Tower 50 was in use by the Coast Blockade on September 3, 1819, when between 2 and 3 a.m. two French gallies and fourteen half ankers of foreign spirits were seized between Towers 49 and 50 by the Blockade men of Tower 50. The Admiralty Midshipman in charge, Charles Fitzgerald, and two other men pursued the smugglers inland and met a gang of fifty men armed with bludgeons. When Fitzgerald attempted to detain a smuggler carrying spirits, he was thrown to the ground and beaten about the head. Death threats were shouted as the smugglers ran off. A reward of £50 was offered for information, but as was common in such circumstances, nobody came forward.
On September 22, 1824, another unsuccessful run was attempted near Tower 50. Lieutenant William Brand and his men intercepted the smugglers, holding seven of their number and seizing 100 tubs of spirits. The only misfortune to befall the Blockade men was the death of William Welch, who was found dead on the beach next morning. He had four wounds on his body, yet a jury decided that he had drowned.
Very little else is known about Tower 50, other than that it had disappeared by the end of the nineteenth century. The Cooden Beach Hotel now stands near the site of the tower.
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