Births, Marriages and Deaths at Sea

Domestic Records Information 61

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Records of the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen
3. General Register Office Records
4. Admiralty and Ministry of Defence Records
5. Other Sources
6. Further reading

1. Introduction

The Seamen's Fund Winding-up Act 1851 (section 29) required masters of British ships to hand on to a Shipping Master at the end of all voyages the wages and effects, or their proceeds, of any seaman who died during the voyage. Registers of these wages and effects were maintained by Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen (RGSS).

The Mercantile Marine Act 1850 made the deposit of official logs with RGSS compulsory. From 1854 registers were compiled from the entries in these logs of births, deaths and marriages of passengers at sea. Ships' masters were also required by the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1874 to report all births and deaths on board ship to RGSS who then reported them periodically to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages of England and Wales, Scotland or Ireland as appropriate.

Registers of reported births and deaths were kept by RGSS. Up to 1889 separate series of registers were kept for seamen and passengers but in 1890 a combined series was introduced; it should be noted that, although RGSS were required to report births and deaths to the appropriate Registrar General, over half of the entries are blank in the column headed "Which RG has been informed".

2. Records of the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen

Births

Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths of Passengers at Sea (BT 158 ) cover births for 1854-1890; these either have integral or separate indexes. [Available on microfilm]

Registers of Births at Sea of British Nationals, 1875-1891 (BT 160 ); these volumes record events reported to the RGSS under Merchant Shipping Act 1854 and Birth and Death Registration Act 1874, and onwardly reported to the General Register Offices for England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Those for England include births to foreign nationals.[Available on microfilm]

After 1890 the new series of registers are in the class Registers and Indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths of Passengers and Seamen at Sea (BT 334 ). The information given in these registers is as follows:

The registers cover the period 1891-1960 and there are indexes arranged both by ships' names and individuals' names. Entries in the indexes in red ink refer to passengers; those in black ink to crew.

Deaths

Whilst some early un-indexed material (1798-1834) is to be found in ADM 80/6-12 , the earliest systematic series of records recording the death of merchant seamen are those related to the effects they left. Registers of Wages and Effects of Deceased Seamen (BT 153 ) cover the periods 1852-1881 and 1888-1889 (April 1881-May 1888 does not seem to have survived). Indexes to these are to be found in Index to Seamen's Names (BT 154 ) and Index to Ships' Names (BT 155 ).

In addition there are Monthly Lists of Deaths of Seamen (BT 156 ) for 1886-1889, and Registers of Seamen's Death Classified by Cause (BT 157 ) for 1882-1888.

Registers of Births, Deaths and Marriages of Passengers at Sea (BT 158 ) cover deaths for 1854-1893; these either have integral or separate indexes. [Available on microfilm]

Registers of Death at Sea of British Nationals, 1875-1891 (BT 159 ); these were reported to RGSS under Merchant Shipping Act 1854 and Birth and Death Registration Act 1874. There are separate volumes for England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Those for England cover the deaths of foreign nationals. [Available on microfilm]

After 1890 the new series of registers are in the class Registers and Indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths of Passengers and Seamen at Sea (BT 334 ). The information given in these registers is as follows:

The registers cover the period 1891-1964 and there are indexes arranged both by ships' names and individuals' names. Entries in the indexes in red ink refer to passengers; those in black ink to crew.

Inquiries into Deaths at Sea; Papers and Reports, 1939-1964 (BT 341 ), are records that relate to both crew and passengers, of all nationalities. The files typically include sworn testimonies of survivors, particulars of the deceased and inspectors' statements. The files are arranged chronologically and then alphabetically by name of ship.

Marriages

Registers of Births, Deaths and Marriages of Passengers at Sea (BT 158 ) cover marriages for 1858-1883; these have integral indexes. [Available on microfilm]

After 1890 the new series of registers are in the class Registers and Indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths of Passengers and Seamen at Sea (BT 334 ). Indexes are to be found at The Ships List The information given in these registers is as follows:

3. General Register Office Records

The class General Register Office: Miscellaneous Foreign Returns, 1831-1964 (RG 32 ) includes some entries relating to births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials of British subjects, and nationals of the colonies, the Commonwealth and countries under British jurisdiction, on British and foreign ships. Indexes are in the class and Miscellaneous Returns of Births, Marriages Deaths: Indexes (RG 43 ). Both RG 32 and RG 43 can be found online at BMDregisters.co.uk.

Details of some births and baptisms at sea (potentially from 1831 to 1931) are to be found in RG 32/1-16 (indexed in RG 43/2 ). There are also registers of marriages aboard naval ships, 1842-1889 in RG 33/156 indexed in RG 43/7 . These often appear to be the marriages of people living in places where other methods of obtaining a valid British marriage may have been difficult, such as the Cayman Islands.

Deaths of British citizens on board French ships, 1836-1871, are in RG 35/16 (in French); deaths on boards Dutch ships, 1839-1871, are in RG 35/17 (in French).

The General Register Office for England and Wales, www.gro.gov.uk, part of the Identity and Passport Service hold indexes to birth and death registers of persons of English and Welsh origins who were born or died at sea from 1837 and include events occurring on both merchant and Royal Navy vessels. Certificates can be ordered online, or by post, phone or fax. Similar material dating from the start of their systems of civil registration are held by the General Register Offices in Edinburgh (1855), Dublin (1864) and Belfast (1922).

The GRO for England and Wales hold registers, and indexes, related to the deaths of Royal Navy personnel during both the First and Second World Wars. With the exception of these war periods, the registration of deaths of Royal Naval personnel should be found amongst deaths at sea or the Army deaths (from 1881) and Service deaths (from 1956).

4. Admiralty and Ministry of Defence Records

Records of births, marriages and deaths for naval personnel from 1845-1998 can also be found in the 'Registers of Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages and Burials' of the Chaplain of the Fleet (ADM 338 ).

5. Other Sources

One register of deaths and births at sea (1892-1918), first reported at Falmouth, has survived in CUST 67/74 .

Registers of births, 1847-1854, and deaths of emigrants at sea, 1847-1869, are in CO 386/170-172 .

The National Maritime Museum (www.nmm.ac.uk/) holds a card index related to deaths at sea between 1939 and 1945.

6. Further reading

Further details of available sources are described in Tracing Births, Deaths and Marriages at Sea by CT and MJ Watts (Society of Genealogists, 2004).

(ri2168) Last updated: 29 January 2010 | © Crown Copyright 2003