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FMP gaffe???

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  • FMP gaffe???

    Did anyone else get an email recently from FMP promoting their Merchant Seaman records - featuring the youngest? merchant seaman - Eric Granville Abbott - whose dob was recorded as 15th May 1905

    I thought he looked a little older than the reported 13 years in the 1919 photo - so out of curiosity checked his birth registration - which turned out to be SEP qtr of 1901

    The 1911 census had him as a 9 year old scholar

    FMP blogged about him back in 2011 - surprised they haven't done the basics of genealogy and checked all sources - have emailed them - but can't believe I'm the first person to pick this up

  • #2
    i hadn't looked that far, but good point!

    Comment


    • #3
      I saw the email, but didn't read it as FMP are not the people I go to for info.
      Whoever said Seek and Ye shall find was not a genealogist.

      David

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      • #4
        I got the email.
        Lennon. Phillips. Thomas. Peacock. Tubridy. Burton.

        I am the girl from that town & I'm darn proud of it.

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        • #5
          This is the text of the email minus the image of the record.

          Quote
          "We discovered 13 year-old deck boy Eric Abbott while we were exploring the records – could he be the youngest ever Merchant Navy Seaman?

          We're treated to a photo of young Eric, and given the following information:

          Name: Eric Granville Abbott
          Physical appearance: Eric was 5'6" tall with fair hair and blue eyes
          Rating: deck boy
          Ship he worked on: the Highland Laddie from 11 April 1919
          Date and place of birth: 15 May 1905, Leytonstone
          Name and address of next of kin: George Walton Abbott, 'The Gables', Whipps Cross Road, Leytonstone"
          Phil
          historyhouse.co.uk
          Essex - family and local history.

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          • #6
            I didn't get the email, but having looked at the original image on FMP, I think it's not a total gaffe. The data given all comes from an identity document which indeed gives this date of birth. Their mistake was in not doing any cross-checks which would have shown the value in using ALL the available records.

            Having said that, I suspect that there might well have been 13- or even 12-year-old Merchant Seamen. Minimum school-leaving age was (I think) 14 and some younger ones might have run off and claimed to be older than they really were in order to make their own way in the world. Clearly, identity checks were not done in this case, even if they ever were!

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            • #7
              Folks - thank for the comments - the whole point of my post was that I was amazed that FMP were once again highlighting Eric as "possibly the youngest ever Merchant Seaman" just on the strength of that one document without any cross checks.

              To me the picture certainly didn't look like a 13 year old - which was what made me want to look further

              With his distinctive middle name it was so easy to find his birth and death entries along with his 1911 census info - I'm just amazed to think no one at FMP thought to do the same and check other sources

              I also wondered about Eric's motive for lowering his age by 4 years - conscription applied to 18 year olds until mid 1919 I believe - perhaps he fancied a life on the ocean wave more than a spell in the Army??

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