UK Royal Navy Service Record Early 1800s - Need Help Deciphering

[LaurelOsprey]

I'm researching someone who was a member of the Royal Naval Service in the first one-third of the 1800s. I located, paid for, and downloaded some records from The National Archives; however, I'm having some trouble deciphering what some of the entries mean. There are also remarks in the file, perhaps left by a commanding officer, that I can read (but not always); however the associated meanings are unclear to me.

Wondering if there is anyone who would be willing to help me understand the records if I sent them to them (one-half page really, with a second page with a few remarks) as Googling for answers hasn't gotten me very far.

Hope it's not inappropriate for me to ask this, but was hoping since I located, paid for, downloaded and didn't post the records in the general forum it might be OK.  If not, let me know.

Thanks!

Laurel (in the US)

[goldie61]

You best bet would be to post on the Handwriting Deciphering board.
You can post bits at a time.
Why not find a bit you'd really like to know what it says, crop that from the original, and post it.
That way you get the input from more than one person - the more that look at it the better!
Good luck.

[LaurelOsprey]

Thanks, Goldie. I can do that. I was just looking at the "Remarks" page, which has nine entries (less than 25 words total) on various lines that I'm guessing line up with entries on the previous page that list rank, date, where serving and time period. The page numbering skips about 20 pages, and I think there are more in-depth records available, just not digitized and on-line.

One word on the "Remarks" page is "supernumerary" which I've always taken in a medical context.  I suspect after getting out my jumbo dictionary, that in a historical/archaic context it might mean, "One more staff member than we require right now so we're moving them to a different unit." 

Thanks, again.

Laurel