Navy records - what do these dates and initials mean?

[Gardengirl]

I am trying to write up a little biography for one of my ancestors, inspired by the current Sailor thread. I have a document of his engagement in the Navy but I am a bit confused about what some of it means.

You can see at the top his date of birth and the date of C.S engagement when he was 18. What does C.S Engagement mean?

Below are entries for his service on various ships starting with ones which are dated three years before the date of engagement - making him only 15. There are also initials in the column headed Rating - what do these mean? Boy 2nd class and Boy 1st class maybe before he came of age to be classed as an Ordinary Seaman and then an Able Seaman?

Charles J Goodall Navy record 1876-85-3498x2541 small.jpg

[GallowayLass]

Explanation here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_seaman

[Gardengirl]

Thank you, GallowayLass. That's very useful.

And I think that C.S engagement means Continuous Service. Need to do a bit more reading on that one.

[grumpy]

GG, the dates in the period of service refer to when he joined/departed a particular ship/establishment.

In the next columns the dates refer to when he was assessed for conduct class, I.e. class 1 or class 2.

In the character column he was assessed as T, meaning transit, as he wasn’t in those establishments long enough for assessment.
Others in the same column were VG - very good or fair or indifferent (I think). Seems like he was a bit of a tear away judging on the fact that twice he was sentenced to jail time and then discharged prior to his 10 year engagement expiring.
If there are any others that I have missed ask and I will endeavour to enlighten.
Incidentally, boys time is not counted in the engagement period, so his ten year engagement begins from his 18th birthday.

[Gardengirl]

Thank you, grumpy, that’s really helpful. I did look up the ship names and I think Fisgard and Impregnable might have been training ships when he was still under 18.

[grumpy]

GG, whilst I am not into Royal Navy ships and establishments (being ex RAN) I would think that they would have been training establishments.

[cbcarolyn]

I hadn't realised until I talked to Dad in recent years the navy called everything a ship. Like grumpy says some are establishments.

They could be a base, and not necessarily on the sea.

During ww2 they took over most of the holiday camps and were all known as a 'ship'.

Dad has unearthed some docs this weekend and one lot is his navy record.
More recent than 1861.

[Gardengirl]

Every day is a learning day! Thanks, Carolyn, I'll do some more investigating. I had actually discovered a similar thing about the RAF. My Dad's uncle was described on his death cert as Squadron Leader RAF by his daughter. I was really surprised because I was sure my Dad would have mentioned that his uncle was a Squadron Leader! Turns out that he was just a senior person in the paperwork branch of the RAF. Never went near a plane

[grumpy]

A Stone Frigate is another disparaging name for a shore establishment.

[Gardengirl]

grumpy Any thoughts on the name of the gaol in the last line? And why would it say Traced in the last column?

[grumpy]

GG, I had a look for 19th century British prisons but couldn’t find one with a similar spelling start to that listed on his record.

The other entry doesn’t ring a bell either. Sorry.

[Gardengirl]

Thanks for looking. I wonder if it was somewhere foreign and on return he had picked up some illness or injury that landed him at Haslar.

[Gardengirl]

And thanks to some brilliant people on FMP facebook page, it turns out that it is Byculla Jail in Mumbai which is still there today. I think probably a good chance that he caught something nasty while he was there which landed him in hospital when he got home.