izzy Posted 9 March , 2008 Share Posted 9 March , 2008 what would the best way to research a merchant seaman lost in ww1. can any one give me advice or address's that i can to further my research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph0ebus Posted 9 March , 2008 Share Posted 9 March , 2008 what would the best way to research a merchant seaman lost in ww1. can any one give me advice or address's that i can to further my research. Hi Izzy, I have been doing quite a bit of this type of research as of late. There are a couple of ways that may bear fruit. Perhaps if you give us a bit of information here in this forum, you may get the answers you seek. In addition to this forum, I would try the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's web site: http://www.cwgc.org/ You may also try the Warsailors Forum: http://www.warsailors.com/forum/ There are of course newspaper archives you can search, both in the US and other countries...some are free, and some are not. You may also try various local and National Archives, but Archival research takes some time and money. For example, I sent a request to a national archive in Berlin for my grandfather's WWI medical records (he was in the German Feldartillerie); it took 9 months for them to reply just to say they had received my request and that it would take a while to see what they have, if anything. I have had great luck using all of the above, plus others. Depending on how the fellow died, there may be other forums/methods I and others may suggest. So, who are you trying to research? Can you give us specifics? -Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melliget Posted 9 March , 2008 Share Posted 9 March , 2008 Hi. The National Archives (UK) has a number of research guides for merchant seamen: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalog...index.asp?j=1#m regards, Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrecktec Posted 9 March , 2008 Share Posted 9 March , 2008 Hi Izzy Try putting his name in this forum Cheers Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izzy Posted 9 March , 2008 Author Share Posted 9 March , 2008 thank's to all who have replied so far there are actually two casualties cadet, h crosby age 17 of the s.s ava [glasgow] died 26/1/1917 also j nicholson age 48 died 27/6/1918 while serving on h.m.h.s llandovery castle.both are from south liverpool but are not on any known roll of honour . i have not yet contacted the liverpool maritime museum but aim to do so in the near future, both casualties are commemorated on the tower hill memorial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph0ebus Posted 9 March , 2008 Share Posted 9 March , 2008 thank's to all who have replied so far there are actually two casualties cadet, h crosby age 17 of the s.s ava [glasgow] died 26/1/1917 also j nicholson age 48 died 27/6/1918 while serving on h.m.h.s llandovery castle.both are from south liverpool but are not on any known roll of honour . i have not yet contacted the liverpool maritime museum but aim to do so in the near future, both casualties are commemorated on the tower hill memorial. From the CWGC: H. Crosby: http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_detail...asualty=2978073 J. Nicholson: http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_detail...asualty=2972709 What specific information are you looking to get on these two fellows? -Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izzy Posted 10 March , 2008 Author Share Posted 10 March , 2008 apart from census details which i can get next time i go to my local libary im after information on their service for instance h crosby was a cadet was this an officer cadet or some other rank. my main topic was how is the best way to research a merchant navy casualty? are there papers like soldiers papers if so where are they kew or some other place. i have yet to to contact the liverpool maritime museum but are there any other places that might have information on these two men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wales Posted 10 March , 2008 Share Posted 10 March , 2008 apart from census details which i can get next time i go to my local libary im after information on their service for instance h crosby was a cadet was this an officer cadet or some other rank. my main topic was how is the best way to research a merchant navy casualty? are there papers like soldiers papers if so where are they kew or some other place. i have yet to to contact the liverpool maritime museum but are there any other places that might have information on these two men. As Martin mentioned , the National Archives (Kew) may have a personal record (CR2 or CR 10), or you could try the Southampton Archive city.archives@southampton.gov.uk <city.archives@southampton.gov.uk> If you know , or can find , the official number of the last ship (eg Lloyds Register for the year in question - possibly in a Liverpool library or archive) then you may be able to track a man back through any other vessels sailed on from obtaining copies of crew agreements (held variously at Kew , the National Maritime Museum or mostly the Maritime History Archive in Newfoundland ). In some cases the CR10 form will also give a list ( by number) of previous ships. The crew agreements contain limited personal details , such as addresses and job aboard ship th man's previous ship There may be copying fees, depending on the archive. For certain types of voyage ther will be a note of major incidents as well as ports visited. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izzy Posted 10 March , 2008 Author Share Posted 10 March , 2008 tom many thanks for your reply i will follow these avenue's of research in the near future many thanks to all who have replied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amity Posted 11 March , 2008 Share Posted 11 March , 2008 Hi Izzzy Merchant Navy cadets, either Deck or Engineer, were "Indentured" to the shipping company and were not required to sign on for each voyage, so there would be no records through Seamen's Discharge Books and the B.O.T. Perhaps finding some list of Union Castle SS Co's indentured cadets may be the way for you to go. Cheers Amity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halifax Posted 11 March , 2008 Share Posted 11 March , 2008 If you can find the name of the ship the website u-boat.com has some data regarding first world war shipping both RN & Merchantmen Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halifax Posted 11 March , 2008 Share Posted 11 March , 2008 I'll try again its uboat.net Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daggers Posted 11 March , 2008 Share Posted 11 March , 2008 Again, once you have the name of the ship, there is a book called something like British Vessels Lost at Sea which can be seen in the Lpool Maritime Museum's archives section, where the staff are helpful. Check their opening hours online before visitng as they are not open every day. The book should give details of how when and where the ship was lost. The copy at the central library has 'walked', unless they have bought another! Daggers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph0ebus Posted 11 March , 2008 Share Posted 11 March , 2008 Hi all, A Great book available on line is the "Dictionary of Disasters at Sea During the Age of Steam"...here are the relevant pages for these two ships: Llandovery Castle http://pagesperso-orange.fr/cdasm.56/dictionnaire/429.pdf Ava http://pagesperso-orange.fr/cdasm.56/dictionnaire/062.pdf Hope these are helpful. -Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izzy Posted 11 March , 2008 Author Share Posted 11 March , 2008 thank you to all that have took the time to answer my query i will follow up lead's many thank's to all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now