RootsChat.Com
Research in Other Countries => Other Countries => Topic started by: pentire on Tuesday 05 September 17 18:26 BST (UK)
-
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.
-
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?
-
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?
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
-
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 (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 (http://www.crewlist.org.uk/masters/masters.php)
-
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!)
-
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.
-
Hello again, Pentire,
Taking a closer look with fresher eyes, (it was the wee smalls here in Canada when I replied last night), I'm thinking that it was a London-registered vessel he was on at the time of his death, "64" being the Port Number for London.
Unfortunately for your research, your man's death happened just a little over a year before the Board of Trade (abbreviated as either BoT or BT) stopped using that arcane code of Port Numbers and Vessel Rotation Numbers and started writing in the name of the vessel in plain English as you will notice looking at the other masters on that page.
Did your man have siblings who were also mariners? I notice
- Arthur DAY b. Appledore 1810, certificate #38,035
- Robert DAY b. Appledore 1812, certificate #38,357
- William DAY b. Appledore 1822, Register Ticket #79951, Mate Certificates #58311 and #68,027
Cheers,
Westoe
-
Hello Westoe - in this day and age, I don't know why I continue to be surprised that you should be in Canada helping me with enquiries based in Devon! The news is a little disappointing, but not insurmountable.
None of those names are siblings as far as I am aware. The Days were prolific in Appledore, and William J's father, son and grandson were all master mariners. One of the other Robert's was a customs officer, which rather put him on the other side of the fence.
Thinking of you being in Canada, my Devon research led me to one of the highlights of my family history career when I had contact with a long lost cousin several times removed who contacted me from Mississauga in Ontario!
-
More for Pentire,
Do have a look here. Scroll down this alphabetically-arranged list of masters with surnames starting "D". If any of them are yours, there's something for your "to do" list if ever you have a chance to visit London Metropolitan Archives, which is where these registers are now kept.
http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/capsD.pdf (http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/capsD.pdf)
Cheers,
Westoe
-
Hello Pentire,
I had a look when I was at the public library on the W/E. Yes!, your man's Record of Service is on Ancestry with his certificate. You'll be very happy with all the detail in it.
Cheers,
Westoe
-
Hello Westoe - thanks for your continued help and support. I have managed to print off the certificate. Can you tell me the steps that I need to take to unearth his record of service. I am obviously skirting around it, but not quite finding it.
Thanks.
-
From memory the list of ships he'd served on was on the previous page to the certificate.
-
Thanks Shaun J, I've found that. Now I wish that the handwriting was a bit clearer!
-
What words are you having trouble with, Pentire? Just list them by column number and position from the top and I will take another look next time I'm at the library.
BUT ... a look at this link should help you interpret the vessel names. It appears that your man frequently visited Prince Edward Island, Canada ... and ... I suggest that you read this entire page carefully, cross-referencing the dates to the dates on his record of service. (Can't say more because I don't want to spoil your "Aha!!" moment.)
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/Bideford/PEI-Bideford (http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/Bideford/PEI-Bideford)
Cheers,
Westoe.
-
Hi Westoe - many thanks once again - there is so much to search through. In particular I was noticing the sailing in 1830 where a Captain Day was mentioned. As William J would only have been 18, it is unlikely to be him, and there is an outside chance that it may have been his father Thomas (born 1789) who was also a master mariner.
-
Yes, possibly the father.
However GLENBURNIE in October 1841 is definitely your man, I believe.
Another place to look:
One of the pay services, and off the top of my head, I can't remember which, has the database "Ships and Seafarers of Atlantic Canada" from Memorial University, Newfoundland. I bought the CD years ago but now it won't open on Windows 10 so I can't check for you.
Cheers,
Westoe
-
And, ... have you visited here yet? There should be lots of meat for you there on both father and son.
EDIT: Apologies. I cut off the name of the repository. It is North Devon Record Office, Barnstaple.
Cheers,
Westoe
-
For Pentire:
Vessel names, from the top, are -
- MARTHA of Bideford
- APOLLO of Bideford
- ELIZA JANE of Bideford
- IUSTAN ???? of Bideford
- AEOLUS ??? of Bideford
- MARINA of Bideford
- COLLINA of Bideford
- ISABELLA of Bideford
- GLENBURNIE of Bideford
- WELLINGTON of Bideford
- CHORISTER of Bideford
- ROSE of Prince Edward Island
- ISLAND ??? QUEEN of Bristol
- BRITISH LADY of Prince Edward Island
Capacity:
- Apprentice 6 years
- Seaman
- Mate
- Master
Trades are Foreign and Coasting.
Your next stop should be the historical newspapers. The usual format in the shipping columns is vessel name, comma, master's surname. Use them all enclosed in quotation marks.
Here is one example for "BRITISH LADY, Day"
Cheers,
Westoe
-
Hi Westoe - yes, after a while we were getting the hang of the hand writing ( it could have been William J's own presumably). Also the image is not the clearest.
Using the information that both you and Shaun J have provided, I am using Ancestry to trace the records of William J's son (also William) born 1842. Also his son Bertram Samuel (born 1879) may appear, as may in turn his son William (born 1921).