interpretation of information on seaman's ticket

[lizb]

I have been very lucky in finding the seaman's ticket issued to one of my ancestors in the BT113 and 114 series at the National Archives. The ticket was issued in 1846 - soon after the tickets were introduced - and has entries until 1848 by which time their use was being abandoned.
The ticket provides some interesting information about the ticket holder - height. hair colour, eyes, whether can write etc - and also coded information related to voyages which is difficult to interpret. I would love to know where my ancestor travelled - especially on the foreign trips.
I have made a start at interpretting this information using The National Archives Domestic Records Inforamtion leaflets 89, 112 and 114 but have not got very far. I am writing this in the hope that maybe it will be read by someone who is more skilled than me or who has looked at these tickets before and can advise.
I attach a copy of the portion of the ticket showing the voyage details. The ticket was issued at Newport on 14 Nov 1846 and my ancestor was an apprentice. Hence the 'A' at the top of the coloumn for apprentice. and the '72.19.11' at the bottom of the 1846 column means that crew lists were filed in Newport on 19 Nov 1846. Similarly '90.5.4' means crew lists were filed at Southampton on 5 April 1847. Can anyone help me any further?
MY ancestor came from Bristol so I would expect some reference to the port of Bristol.
I would  be grateful for any advice or suggestions

[sjc204]

I'm puzzling with these too.  Looking at 1847 in your pic, I think it says out 4137.64.1- 76.8.5  and home 4137/64.1 -  64. 28.7

My guess is ship 4137 of 64 London - filed 76 Padstow 8th May and
same ship 4137 of 64 London - to London 28th Aug.  I don't know what the  .1 means.

(This is the same ship as the previous entries)

Then in 1848 it's hard to read but it might be 1794,92,71 - 92.25.5 and home 9576981 and15,10,?

My guess is he starts on ship 1794 of Sunderland, returns filed at 92 Sunderland on 25 May.  But I am confused by the Home column, which is hard to read.  It looks like it is a different ship so it could be registered and filing anywhere.

If there is an expert out there who can check this I would be very interested!  I have to learn about this to make sense of some of my own ancestors.

[Churchie]

Hi, was just about to post with the same question - having just found two tickets for my ggg uncle.

The later one - 1856 names both ports (London to Melbourne)  but I am equally curious to know how to read the coded information in the earlier one.
His earlier ticket for out in 1845 reads S 3006,64,11,  64,1,6 and home in 1846 reads S 3006,64,11  64,18,5

Hope someone can shed some light on it!

Caroline.

[Roobarb]

I'm stuck with this too. I was thrilled to bits to find the record of the 3 x gt grandfather who has been my brick wall since the beginning of my family history research.       However, I too am really struggling to make sense of what the codes mean, I've traced some to domestic ports but don't know how they relate to ultimate destinations.

If nothing else my post will bump this up the board and perhaps Seaweed or one of the other clever Rootschatters will spot it and be able to help. 

[jcmac]

Hello lizb,
I am sure Seaweed will clarify the various entries.
Whilst waiting to see the outcome I had a look at the "Welsh Mariners Index" site and see some entries relating to Mermaid ON 4137 and Ann & Susan ON 1794.
There are a number of entries relating to Jones, Roberts and Davies for various dates - might be of interest or give other leads ?
jcmac.

[jcmac]

Hello lizb again,
Hold that result !!!
Just realised the dates were in the 1840's before ON system started. Best wait for an expert !?
jcmac.

[lizb]

I am really pleased that this query has worked its way up to the top of the pile again. My ticket is that of my great x 2 grandfather and I Am still trying to sort out what he was doing  for the period after 1846. In particular he is missing from the 1851 census. prior to going to sea he had been in trouble with the law which may have been why he travelled from Bristol to Newport before getting his ticket. In the mid 1850s he married and settled back in Bristol working in the docks.

Lizb

[Roobarb]

While we're waiting ....... 

Lizb, you said "the '72.19.11' at the bottom of the 1846 column means that crew lists were filed in Newport on 19 Nov 1846. Similarly '90.5.4' means crew lists were filed at Southampton on 5 April 1847."

I haven't found anywhere that explains this to me, could you please point me to where I can suss it out?

[lizb]

Information on codes used for ports is in one of guidance notes issued by National Archives - see my first post. It may be possible to download from their website. I will look them out tomorrow. Lizb