Death in Sierra Leone dated 1854

[pentire]

Hi there - my great x 3 grandfather owned his own ship and worked out of Appledore, Devon. I understand that he died in Sierra Leone in 1854 aged 42. Presumably he visited the country as one of his trading routes.

Maybe it is a forlorn hope, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how I may make progress in finding out more about the circumstances of his death ?

Thanks in anticipation.

[ShaunJ]

I would be looking at the deaths at sea registers and contemporary newspapers. Can you give us his name and the name of his ship?

[dawnsh]

If he died on land, was his death registered with the appropriate consulate so it appears in the overseas death index?

If so a death cert may be useful.

If not, was there a notice of his demise in the local paper?

[pentire]

Thank you both for your replies. There are certainly some leads to follow. My relative was William Jones Day. Regrettably I don't know the name of his ship. As he is described as a Master Mariner, I am assuming that he may have owned his own vessel.

[ShaunJ]

As he is described as a Master Mariner, I am assuming that he may have owned his own vessel.

That's not a safe assumption.

[ShaunJ]

There's an MI in Northam, just to pin it down:

"William Jones Day, Master Mariner Who Died At Sierra Leone, 13th February 1854, Aged 42 Years. "(+lots more)

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/Northam/MonumentalInscriptions/MI-Inscriptions.Z

[Westoe]

Hello Pentire,

His Master's Certificate was #38,207. It was issued at Liverpool on 5 August 1851.

You can see his entry in The National Archives file BT 124 free online at the CLIP (Crew List Indexing Project) website here:
http://www.crewlist.org.uk/masters/masters.php?mode=IMAGE&row=WILLIAM;DAY;1812;APPLEDORE;DEVON;MASTER;38207;;LIVERPOOL;5;8;1851;BT124_1b;2;102;8;1;321;1851%20-%201860;35000%20-%2038999;207

Unfortunately, you will not be able to make any sense out of the three columns of coded notations beside his name. Those represent his voyages as a master for 1852, 1853 and 1854. None of us can interpret them without having access to the Customs House Registers for those particular ports for those particular years.

However, it is safe to assume that in 1853, his vessel was registered in one of the largest ports because it appears to be Vessel #7176 in that year's "Annual List of Shipping Registered to the Port of x" as the voyage begun in 1853 carried over into early 1854 when he died. Upon the vessel's return to her home port, she would have been added to the 1854 "Annual List" but under a different number.

However, you may be able to fill in gaps in his past work history. Ancestry has the "UK Masters and Mates" database. His certificate should be there. Once you find it, use both the backwards and forwards scrolling arrows to search for other pages in his file. Oftentimes there is the "Record of Service" which he would have had to submit detailing the vessels he had previously served on, his dates aboard same and his ranks aboard same.

Both Ancestry and FindMyPast have some other merchant navy records. There may well be other hits for him, including the one that gives a physical description - height, hair colour, eye colour, details of scars and tattoos.

Not having any subs myself, I can't look for you.

Cheers,
Westoe

EDIT: After posting this I tried the link but the image doesn't load. Try this one instead and fill in the blanks for William Day born 1812.
http://www.crewlist.org.uk/masters/masters.php

[pentire]

Hello Shaun J  - many thanks once again. Yes indeed, it can only be an assumption that he owned his own ship, certainly his father did, but that's not to say that William J did.

The MI at Northam is where we obtained the information about his death (and lots more as you say!)

[pentire]

Hello Westoe -

A grateful thank you for the wealth of information to follow up. Not sure that we are completely there yet, but more than enough information to be going on with.