and the others with three feet. These channels were buoyed after the method which has become the uniform system recently adopted by all maritime countries, which recognises the advantage of distinguishing buoys marking the sides of a channel by their shape rather than by their colour; thus, conical buoys, painted red, are placed on the starboard hand of a channel coming in from sea, and can buoys, painted black, on the port side.

The Duke of Edinburgh, when presiding at a conference in 1882-3 on the subject of a uniform system, strongly favoured the Liverpool method.

New lights were also introduced, viz., two at Bootle, to lead up the Rock Channel, and the present Bidston light, which superseded the inner light at Leasowe.

The Bidston light on the hill, and the Leasowe light on the shore, were required to indicate the line of sailing up the Horse Channel from sea.

A chart published by Laurie, in 1794, gave directions for sailing through the Horse, Rock, and Formby Channels, the depths of water remaining the same as they were in 1771; the channels being also buoyed in the same manner. The two Bootle landmarks, the lights of which had been discontinued, were the leading marks in line over the bar of the Rock Channel.

Floating lights were not introduced until 1813, eightyone years ago, when parliamentary powers were obtained for the levying of dues for the maintenance of the N. W. Lightship, which was then stationed to indicate the entrance to the Horse Channel, with Leasowe and Bidston

Lighthouses in a line bearing S. E., now the site of the Horse Channel Fairway Bell Beacon. The years 1819 to 1825 were occupied by Francis Giles in making surveys of the River Mersey and Liverpool Bay. The bay channels showed considerable changes since 1813; their buoyage, however, being still confined to the two inshore channels. The first stone of the Rock Lighthouse was laid on June 8th, 1827, was completed two years later, and opened on the 1st March, 1830.

In 1833, at the request of the port authorities, Lieut. Denham, R.N., who afterwards became Admiral Sir H. M. Denham, F.R.S., was despatched from the survey of the Bristol Channel, just completed, to survey the sea channels of Liverpool Bay. This resulted in the discovery of a new channel, which was, at Denham's earnest suggestion, buoyed and lighted for day and night navigation. This new channel laid in the direction of W. N. from the Formby Lighthouse, which was erected and lighted in 1834, its bar had ten feet over it at low water of spring tides, and its outer edge was five and three-quarter miles from the Formby Lighthouse, which displayed a fixed light of the natural colour. In addition to the above, a floating light was also established, and exhibited a red flag by day and a red light by night, to act in conjunction with the Formby Lighthouse as a leading line over the bar of the new channel. It was named the Formby Lightship, and was moored six and a half miles N. by W. W. from Rock Lighthouse, which at the time displayed a revolving light of two white flashes and one red.

The bar of the new channel was nearly a quarter of a mile wide by half a mile long, and a fairway buoy was also stationed three-quarters of a mile outside of it, in twenty-four feet at low water on the leading line of lights above described.