Genealogy Chat

Hello all, I have just received a copy of my great grandmother's birth certificate. She is listed as Wiseness with mother as nee Whitty. Her father is recorded as Henry Wiseness on the birth certificate but then indexed on marriage in 1871 as Henry WAISNIS. He was apparently a seaman at the time of GGrandmother's birth and by 1891 he had passed away. How can I establish a) where he is from originally and b) which vessels he sailed on as he was away from home when 1881 census was done and had passed away by the time 1891 census was done. Regards, Lyn x

Well, his marriage cert would give fathers name and occupation which should help but to find out which vessels - dont think you have a lot of chance at that. You could try an NA search on merchant seamen? A lot of mine are mariners and Ive just accepted that I wont know where they were on census night. If youve tried him on all the census and he isnt in port, then I doubt if you will find him. Get the marriage cert. This anything to do with you? Birth Annie Waisnis 1902 Oct-Nov-Dec Middlesbrough (1875-1968) Co. Durham, North Riding Of Yorkshire

Lynda, IF he was a merchant seaman you can write to the address below. Southampton is the main holder of archives for merchant seamen and hold all the original records. Write to them with details including as much information as possible. Merchant seamen had joining papers and on those papers was supposed to be kept a list of all the ships they sailed on. I say supposed to - my granddad's didn't!! - but it did have a photo of him!! But, IF he was in the merchant navy they will be able to tell you. There is a charge of £7 but they will photocopy all documents they find and send them to you. You can find the details of the archive service and what they hold by googling. Good luck Southampton Archives Services Civic Centre Southampton SO14 7LY Snowdrops

Well, good luck with that, but I don't think that they have all the original records in Southampton. As far as I know most are in Canada and some at Kew. Kate.

Thanks to all for your advice. Just ordered the marriage cert now that I have concrete about the birth of Mary Ann Wiseness. The marriage of Mary Ann Whitty to Henry Waisnis is def same family. Not sure about that birth record Heather because according to the 1891 census Mary Wiseness was a widow. Maybe he ran off, remarried and this is his child! It was better face to claim to be a widow than to say your husband had ran off!Hmmmm. Gonna have a look at that though so thanks for letting me know. Good luck to all researching here, lord knows we need it and a lot of help from people like yourselves. :) Regards, Lyn x

I got my grandads merchant navy stuff from Kew - very little detail, age, place of birth, father and his job really but there was a photo - about 1895 which was his identity card.

Lynda I agree with Snowdrop - I got my Mearchant records from Southampton with quite a lot of detail - its certainly worth a go Norah

The Southampton website includes this in the list of collections: 'The Central Index Register of Merchant Seamen, 1918-1941 The register was introduced in 1913 ... The majority of pre-1921 CR1 and CR2 cards of seamen no longer in service were weeded out and destroyed during the 1960s. This means, in effect, nothing before 1918, when CR10s partially fill the gap.' So that will be no help if your ancestor died before 1891! As for the crew lists, it looks as though it depends whether his ship was anything to do with Southampton: 'Crew Lists, 1863-1913 The office holds three main categories of Crew Lists, 1863-1913: ships registered in Southampton (this forms the largest category) ships built in Southampton (if the lists were not required by the port of registry) ships which mainly used the port (again, if the lists were not required by the port of registry) A published guide to Crew Lists is available on request, which is arranged alphabetically by ship`s name and includes details of dates and numbers of lists available for each ship, with information on voyages, owners and masters. Unfortunately, Crew Lists are unindexed apart from Captain`s name and owner`s name, so finding an individual can be a lengthy process unless you already know which vessel they served on.' Hope this clarifies what they hold at Southampton. By the way, the term 'merchant navy' was not used before WW1, 'The title Merchant Navy was given in 1922 as a reward for their services during the First World War, and previously it was referred to as the Mercantile Marine, the Merchant Service or the Merchant Marine' (according to the website of the Imperial War Museum). Kate. .