Genealogy Chat

Hi LakesLass,
Thanks for message, i have found a couple of people with miss-spelt names, maybe i will try again. !!
It is exciting when you are about to give up for a bit and then there it is. !!!!
Regards
Sally

Don't know if its much help but my great great grandfather was in the Navy - picked up at home on 1881 census - and after spending literally hours trawling the 1871 census for his name (I knew approx age and place of birth) I finally found him with miss-spelt first name.
He was on board ship in the South China Sea. The census shows longitude and latitude of the ship too.
From this I have learnt more about why the ship was in that area (google's great) and sent for a copy of his naval record which shows other ships he was on and his length of service. I now have a much bigger picture.

There are at least two good places to find information on Master Mariners. The best record, if he was active after 1869, is the Lloyds Captains Register. This is now held at at the London Metropolitan Archive.

There are also records at the National Archives at Kew, but the Lloyds registers are better.

David

MANY THANKS
SatNav - Quinsgran - Potty again - Mrs Grumpy and Secret Red Squirrel
Lots to go at !!!!!
Have a good weekend all.
Regards
Sally

If they were in the Royal Navy you might find their records on The National Archives site. £3.50 to download.

That will list the names of the ships they were on by date so you can spot if they were on board at the time of the census. Then google around for info on the ships.

My grandfather was on the Goliath at the time of the 1901 census - and the ship was in China at the time due to the Boxer Rebellion.

Jill

Hi Potty
You are right there are some records for ships at sea.(thanks)
But all those records should show on a normal search
with name and birthplace/year
Eg
1901
Abram Abrahams abt 1869 Portsmouth, Hampshire, England Member Of Crew (Member) Vessels, Royal Navy

All I know is that all my seaman ancestors are either at home or missing.

Just thinking Sally, if you can't find your ancestor on the census records, have you thought about other ways to find the information you need. eg I have certificates of discharge for one of my ancestors which listed his age and place of birth and when he was engaged and when he was discharged from each ship.

SatNav, I have found boats at sea; usually fishing boats that were probably out overnight. The View District description form says were they were, eg "Fishing off Dogger Bank".

The 1901 has a registration district "Royal Navy Vessels at Sea and in Port". You can see those if you select Royal Navy in the County box.

another good tip. Thanks Potty

I have always been led to believe that the only seamen on board that you will find are those in port.
I think that the 1911 census is different.
Edit
From Google;
Seamen on British Censuses

www.mariners-l.co.uk/UKCensuses.html -

Thanks so much Potty !!! I have learnt something else today !!!
I was looking but had never heard to do that.
Regards
Sally

Some ships are recorded in the census. The census forms were given to the ship's captains sometime before the census and were then filled in on the census night. I suppose that if the ship was on a long voyage it would not have been recorded.

In the 1861 to 1901, if you put vessels in the civil parish box, it will bring them up.

When looking at the image, click on the District at the top of the image, then the View description of the enumeration district, this usually gives more info about the ship, eg it tonnage and where it actually was on census night.. The images that you see are of the originals filled out by the Captain/Master. I have seen one where the DOBs were written against the crew's names, probably to help the captain work out their ages.

Hi, i was trying to find a person who was a Master Marina, he is not on the 1861 or 1871 census, did they have to register themselves while at sea?
He was living near Newcastle.
Any help or ideas would be brill.
Many thanks
Sally