The Royal Navy did not begin to keep a service record for each individual until 1853. Before this it can be difficult to trace career information, unless the name of a ship and approximate dates that the rating served on a ship are known.

If these details are known, then searches of the ship musters and pay lists are recommended. These are held by The National Archives for 1668-1884 in ADM 36, ADM 37, ADM 38, ADM 39, ADM 115 and ADM 177.

To find out whether we hold registers for the ship in which you are interested, search the Catalogue, entering the ships' name as a keyword, to see what we hold.

If he received a naval pension, check the service records in ADM 29 covering 1801-1844, to which there are name indexes.

Royal Navy: Ratings service records, 1667-1923

Royal Navy: Pension record, ratings

You can search for records of those who served on the British side in the Battle of Trafalgar along with their service histories and any biographical details found.

Use Tracing Your Naval Ancestors by Bruno Pappalardo (TNA 2003) in order to explore naval records fully.