Ship's carpenter on 1851 census

[Clare Fowler]

Hi all,

I have been trying to trace one of my husband's ancestors on the 1851 census to no avail.  I have found his wife and children, but no sign of him.  I know his occupation was a "ship carpenter" - is it a reasonable assumption that he was at sea rather than working on ships when they were in dock?

Cheers,
Clare

[runner]

Hi Clare

I would say it was a reasonable assumption. Particularly if he was on sailing ships.
Block and tackle for raising sails, moving cargo used large wooden sheaves which sometimes split and needed repaired or replaced; rails were wooden ; hatches were broken in storms; all sorts of repair /replacement work.
Even early steel hulled steam ships had a lot of woodwork to repair or renew and the only damage that would keep them in dock was hull damage or engine room repairs.

Russell

[Clare Fowler]

Hi Russell,

Thanks for that.  At least I have found the family, so I am not at a complete loss.  I wonder how feasible it is to find out what shipping company he worked for

Cheers,
Clare

[runner]

Hi Clare

I just checked and the 1851 census had 'shipping' on it so if they were, by pure fluke, in port and enumerated you would have the name of the ship. You would then be able to check its Registry and maybe get back to company records that way.

I predict some lengthy trawling of records before this one is resolved

Good luck

Russell

[Clare Fowler]

Thanks for the help Russell,

I think you are right about the 'trawling' - no pun intended!! 

Cheers,
Clare