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Archiver > Mariners > 2004-12 > 1102015835


From: "John Marshall" <>
Subject: Re: Finding Which Ship
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 19:31:24 -0000
References: <LPEBJOPNNNNGIJODHCEAIELCCBAA.mike@harnett.giointernet.co.uk>


Hi Mike,
If you only have a name and approximate date then I suspect that you will have to trawl the Registers of Service of Merchant Seamen 1835 -1857. These are held at Kew, but to find out what they are all about have a look at the National Archives site at

http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/rdleaflet.asp?sLeafletID=127

This leaflet mentions the excellent book by Kelvin Smith, Christopher T Watts & Michael J Watts, Records of Merchant Shipping and Seamen (PRO Readers' Guide No 20) which is well worth a read if you are just starting.

I might add that you are going to need a lot of luck in your search - luck such as I had when I found an ancestor on a crew agreement after many, many hours of apparently fruitless searching.

All the best in your search,
John

From: Michael Harnett
I see many people trying to find details of ships on which their ancestors
served. But how does one go about finding the name of the ship in the first
place, from only knowing the ancestors name and approx dates. My ancestor
was William Harnett based in the Greenwich area- he died 1870 but believe he
served until c1860

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