Merchant Seamen: Interpreting Voyage Details in the Registers of Seamen, Series II

Domestic Records Information 113

1. Introduction

The entries for seamen in the Registers of Seamen Series II (BT 112 ) give details of the voyages undertaken. These entries were made in a shorthand fashion which is only partly understood. When trying to interpret these entries the researcher should bear in mind that the clerks were trying to record details of the filing of crew lists at the end of one or a series of voyages during which the individual had been on the relevant ship. The form of the entry was different for a Home Trade or a Foreign Trade voyage. The registers are of two types, and the entries in the earlier registers (Part 1) look slightly different in layout to those from the later period (Part 2).

2. Home Trade Voyages

These entries do not simply record a single voyage, but a half year (January to June or July to December) during which the seaman was engaged on a particular ship in the home trade. During that period the ship may have been on several voyages, and he may have been engaged for some or all of the period. The crew lists were required to be filed within 42 days of the end of June or December. An entry for Home Trade is shown in the first example below, taken from Part 1 of the class.

3. Foreign Trade Voyage

These entries record a single voyage during which the seaman was engaged on a particular ship. The crew lists were required to be filed within 24 or 48 hours of the ship returning to a UK port. Entries for Foreign Trade voyages are shown in both the examples below, the second of which is taken from Part 2 of the class.

4. Notes:

Part 1, 1835-1840

Part 2, 1842-1844

* D112 is the Merchant Seamen: Abbreviations Found in the RGSS Registers, Domestic Records Information Research guide Number 112

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