Go
to the Home Page
|
|
British Mercantile, Whaling and Fishing Records of the 19th &
20th Centuries
- A realistic guide to what is available
to those looking into civilian mariners’ careers
by Len Barnett |
Go
to Academic Papers on the Royal Navy
|
||
|
Go down to Vessels - technical data, tracing their movements and accidents |
||
Introduction
As a professional
researcher specialising in mariners in British mercantile service during the
last two centuries, I receive enquiries of a great variety. Sometimes only
armed with a person’s name, happily I am able to provide a wealth of
information from original documents. At other times, even with more information
to hand no records survive and I have to tactfully explain that there is
nowhere to go.
There is no doubt that
genealogy has become a popular pastime. There certainly seems to be evermore
people using the facilities of museums and archives to trace their ancestors.
The media too has realised this. A number of television documentaries and ‘how
to’ programmes have recently been aired on British screens. Often these tell
amazing tales, with polished ease.
For those who have
spent days trawling through tens of thousands of entries, red-eyed and tired,
in the vain hope of finding one single piece of
information, it is realised that research can be distinctly hard work! So,
the following is based on years of working on various classes of original
records and is meant as an aid to people who are interested in finding out
about their merchant mariner forebears. I cover the
main state documentation of the office of the Registrar General of Shipping and
Seamen, the Board of Trade and Admiralty (where applicable); along with
principal commercial records such as Lloyd’s of London and Lloyd’s Register of Shipping.
While this website
guide primarily covers records dealing with mercantile trades (other than in
the East India Companies), reference is also
made to whaling and fishing. Also,
although there are no direct references within my website I have some experience of research
in the field of yachting.
How to use this
web-site
What follows initially
is a brief chronological guide, giving a description of what records are
available during particular periods. Some subjects are highly complex and for
these there are links to separate pages with more detailed information and
suggestions as to further reading. This is intended to allow people to go to
the era that they are interested in and assess what records, if any, are
potentially of use to them. The links allow for a slightly deeper
understanding.
Following on are two
other sections. One deals with vessels: technical information, tracing their
movements and accidents to them. The second deals with mariners as people:
wider aspects of how they lived since the parliamentary legislation of the
1840s and 1850s; details on their deaths at sea; and of bravery awards. These
sections can be used in conjunction with the other information available.
Within the various sections are also links to the other side of my web-site.
These are made when there is relevant information to be gained on subjects in
the academic papers posted there.
People within the
United Kingdom who are easily able to travel around the London area may then
want to conduct their own searches. As these often take a considerable time and
therefore can cost much in time, money and effort, people from further away may
want to invest in the expertise of a professional researcher. This is
especially pertinent for people from overseas, where a trip to the U.K. may
well cost a great deal of money.
Of course engaging a
researcher is a matter of choice and requires trust. Some of the main
institutions mentioned have lists of researchers. A number of researchers
advertise that they are expert in a number of fields, both military and civil.
However, as some of these bodies of records are immensely complicated
personally I find it difficult to believe that these people can be truly
‘expert’ in all these areas. On the mercantile side I specialise in records
dealing with men of the British merchant service between 1835 and 1972. Also,
presently I am in the process of producing a relevant guide to the Honourable
East India Company. For those potentially interested in my services, I can
be contacted at len@barnettmaritime.co.uk. Please note that I earn my living as a freelance researcher
and therefore charge professional fees.
Please
note that some that the basic classes of records are increasingly being put
online. As these projects are ongoing and ever-changing I have not mentioned
when and where these classes are. Due to the ‘politics’ within individual
institutions this in itself has become complicated: hideously so in the case of
state records once the responsibility of The National Archives, Kew.
Nevertheless, I can and do discuss this with clients.
Also,
some of the information within these pages does not agree with some statements
made in various other research guides: official and otherwise. In a number of
subjects I have found the ‘traditional’ understanding to be wanting. As a
result of this I have conducted my own detailed research into the legislation
underpinning the keeping of the state documentation which is now used for
genealogical research. This is incorporated into these web-pages.
For
this reason I have not referred to genealogical guides in the following pages.
A few organisations produce excellent research material,
such as Lloyd’s Register of Shipping. In another case, the otherwise very
informative guide for the Lloyd’s collection at the Guildhall Library has
become somewhat out of date: through organisational changes of outside
entities. (Presently this is being revised and should be ready for publication
this coming winter.) Unfortunately, the output of many of the remaining
organisations is patchy. Some information is good, the majority mediocre and in
a seemingly increasing number of cases publications are full of typographical
and/or factual errors.
Chronological Guide
Prior to 1835 there is
no surviving large body of information on British merchant mariners.
There are, of course, various records still in existence. These include port
books, ‘Board of Trade’ shipping returns, Customs books, High Court of
Admiralty records, registers of protection from being pressed, muster rolls,
apprenticeship books and ledgers of receivers of sixpences. However, often
these are far from complete and for genealogical purposes are for the most part
less than useful. (There are, of course, exceptions. An obvious class would be
of major legal disputes involving merchant shipowners cum masters.)
Between 1835 and 1857 a
whole series of experiments were made by the British state in keeping tabs on
the entire British merchant service. This was due to changing political
realities, inasmuch as the press had become inexpedient
for manning warships of the Royal Navy when necessary. Under the control of the
General Register Office of Merchant Seamen and headed by a Lieutenant R.N.
initially this was answerable to the Admiralty (although later handed over to
the ‘Board of Trade’ in 1850). These exercises failed for a whole raft of
reasons and by the end of this period the raison d’être
had become non-existent with increasingly widespread continuous service for
ratings in the Royal Navy from 1853 onwards.
While
it cannot be said that every British merchant sailor
can be traced within this body of documentation (generally known as the ‘ticketing
system‘)
there are certainly hundreds of thousands of men who most definitely can be.
However, these records are not at all easy to use and for a number of reasons.
Even with considerable experience, sometimes I am surprised in the way
documents are recorded, or filed, as individual ports or even civil-servants
entered information as they saw fit. Nevertheless, even with all the limitations
this era can be regarded as a real ‘window into the past’ and historically very
interesting. For modern genealogists, the most important aspect of this is the
ability to locate individual ships’ crew lists and
agreements,
as these may give invaluable information on forebears. All surviving
examples of these documents during this period appear to be in London. Ships’
official logs
may also be filed with the above documents,
but only in a small minority of cases and not until 1852.
After
1857 but before 1919, without individuals’ discharge
certificates (that
had already been introduced in real terms in 1835) it becomes all but
impossible to trace most merchant mariners. The most notable exceptions to this
are mostly deep-ocean seamen officers and a proportion of engineering officers.
To a lesser degree coastal masters were also included (not being completely
brought into the system until 1931); and skippers & mates of fishing boats (from
1884). But, others such as apprentices (already from 1823) and cooks (from
1908) potentially can also be identified. (At the turn of the 20th
century there was also pressure from outwith the
Board of Trade to have a system of qualification for seamen, but this was not
introduced.)
A
word on apprentices’ indentures might not go amiss. TNA catalogues and
publications give the impression of there being about ten per cent of the
indentures surviving. Unfortunately, the actual proportion is very much
smaller. Nevertheless, viewing the indexes to the office copies of the
indentures can still provide some useful information: even if they are not
necessarily, the easiest of listings to use.
However,
for merchant mariners that were in India during the great Sepoy
Mutiny of 1857-58, there may be another source worthwhile looking into at the
British Library. As well as sailors in local naval service, merchant mariners
were known to have joined the Naval
Brigades of the Bengal Marine.
‘Certification’
of mercantile seamen officers had already begun in
1845, with a voluntary system of examination for masters and mates of
deep-ocean vessels. However, from 1850 onwards there were moves to make
certification mandatory, both in deep-ocean and coastal vessels. Regulation of
the latter trade remained far lighter however. (Again in the early years of the
20th century moves to have certification within the coastal trade
tightened up were fended off by the Board of Trade.) Certification of engineers began in 1862, but it
is important to note that this remained far from universal. For genealogists
the salient feature in these schemes are the
individuals’ certificate numbers issued. Armed with these, other useful records
can be viewed: especially for seamen officers. As apparently with books of
continuous discharge and service, during the Second World War individuals’
certificates of competency were kept ashore in ‘safe custody at Mercantile
Marine Offices for whilst the holders were at sea’. This practice was rescinded
post war (see TNA: PRO BT 9/4210).
As
for apprentices, in 1823 legislation required vessels of more than 80 tons
burthen to carry indentured apprentices. (Later legislation cancelled this
requirement.) It should be pointed out that only a tiny percentage of the relevant paperwork
has survived in state hands (although some seems to have been acquired by
private individuals as collections and I know of some indentures with descendants). Even when
identified in the ledgers, details are sparse and often only confirm what is
already known.
In
respect to cooks, courtesy of the Merchant Shipping Act 1906 two years later a
programme of registration was instituted in order to attempt to maintain better
standards at sea, which were traditionally absolutely foul. Unfortunately, very little information is
recorded in the surviving documents. The T.N.A., P.R.O., Kew holds the
alphabetical listings giving basic details - year and place of birth and
certificate number. The surviving numerical registers at the N.M.M., Greenwich
duplicate this, but may also mention the
recipients’ death, or loss of certificate. At Kew there is also another source
relating to the 1950s. This is a Board of Trade precedent book (TNA: PRO BT
167/132) and again gives little information, other than reporting that masters
had signed on unqualified cooks.
Also,
in 1936 a new seaman rate was introduced with examinations for Efficient Deck
Hand. In its earliest form this would appear to have been something of a hybrid
between ordinary and able rate for foreign-going vessels and applicants had to
be at least nineteen years old. Apart from one memo as part of the Board of
Trade Marine Department’s correspondence and one single application form for
examination within miscellaneous documents relating to the Central
Register of Seamen, it would appear that nothing survives from this scheme.
Nevertheless, from info supplied by a few past mariners (including Captain
Christopher Woods) by the 1960s an E.D.H. certificate
was a requirement for a lifeboatman’s certificate. In
turn the latter was needed for qualification as able seaman.
There
are also other exceptions to the rule of being unable to trace mariners from
the mid 19th to mid 20th centuries, other than noted
above. Some commercial companies’ records are held variously in archives
throughout the United Kingdom, such as at Glasgow University and the Merseyside
Maritime Museum. The best way to investigate this, I have found, is through the
National Register of Archives. Due to a reorganisation they are now sited at the
Public Records Office, Kew. For those unable to visit, the N.R.A.’s website is
well designed and can be found at http://www.hmc.gov.uk.
At
the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich a not inconsiderable percentage of
personnel records for three companies of the ‘P & O Group’, have not only
survived, but are available for study. Principally these are of the Peninsular
and Oriental Steam Navigation Company Limited, but there are also a
lesser amount from the British India
Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. and the Orient Steam
Navigation Co. Ltd. Additionally, they have some other corporate
documentation, such as of the Shaw Savill Albion Line
in their archives, but the scope genealogically can be limited. Elsewhere,
there are other corporate collections. These can be investigated through the
National Register of Archives.
Remaining
with the subject of possible leads to mariners from the mid 19th to mid
20th centuries, some relevant documentation
of the Royal Naval Reserve from this period is
now in the public domain. This can be useful as service records not only show
details of R.N.R. service, but depending on the time period and rank held may also show individuals’ commercial activities.
There was also another reserve that merchant mariners may also be traced through. This was the Mercantile
Marine Reserve
that came into being mid First World War, originally for one specific purpose,
but that would seem to have enlarged its scope at least administratively by the
end of hostilities. Individuals can be traced through the M.M.R.’s two medal
rolls
for the entire Great War period.
Another
possibility relates to foreign mariners naturalised as British citizens. The
relevant paperwork is to be found in Home Office classes at The National
Archives, Public Records Office, Kew. Although a Home
Office responsibility, the day to day processing of mariners was conducted by
the mercantile bureaucracies. My only experience of these at the time of
writing relates to cases between 1900 and 1914, but there can be a great deal
of info in these files, including full and accurate certificates of service,
compiled by the office of the R.G.S.S.
It
is presently not until about 1919 that tracing any British merchant mariners
(other than those already dealt with above) is realistic though. Although begun
six years before, the Central Index Register can be an invaluable
source for researching men during the inter war period. The C.I.R. continued
until 1940-1941 when it was replaced with the Central
Register of Seamen, which was in force until 1972. The original documents
that form the bulk of this latter system are at the Public Records Office, Kew.
It should be pointed out that the C.R.S. does not record information prior to
1941, which makes researching past service difficult in a large number of
mariners.
I
have deliberately not mentioned the period of the First World War until this
point, since it requires attention of its own. Apart from certificated
officers, tracing forebears in mercantile service can be very difficult indeed
and sometimes impossible. At first sight it may be surmised that enemy action
(especially from February 1917 onwards when unrestricted U-boat warfare was
re-imposed by the Germans) would have meant the total loss of crew-lists
and agreements.
However, this is not necessarily the case: though a great many crew lists are missing. However, the real problem is the loss
of the Central Index Register prior to 1919.
Nevertheless,
because of the all-encompassing nature of this conflict information can be found dealing with merchant mariners, but
often only in their aid of the state. Increasing levels of tonnage were
requisitioned by the government for its use. And, in the closing stages there
was something akin to ‘nationalisation’ of shipping. This all produced official
paperwork, some of which has been preserved. Also, this was also the first
major war where in Britain naval reserve forces were committed in a large way.
For the merchant service, this primarily meant the Royal
Naval Reserve,
though of course there were merchant mariners of the Royal
Fleet Reserve,
who having previously served in the R.N. were recalled to service in 1914.
There was also some crossover into the Royal Naval
Volunteer Reserve as well. Allied to this, the relevant medal
rolls for the Great War covering both the Merchant Service and Reserve
Forces have now been released for public scrutiny.
The
Second World War is now proving generally easier to research from a
genealogical point of view. Along with the release of the Central
Register of Seamen it would appear that all the surviving crew lists,
agreements and other documentation have now been transferred from the R.G.S.S. (Earlier sloppy
cataloguing at the T.N.A./P.R.O. has now apparently
been corrected - but only after complaints from researchers.) Some other
classes of official wartime mercantile records also now released can be of real
use, especially the Board of Trade ships’ voyage cards. Although sometimes
highly codified, these can be used to get access to naval operational records
(in particular those relating to convoys) and much
can now be gleaned. It should be stated though that these operational records
are not necessarily of use without a good understanding of the concepts dealt
with. (Operation Orders, for instance, were produced for naval, air force and
mercantile officers and can be full of jargon and abbreviations.) Poor
cataloguing of these records by modern civil servants also often make searches
of these far more time consuming
than should be necessary. Partially through this and additional weaknesses in
the original record keeping, other problems can be encountered in these
classes, but reference to some documents in the Lloyd’s
of London
collection at the Guildhall Library in the City can sometimes resolve these.
Genealogical
research post Second World War is now more organised than it was, although the
disposal of this batch of the crew-lists and
agreements
through to 1972 can present difficulties in finding. Since then few of these records
have apparently been retained: but then the British Merchant Navy was on its
knees by this time.
Vessels - technical data, tracing their
movements and accidents
It is also be possible to
learn more of vessels, especially technical details, from the records of
classification institutions. In Britain, there were a number. However, Lloyd’s Register of Shipping has predominated. Also
available in a few locations of the U.K. are the registers of the French Bureau Veritas. These can be useful,
not only for European registered vessels, but also for those under the U.S.
flag. There were, of course, other classification institutions. These included the
Germanischer-Lloyd and the Det
Norske Veritas. However, I am not aware of any of their older
registers being available in the U.K.
The
certificates of registration for British and Colonially
registered civilain vessels can also yield good
technical information. ‘Office’ copies of these are to be found at The National
Archives, Public Records Office, Kew.
Knowing
the dry detail of which vessels and when forebears served on them is one thing,
knowing where they operated is
another. Although crew-lists and agreements can give this information, often
much is missing. However, as an aid to underwriters, the intelligence
department of Lloyd’s of London compiled a great deal
of information on foreign-going vessels, with a far lesser amount on coasters. Not only did this
cover movements, but also ‘casualties’, the marine insurance underwriters’ term
for damage to, or loss of vessels.
Newspapers
can also be helpful in gaining information on vessels and incidents. Excluding
the shipping press, which is dealt with in the page on Lloyd’s of London (see
link above), with the exception of movements into and out of London docks,
‘quality’ national titles tend only to have dealt with serious incidents, such
as sinkings. Often these were syndicated reports from regional newspapers.
Regional publications, especially of large ports, can often be a rich source of
data, showing both routine movements and covering also ‘local’ incidents far
more fully than the nationals. There are various holdings of newspapers,
probably the best in the U.K. is the British Newspaper Library at Colindale,
North London.
In
essence the shipping industry is far from glamorous. It has been and remains
merely there to shift goods from one location to another and make profits for
the shareholders, which is not to say that this cannot be interesting, or
exciting. However, this mostly goes unreported (by anyone) and normally it is
only when something goes disastrously wrong that there is any record.
The
subject of safety at sea is complex and one I do not propose to discuss at any
length. Suffice to say that death and injury through accident was traditionally
staggeringly high during the ‘sailing ship’ era, with something of a gradual
tailing off through technological change of the latter nineteenth and twentieth
centuries. (Nevertheless, if one routinely reads Lloyd’s List it is apparent that the accidents that were
prone one hundred years ago, still happen with depressing regularity. Such is
human nature.)
Although
begun before, as of 1850 through the Mercantile Marine Act, there have been
state mechanisms in Britain to deal in a disciplinary manner with gross
misconduct and miscalculation by ships’ officers: as well as lesser matters. An
important element of this dealt with major
accidents resulting in serious damage to, or loss of vessels. However, wartime
incidents
including sinkings by enemy action, at least during the First World War, were
dealt with in a different manner and surviving documentation can be found
elsewhere. Also, there are the ‘Black Books’
and ‘Confidential Circulars’, which entered details of disciplinary action
taken against certificated officers. For crew-members however, (apart from
routine reporting on conduct and ability which cannot be relied on as accurate)
official comment is generally only to be found within surviving ships’
official logs
and even then it is overwhelmingly far from complimentary.
Mariners: Life, Death and Bravery
The documents mentioned so far can tell much
about the careers of merchant mariners. However, a wider knowledge of life and
conditions at sea can add significantly to understanding
these. Of course, it all depends on how deeply one wants to go, though a
realisation that life was routinely hard and even brutal should be borne in
mind.
The death of mariners at sea primarily through
accident was also routine: particularly on sailing
ships. Even so, while Select Committees periodically reported thousands killed
every year, some perspective should be given to this. Other industries also had
high levels of death and injury, such as the mineral mining industries, which I
believe had an even worse record than
mercantile shipping.
Finally,
apart from martial wartime honours and awards, civil
gallantry awards have only been dealt with in passing. Lloyd’s
of London
was not the only authority to reward acts of bravery at sea. The state also
honoured merchant mariners in a lesser manner, from gifts of items such as
watches, to various classes of medals. Very occasionally other grateful
organisations, such as town councils or foreign governments, also gave awards
to mariners. Sometimes details of these are to be found in state records for
civil gallantry awards (see above link) though are also occasionally mentioned
in Lloyd’s
Captains Registers. Press reports can also be a source for such recognition.
Return to the
chronological guide
Return to technical data on vessels, tracing their movements and accidents