History
Traditionally, salvage was an important economic source in coastal areas and sometimes exposed the savage and merciless nature of those around the coast. Folklore has it that some coastal dwellers enticed ships to a watery grave by luring them onto the rocks. This was known as Wrecking. So that order could be maintained and local people encouraged to save those in peril and their belongings rather than pillage them, Receivers of Wreck were appointed to keep order and reward those who assisted in a wreck event. Historically, Receivers were given powers which allowed them to "hurt, maim or kill" anyone obstructing them in their duties. Theoretically at least Receivers of Wreck were permitted to carry weapons with which to defend themselves whilst carrying out their duties up until 1997.
Read more about this topic: Receiver Of Wreck
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“What you don’t understand is that it is possible to be an atheist, it is possible not to know if God exists or why He should, and yet to believe that man does not live in a state of nature but in history, and that history as we know it now began with Christ, it was founded by Him on the Gospels.”
—Boris Pasternak (1890–1960)
“Revolutions are the periods of history when individuals count most.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)