Genealogy Chat

How do I get access to a passport that was issued to Ebenezer White in 1915 or 1916?

He travelled in 1916 to Canada and we have not been able to track him down so I thought of getting hold of his passport application etc, Does anyone know where I start to find this?

thanks a lot.

Did they issue them during the war? Or, did they issue them before the war? I thought they weren't "normal practice" until the 1920s but I could be wrong ...

Found this:

http://www.ips.gov.uk/passport/about-history-modern.asp


Passports up to the First World War

At the outbreak of war in 1914, British passports were printed on paper and included a photograph of the passport holder. The price was 6d (six old pennies).

The modern passport system really began at the time of the First World War, when states began to issue passports as a way of distinguishing their own citizens from those they saw as foreign nationals.

The British Nationality and Status Aliens Act 1914 was part of this process.
The 1915 passport

The British Nationality and Status Aliens Act 1914 came into force in 1915. As a result, the first modern British passport was introduced that year. It was a one-page document folded into eight with a cardboard cover. The new passport was valid for two years and could be renewed for further two-year periods.

The passport contained a photograph of the holder. It also showed their signature and contained a detailed personal description, covering:

* shape of face (eg long)
* complexion (eg fair)
* features (eg forehead: broad, nose: large, eyes: small).

The 32-page passport is born (1920)

The 1915 design did not last long. After the First World War ended, the League of Nations held an international conference on passports in 1920. At the conference they agreed on a new book-format passport for League of Nations member states.

In Britain, the modern Passport Service was launched at the same time as the new passport.

The new British passport took the form of a 32-page blue book (the ‘Old Blue’), which is still familiar to many people. It came in two formats:

* individual passports issued to one person, but which could also include a husband or wife
* family passports, which included children.

Passports changed very little over the next 50 years, but in 1954 the name of the Secretary of State was dropped from the text on the first page.

Hello Heather

This isn't him in 1911 is it?

passenger transcript details
Name: Ebenezer WHITE
Date of departure: 7 October 1911
Port of departure: Liverpool
Passenger destination port: New York, USA
Passenger destination: New York, USA

Date of Birth:
Age:
Marital status: Single
Sex: Male
Occupation: Contractor

Ship: LUSITANIA
Official Number: 124082
Master's name: J T W CHarles
Steamship Line: Cunard
Where bound: New York USA
Square feet: 18959
Registered tonnage: 9145
Passengers on voyage:1771



Alison

He got married in 1914 (and I have the marriage certificate) and my Grandad was born 1915 and it says that he was then living in 42 Daubeny Road London. I understand he left when my Grandad was 10 months old. (ie: Feb 1916 ish)

So he would have needed a passport. Can anyone tell me how I get a copy of that passport - that would help me track him enormously as I understand that they needed to include the likely journey and who they were travelling with. (He left his wife and went to Canada with his girlfriend a nurse - to trace him I need to find her name)

Thanks anyone who can help me - I am desperate to find my Grandads dad
h