Volume Twelve - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - further aspects - Defence of the Realm - Penarth Head Fort and Coastal Battery . . .

Questions regarding the Penarth Head Fort and the effects of war were tabled within the House of Commons on a number of occasions as these records of Hansard (Thomas Curson Hansard, a London printer and publisher, was the first official printer to Parliament at Westminster) record:

1913 - Penarth Battery (Gun Practice)

Mr Brace - asked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that the property of Mr. T. O. Bevan, 10, Paget Place, Penarth, was damaged by reason of the firing from Penarth Battery in July or August, 1912; whether he is aware that Mr. Bevan applied to the Army Council for compensation for the damage done, and that the Army Council declined to pay compensation; if he will reconsider Mr. Bevan's claim; and, if the law as it at present exists is not sufficient to allow the Army Council to meet such a claim for compensation, will he introduce legislation of such a kind and character as will permit compensation to be paid for damage clone to citizens' property by Artillery firing?

Colonel Seely replied - I think my hon Friend is referring to the case of Mr. T. O. Bowen, whose claim was fully considered. The claim was refused on the ground that there is no liability for damage due to the reasonable and proper use of forts and batteries unless the firing be of an abnormal character, or there be carelessness on the part of the responsible military authorities. This rule must necessarily be of uniform application, and I am not aware of any special reasons for reconsidering the case in question. - Hansard [088] 13 March 1913.

1922 - War Compensation Award (Penarth Pier)

Sir J. Cory - asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been called to the award of £353 for the use of the Penarth pier to the proprietors for its use and occupation during the years of the War; is he aware that the award has aroused considerable public indignation and has been referred to in the public Press as an insult and a scandal; and whether he will, under the circumstances, order an immediate rehearing of the case with a view to arriving at a more equitable decision?