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Royal Navy Registers - meaning of shorthand.

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Inky1

Inky1 Report 29 Oct 2015 17:41

One of my great uncles who joined the RN has the following entry under "Wounds, Scars, Marks, etc."

A.C. on r. f 'arm
So "on his right forearm", but what might "A.C." mean? Any ideas, please. His trade is stated as Boilermaker. And prior to joining in 1900, he worked in the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. I am presently guessing that it was not a tattoo - more likely an injury.

Eringobragh1916

Eringobragh1916 Report 29 Oct 2015 19:08

Inky1...I would guess a tattoo...possible someone's initials...an injury /scar would /should state..."To" right forearm.

Kucinta

Kucinta Report 29 Oct 2015 22:16

If it were a tattoo, maybe an anchor and chain? Might be such a common one in the navy that just A & C would be sufficient to describe it. Just guessing though.

Researching:
Eayres (Northants/London) Walker (Surrey) Loveday (Northants) Moore (Tipperary)

Andysmum

Andysmum Report 29 Oct 2015 22:29

My guess is that the C stands for cicatrix, which is a scar. It could refer to a burn or a vaccination.

KathleenBell

KathleenBell Report 30 Oct 2015 00:10

I'd go with Eringobragh1916's suggestion - a tattoo of the letters A.C.

Kath. x

Inky1

Inky1 Report 30 Oct 2015 10:26

Folks, many thanks for the suggestions.

He was one of three of my grandfathers brothers who joined the RN. Of the other two, one has nothing entered in that box. But the third has "Scar on r. little finger". So that must be scar on right little finger.

Thus "." and " ' " being used to shorten words. I had not thought to check through all the pages that I have. No other occurrence of " ' ", but a few of "." , and it only seems to have been used where the meaning should be clear to any reader.
S.P.O. = Senior Petty Officer.
Ch.Sto. = Chief Stoker
H.M.A. London Depot. = His Majesty's Australian (navy) London Depot - for this one the remarks column shows "Loan to R.A.N. for 1 year".

A.C. could be either of the other suggestions. I will plump for the tattoo (my initial guess being wrong......)