Where would the death of a Mariner be recorded?

[forthefamily]

I have a Charles O'Neill who was listed as an officer Mercantile Marine who died between the 1881 census and 1891. I searched Ancestry and Free BMD and haven't found a record of his death. So, I have to think that he died at sea. Does anyone know if there is a different registry for these types of deaths ?

mab

[karenlee]

Hi mab

The GRO has a register for merchant seaman who died at sea.  There is also a register for the wages and personal effects of dead seamen.  If he does not show up here, then there are merchant seaman's records at Kew.

Cheers
Karenlee

[forthefamily]

Thanks Karenlee for responding. However, I have no idea when he died so how do I access those records. He is my OH's GGF and I can't find the old man anywhere. Is there a special way of requesting a record for mariners? He's not my only mariner 

mab

In Canada not near Kew 

[karenlee]

You may be able to get his service record online from the UK Archives.  Several years ago I had to request a search of the death at sea registers.  Don't know if they too are online now tho.  I will have another look around and see what comes up.  I am in Australia so I can't get to Kew either.  Shall we organise a trip one day and meet each other there??

Karenlee

[forthefamily]

Karenlee,

I'm a lost lamb with this whole research thingy..Just started this year and I know that I don't have a handle on all the stuff out there and would appreciate your help  but only when you have time.

A trip to Kew would be great  Imagine that  We could go wild quietly 

mab

[karenlee]

I don't do nuthin quietly.....

Do you know where your Charles was born as there are 9 Charles O'NEILL on the Seaman's Services Register list on the Archives site :- 2 born in Yorkshire, 1 in Essex, 1 in Lanarkshire, 3 in Antrim, 1 in Dublin and 1 in Dorset.  Of course the multiple listings could well be for the same person.  Several of these may well fall outside the dates that you have provided.

Karenlee

[Christopher]

Hi Mab,

Click for an article headed "Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen" which was originally one of a set of memoranda available only on paper in The National Archives' reading rooms. There are a few details in the article about BDMs which occurred at sea.

There's a page on Bob O'Hara's site which refers to Merchant Navy Records  which mentions "Registers of Wages and Effects of Deceased Seamen" who were serving on British registered ships may be found in BT 153 for the years 1852-1889.

Christopher

[JAP]

Hello mab,

As you say you are new to family history research, you might like a step-by-step guide to looking in the National Archives?

The UK National Archives are at the following site:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

If you go to that site and then click on 'Research, education and online exhibitions' in the red bar across the top of the page, it will bring up a drop-down menu which includes 'Research Guides'.  Click on 'Research Guides' and then look at the alphabetical list.

Scroll down first to 'Births, Marriages and Deaths at Sea', click on that, and have a look at that Guide.

Then scroll down to Merchant Seamen (there are a whole lot of guides on this topic - some might be of interest to you).

You can also do a general search in the National Archives for the name Charles O'Neill (try different spellings).  There are so many hits that you will probably want to add another keyword to cut down the hits (e.g. seaman, or merchant, or ...).

However, if you can tell us a bit more about your Charles O'NEILL - including where he is to be found in the 1881 census - RootsChatters might be able to offer further suggestions.

Good luck,

JAP

[Christopher]

Good for you JAP

I still find links, and explanations as to how to use them, extremely useful particularly if they contain a lot of information. Some of us use certain links more than others and can feel slightly lost when faced with one we don't use all that often. A new member must be more than overwhelmed when they see so many when they are just advised to do a Google search and find hundreds of links on one subject. It can be difficult to know which one is the best one unless they consult a regular user of a few of those hundreds.

Christopher