Officers in the Merchant Navy: further research

1. Before 1845

Until 1845 there was no system of registration of officers (masters and mates) and so records which might incidentally make mention of them must be used to trace details about them. Details of available sources are described in My Ancestor Was a Merchant Seaman by Christopher T and Michael J Watts (Society of Genealogists, 2nd edition with addendum, 2004) and Records of Merchant Shipping and Seamen by Kelvin Smith, Christopher T and Michael J Watts. For the most part, greatest success can be expected with tracing masters of vessels since their names are most often mentioned in the available records.

2. Alphabetical Register of Masters, 1845-1854

In 1845, at the same time as compiling a register of seamen's tickets, the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen started to compile an Alphabetical Register of Masters (BT 115). This, like the various seamen's registers, was compiled from the filed crew lists.

3. Voluntary Examinations, 1845-1850

From 1845 onwards a system of examinations was introduced for masters and mates; at first it was voluntary and applied only to foreign-going vessels. Masters and mates passing the voluntary examination, prior to 1850, should be included in the Certificates of Competency and Service, Miscellaneous (BT 143) and in BT 6/218-219. There is an index to names in BT 143.

Also during this period, Lloyd's Register of Shipping contains, as an appendix, 'An Alphabetical List of all the Masters and Mates in the Merchant Service, who have voluntarily passed an Examination, from time to time, and obtained Certificates of Qualification for the Class against each assigned under the regulation issued by the Board of Trade'; copies are available at The National Archives. In addition, they should be listed in the online version of the London Gazette, the original copies of which are filed in record series ZJ 1.

4. Certificates of Competency and Service, 1845-1921

The voluntary system of examination, introduced for masters and mates of foreign-going vessels in 1845, was extended and gradually made compulsory from 1850.

Entries in the various indexes, referred to below, normally give a man's place and year of birth and his certificate number. (This number is that allocated when he was granted his first certificate and he is not usually given another number when he progresses to a higher grade; a new number might be assigned if a replacement certificate was issued following loss of the original.) When searching the index, you will find that names beginning with Mc or Mac are usually to be found under the letter following that prefix, and not under the letter M; so, for example, MacDonald will appear under 'D'.

Up to 1888 the various certificate registers give:

• name
• certificate number and grade
• date and place of certification
• place and year of birth
• record of voyages (in a coded form)

After 1888 these are more like summary volumes and details of voyages are no longer given; details of loss and replacement of certificates (and sometimes a date of death) may be given.

Records of the successful certificate applications made in the UK by masters, mates, engineers and fishing officers - up until 1928 when the system changed - are held by the National Maritime Museum. Applications made in the colonies should be sought in the appropriate state or national archive.

5. Masters and mates: certificates

Masters and mates could obtain their certificates as a result of examination (Certificates of Competency) or by exemption due to long service (Certificates of Service). Registers exist, from 1845, recording details of each man; these are contained in six series according to the type of certificate and type of trade:

• BT 122 Certificates of Competency, Masters and Mates, Foreign Trade (1845-1900)
• BT 123 Certificates of Competency, Masters and Mates of Steamships, Foreign Trade (1881-1921)
• BT 124 Certificates of Service, Masters and Mates, Foreign Trade (1850-1925)
• BT 125 Certificates of Competency, Masters and Mates, Home Trade (1854-1888)
• BT 126 Certificates of Service, Masters and Mates, Home Trade (1854-1888)
• BT 128 Certificates of Competency, Masters and Mates, Colonial (1870-1921)

There is a consolidated index to these volumes, on microfilm: this is the Index to Registers of Certificates of Competency and Service, Masters and Mates, Home and Foreign Trade (1845-1894) (BT 127). The certificate number obtained from the index indicates the type of certificate:

Where a certificate number has one or more letters appended (e.g. NSW) this indicates that the certificate was issued in the colonies, and BT 128 should be searched for details. The series list for BT 128 lists the abbreviations that may be found.

The Mercantile Navy List for 1863 contains an alphabetical list of masters and mates, 1845-1862. The same year it also included a list of those certificates which had been cancelled between 1857 and 1863; a copy of the original volume is on open access at The National Archives.

A 'Return of the Names of those Certificated Masters of the Mercantile Marine who, between the 1st day of January 1870 and the 1st day of July 1875, have passed the Board of Trade Examination in Steam and Compass Deviation appears under that title in the House of Commons, Parliamentary Papers (1875) vol LXVIII p 303 (mf 81.538) a copy of which is available on open access at The National Archives. This contains two lists, one for each examination giving simply each man's name; it is presumed that this are in date order.

6. Fishing Officers: certificates

The certification of skippers and mates (or second hands) of fishing vessels began in 1884, extending the system that had applied to masters and mates from 1854. The records are in:

• BT 129 Registers of Certificates of Competency: Skippers and Mates of Fishing Boats. The certificates are numbered 1 to 15,509 and cover the years 1880 to 1921.
• BT 130 Registers of Certificates of Service: Skippers and Mates of Fishing Boats. The certificates are numbered with an '0' prefix and the class contains numbers 01 to 05999 and also numbers 08000 to 08999. Numbers were allocated as follows:

The means of reference to these is by using the class Index to Registers of Competency and Service: Skippers and Mates of Fishing Boats (BT 138).

7. Engineers: certificates

Certification of Engineers began in 1862; they could obtain their Certificates as a result of examination (Certificates of Competency) or by exemption due to long service (Certificates of Service). Details can be found in:

• BT 139 Registers of Certificates of Competency, Engineers (1861-1921)
• BT 140 Registers of Certificates of Competency, Engineers, Colonial (1870-1921)
• BT 142 Registers of Certificates of Service, Engineers (1862-1921)

To find these, use the Index to Registers of Certificates of Competency and Service, Engineers (1861-1921) (BT 141). The certificate number obtained from the index indicates:

Where a certificate number has one or more letters appended (e.g. NSW) this indicates that the certificate was issued in the colonies, and BT 140 should be searched for details.

The National Maritime Museum holds certificate registers for the following, these may have been expected to be found in series BT 139, namely:
RSS/ENG/1 1902-1905 39000-43999
RSS/ENG/2 1905-1909 44000-48999
RSS/ENG/3 1909-1913 49000-53999
RSS/ENG/4 1913-1918 54000-58999

8. Cooks: Certificates

The Merchant Shipping Act of 1906 called for the registration of cooks; this began on 30 June 1908. Cooks could obtain their Certificates as a result of examination (Certificates of Competency) or by exemption due to long service (Certificates of Service). The National Archives holds indexes to Registers of Cooks Certificates of Competence and Service 1913 to 1956 (BT 319), the National Maritime Museum hold the registers covering the period 1915 to 1958, bearing numbers 5001 - 41021 (reference RSS/CO/1-6).

9. Later records, c. 1910 onwards

From 1910, a combined index to masters, mates and engineers of merchant vessels, as well as skippers and mates of fishing boats, was started to replace those formerly kept in separate registers (BT 127, BT 138 and BT 141). The term index for this collection (as used in RGSS) is misleading: it is not an index to any other records. In effect it replaced the earlier registers and indexes and became a self-indexing register. It was kept in card form covering the period 1910 to 1930. It covers home and foreign trade and each card gives:

• Name
• Certificate number
• Date of passing
• Date and place of birth
• Rating
• Port of examination

The cards are of different colours depending on the type of qualification; white cards are for masters and mates, pink cards are for Engineers and green for Skippers and Mates of fishing boats. The index is available, on microfiche, as Index to Certificates of Competency, Masters, Mates, Engineers and Fishing Officers, Home and Foreign Trade, 1910-1930 (BT 352). Information found in this class often falls outside the nominal dates indicated.

Chronological registers of the issue, or reissue of certificates are to be found in:

• BT 317 Registers of Masters and Mates Certificates Passings and Renewal (1917-1977)
• BT 318 Registers of Examinations for Certificates of Masters, Mates and Engineers, Returns of Passings and Failures (1928-1981)
• BT 320 Register of Engineers Passes and Renewals (1913-1935) [in process of transfer], these records are to be found at the National Maritime Museum under references RSS/ENG/5-6.
• BT 396 Registers of Passes and Renewals of Certificates of Competency for Fishing Officers (Skippers and 2nd hands) 1883-1959 [in process of transfer]

These registers give brief details of the issue of certificates. The entries are arranged in date order and give:

• Date received
• Christian name
• When [examined]
• No
• Grade
• Port sent to
• Surname
• Port of examination
• Date

10. Lloyd's Captains' Register (1851-1947)

Lloyd's Captains' Registers extend the date and amount of information available after 1913, for masters. It was compiled from the record of Certificates issued to foreign-going masters, which was kept by the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen from 1851. The details were sent to Lloyd's at regular intervals.

Lloyd's arranged the information in an alphabetical sequence of masters' names, known as Captains' Registers. They were compiled from 1869 in manuscript, but the earliest sequence also contains pasted-in summaries of the qualifications and service from 1851 of masters who were still active in 1869. These were cut from an original printed register of 1869. An incomplete set of Captains' Registers can be seen on microfilm: they list, for each person:

• Name, place and year of birth;
• Date, number and place of issue of the master's certificate obtained;
• Any other special qualification, including the 'steam' certificate from 1874;
• Name and number (taken from the Mercantile Navy Lists) of each ship; Date of engagement and discharge as master or mate; the destination of each voyage; casualties;
• Any special awards (e.g. war service)

These records cover masters with foreign trade certificates sailing either as masters or mates.

11. Further reading

Christopher T & Michael J Watts, My Ancestor Was a Merchant Seaman (Society of Genealogists, 2nd edition with addendum, 2004)

Kelvin Smith, Christopher T & Michael J Watts, Records of Merchant Shipping and Seamen (Public Record Office, 1998)