10 August 2015

Ancestry adds UK, Apprentices Indentured in Merchant Navy, 1824-1910

Britannia ruled the waves thanks in part to the merchant navy and the 342,282 young men who were indentured in merchant navy ships between the years 1824 and 1910 in this new Ancestry database. The information is scant: name, age and date at registration or indenture, vessel, port of registry.

There are  three and possibly more Toses from Whitby,

The source is "Registry of Shipping and Seamen: Index of Apprentices. BT 150/1-53. The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey, England."

A good starting point for researching British merchant seamen is List of the principal records of British shipping and seamen, showing their present locations.
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1 comment:

  1. Barbara Tose10 August, 2015 13:46

    Thanks for checking on Toses from Whitby, John. I have, in fact, downloaded 16 Toses (not all of Whitby), 2 Clark(e)s and 1 Brittain. The information also includes the Master the apprentice is indentured to (sometimes a relative), the length of the indenture, the ship's name, burthen (size) and in some cases the official ship's number which will help you find the ship's crew agreement and possible log. You may find notes of any occurences of import during their apprenticeship. I found several cases of desertion, one case of changing Masters and ships part way through the apprenticeship and at least one case of death during their time of service. It records if they completed their apprenticeship or if it was cancelled or changed for some reason (many went fishing it would appear). For anyone looking for sailors, this is a great place to start. The only disappointing thing is that they don't list the ship the sailor signs on with next. That would make tracing a career so much eaasier!

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