In 1899 William Henry Emptage appeared at the Cinque Port Petty Sessions in Margate charged with working a horse in an unfit state in Birchington.
Terrible Gales of November 1893
The brigantine ‘Druide of Cardiff’ was driven ashore on rocks opposite Fore Point, Margate. Subsequent events led to the shaming of Edwin Robert Emptage, second coxswain of the lifeboat Quiver and the awarding of Sea Gallantry medals to Albert John Emptage and six others. Did Edwin deserve to be pilloried or were political forces at work, using him as scapegoat?