Genealogy Chat

Help please - How do I trace persons on board ships at a census time. Am looking for an ancestor who would have been on board a royal navy ship in 1871. Thanks

they should be listed as vessels or Royal Navy. Not sure though if they need to be in British Waters to be listed . Try the name and see what comes up

care to give us the name?

Hi Allan, after entering the name, go to the "Relationship to head" drop down box, choose seaman, see if this helps at all.

I am trying to trace a Joseph Legg b. 1837 I believe he was on board HMS Northumberland at the time of 1871 census. I believe it was based in Devon.

Hi Netty, How do I get the dropdown box?

There's this Joseph, not sure if he is yours

Name: Joseph Legg
Age: 29
Estimated birth year: abt 1842
Relation: 2 C M Top
Gender: Male
Where born: Langton, Dorset, England
Civil parish: Vessels
Town: [Off Military Mole Naples]
County/Island: Royal Navy
Country: England
Registration district: Royal Navy
Sub-registration district: Royal Navy
ED, institution, or vessel: Royal Oak
Household schedule number: 1

Joseph Legg 29

Edit: Sorry Allan, i use Ancestry, there is a drop down box on the search page, not sure about GR.

On Ancestry, next to the census search box under Browse this collection, in the County box select Royal Navy; in the Civil Parish Box select Vessels. A list of all RN ships in the census will come up. HMS Northumberland does not show in the list. Perhaps this is why****(HMS Agincourt is not in the list either):

HMS Northumberland (Broadside Ironclad, 1868-1927)
HMS Northumberland, a 10,780-ton broadside ironclad built at Millwall, England, was a modification of the type represented by HMS Minotaur and HMS Agincourt. Of very similar appearance to those two, with five masts atop a long hull, Northumberland had a shorter battery with an armored bulkhead at each end, and an armored conning tower. Like her near-sisters, she was laid down in 1861 and took a long time to complete. Her launching in 1866 was a prolonged affair as she stuck fast on the slipway and did not enter the water for a month. Further delayed by the financial collapse of her builders, the ship was commissioned in October 1868.

*******Northumberland's first seven years of service was mostly spent with the Channel Squadron, but in mid-1869 came a special task. In company with HMS Agincourt she towed a large floating drydock to Madeira, where the ironclads Warrior and Black Prince took over and took the dock to its final destination at Bermuda. While at Funchal, Madeira, on Christmas Day 1872 her anchor chain parted during a storm and Northumberland drifted across the battleship Hercules' ram bow. Though she suffered serious underwater damage, her compartmented iron hull limited the flooding and she was able to steam to Malta for repairs.

Beginning in 1875 Northumberland underwent an extensive refit, losing two of her five masts and receiving a new set of guns. She rejoined the Channel Squadron in 1879. Except for another period of dockyard refit in 1885-1887, she was active for the next decade, including a tour as flagship toward the end of this time. Northumberland, now quite outdated, was harborbound from the early 1890s onward, initially in reserve and then as a stokers training ship (under the name Acheron). In 1909 she was converted to a coal hulk and had eighteen years' employment in that humble, but important role. Sold by the Navy in 1927, the old former battleship was used as a hulk (named Stedmound) at Dakar until 1935 and then scrapped.

Just for info: There's a "George" Legg onboard Northumberland 1871

Name: George Legg
Age: 34
Estimated birth year: abt 1837
Relation: Private R M (Private)
Gender: Male
Where born: Dorchester, Dorset, England
Civil parish: Vessels
Town: Keyham Basin
County/Island: Devon
Country: England
Registration district: Stoke Damerel
Sub-registration district: Tamar
ED, institution, or vessel: Northumberland
Household schedule number: 1

George Legg 34

Also found this on Rootschat

born Josept, married as Joseph and died as Joseph but when he went to Guernsey for some reason He was George, and George in the Royal Marines in the 1871 Census on board HMS Northumberland, in Vessels, Devon.

This George (Joseph) married a Jane Chub

http://tinyurl.com/34cc39m

Hi Netty
Thanks very much, sorry about not getting back sooner but been a bit busy here. Yes this Joseph(George) Legg is my wife's great grandfather. We are not sure about the name change. I have found a reference on the National Archives index to a George Legg who joined the marines in 1841 - I am awaiting them to get back to me in relation to getting a copy. We live in Guernsey so its not an easy trip to the National Archives for us.
I have not heard about Rootschat - what is that please?

Here you go Allan,

http://www.rootschat.com/