Family Tree Forum - Maritime History

The term sailor is commonly used to describe any man who went to sea, whether in the Royal Navy, Merchant Navy, Coastguards, Lifeboat Service, fishing fleet or as a pilot, privateer or a single boatman. If a man went to sea he was a sailor.

The term mariner can be synonymous with sailor but is more likely to mean that the man was concerned with the navigation of the vessel. Master mariners were those skilled in navigation. A Master Mariner would probably have a Mate or Master's ticket and be on the Seaman's Register at the National Archives. Mariners would come under the umbrella heading of the Merchant Navy. The main source for tracing details of merchant seamen and shipping, especially from the 18th century onwards, are the archives of the Registry of Shipping and Seamen (RSS). These records are held in a number of places. Some are with the RSS in Cardiff, some with the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich and National Archives of Scotland and Ireland. However, the majority are held in The National Archives in Kew. These records are broken down into categories and an explanation of how these can be viewed can be found on The National Archives.

Organised service records do not commence until 1835 when The Merchant Shipping Act of that year required masters of all ships to file Agreements and Crew Lists with the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen.

For those researching mariner ancestors who are experiencing difficulty locating them on the England and Wales census, Seamen on British Censuses contains a good explanation of the requirements regarding enumeration and may assist in helping you to locate those missing people!

The National Maritime Museum ~ Maritime Memorials is another good source of information for those researching this field.

Also see FTF Guide: Military Research

General Information

Lloyds Register Foundation includes:

Lloyds Register of Ships 1764 - 1945
Index to Register of Lloyd's Captains
Lloyds Casualty Returns - scroll down for the names of vessels

Also see FTF Guide: Emigration and Immigration for Shipping Lists and more Maritime Resources.
FTF Guide: World War One
FTF Guide: World War Two
Family Tree Forum Online Magazine ~ Volume Two: April 2008 had a nautical theme.

The Royal Navy

FTF Guide: The Royal Navy

The Merchant Navy

Merchant Navy Records

FTF Guide: Military Research ~ Records of Merchant Seamen

How to trace Merchant Navy personnel
Crew List Index Project Merchant seafarers on British registered ships for the years 1861 to 1913.
How to trace Merchant Mariners, mates and engineers who served in the Merchant Navy
Irish Merchant Seamen 1918-1921
The Federation Of Merchant Mariners
British Merchant Ship Losses in World War I
Crew Lists of the British Merchant Navy - 1915
Merchant Navy Losses in World War 2
Findmypast: Merchant Navy Seamen 1918-1941 £
Ancestry: Masters Certificates, 1855-1948 £

Coastguards and Coastal Defences

The Coastguard began as Customs Officers whose job was to apprehend smugglers trying to import goods without paying duty. As early as the 17th century there were small fleets of customs boats patrolling local waters in an effort to prevent smuggling.

A detailed history of HM Coastguard and Records can be found at the National Archives ~ Coastguard and in County Record Offices.

The Fishing Industry

Deep sea fishing was the most dangerous occupation of the 19th Century and is still high on the list today. Men signed on at a fixed rate per voyage or for a share of the catch.

The fishing fleet was part of the Merchant Navy. Coastal County Record Offices sometimes house extensive collections of information about the fishing fleets based in their ports.

Details of these may be found in A2A - Access to Archives or, more likely, on individual County Record Office websites.

Articles from Family Tree Forum's Online Magazine:

Lifeboats

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity and lifeboats are manned by volunteers.
The RNLI grew out of the loose groups of salvagers which could be found in most ports. When vessels were in trouble at sea salvers, often sailors or fishermen, would go to the rescue and claim salvage rights of the vessel and its cargo.

Many local branches of the RNLI have records of volunteers and rescues but do make a charge for searches. Some records can also be found in County Record Offices and local newspaper archives are another useful source.

Article from Family Tree Forum's Online Magazine:

The John Mewse Mug

Many other Lifeboat stations have their own history sites, often with old Crew Lists and Photographs - these include:-

Trinity Pilots and Lighthouses

All ports need sea pilots to guide vessels safely through local hazards and into harbour. Historically these used to be local men who knew the seas around their home ports. Pilots were also needed on large navigable rivers. Samuel Pepys had concerns about the quality of Port of London Pilots and was given permission to devise a test and the Pilots were brought under the aegis of Trinity House.

Trinity Pilots were licensed by the Corporation of Trinity House. When a Pilot applied to be licensed, he had to have British nationality, have several years' experience as a watch-keeping officer of a ship, hold a foreign-going Master Mariner's certificate (or Naval Certificate of Service) and be under 35 years of age.

Records are held at The Guildhall Library, although these suffered from fire in 1666 and 1714 and from bombing in 1940. Some court minutes survive from 1660, but the majority of other records in the series are only present from the 19th century. Staff employed at the Guildhall Library are unable to undertake personal searches. The functions of Trinity House, as well as surviving records and how to access them is explained on the website at Guildhall Library Manuscipts Section - Trinity House Family History Sources.

Qualified pilots could claim a set fee so unofficial local pilots continued to thrive up until the 20th Century. In Lowestoft, for example, these men were know as Brumigen Pilots. Registers of Pilots can usually be found in County Record Offices.

Shipbuilding

Shipping Companies

Shipwrecks