Semmens in Royal Navy(?) and Portsmouth

[pjaj]

I'm trying to track down what appears to be a cousin marriage.

William Samuel Semmens b 3/1/1862 in Southwark married Mary Jane Semmens b 4/11/1865 in Goldhanger Essex in June quarter of 1893. By 1896 they were living in Portsmouth where they had at least 2 children, Maud E (b abt 1896) and Gladys M (b abt 1898). Mary Jane was my G Grandmother's sister.

William Samuel is believed to be previously a sailor, probably in the Navy (some of the Semmens family in Essex were fishermen / boatmen) but by the time they were living in Portsmouth he probably worked in the Naval dockyard and may have been a foreman.

His father was William Semmens b abt 1828 in Little Totham, Essex. His mother was Maria b abt 1830, also in Little Totham. William and Maria had 2 other childrren, Ann b 1859 and James b 1854.

Mary Jane's parents were John Semmens b 1839 in Goldhanger and Rebecca Kingsbury Gooch b 1845 in Goldhanger. John's parents were James Semmens b abt 1803 in Tollesbury and Mary Ann b abt 1805 in Little Totham. They had 7 other children, none of whom were William the elder.

I would like to establish that this was a cousin marriage, and hence the relationship between William the elder and Mary Jane's ancestors. Any other clarifications, dates etc. would be appreciated.

Does anyone know if there are any records of civilian workers at the dockyard around 1890 - 1910?

I have just discovered some more old notes about William:

Joined Royal Navy aged 13 at Portsmouth.
Ch Petty Officer
On HMS Andromeda at the relief of Port Arthur
Also HMS Royal Oak
Captain(?) of mine sweeper during WW1

Does this help track him down?

[Little Nell]

Hi there,

All records of workers in the Royal Dockyard at Portsea are held at the National Archives.  You may find your relative in a number of reocrds, but pensions records would probably be the best place to start.  This link is for a research guide published by the National Archives and may help you.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=50

Semmens seems to be a very common name in Cornwall, so an Surrey Semmens is out of the ordinary.  Nothing shows up on the naval records on the National Archives site for a William Samuel Semmens, so perhaps the thought that he was previously a sailor might be a red herring.  Curious - I can't find William on the 1881 census.  I would think this would give a good idea of his profession at that point.  Where was he?

Nell

[pjaj]

Thanks for the reference.

This all stems from a reply by "AMBLY" to my post in the Essex forum on this site

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,230312.0.html (3rd reply)

As you say, the Semmens family is mostly found in Cornwall, but there are at least two generations prior to this couple living in the Goldhanger area of Essex. It would appear that many of them migrated to Southwark / Deptford / Rotherhithe area of SE London (Surrey as it was then) around 1860 - 70.

There is a suggestion that William may have been on board ship at the time of the 1881 census.

As you can see, the Essex post generated quite a lot of new information for me together with 2 new 2nd/3rd cousins. I am waiting for information from them which I will concatenate. If, after reading the Essex post, you are interested in the results, let me know.

Peter