Samuel Shelton Royal Navy 07 Dec 1872-17 Jan 1882

[kiwicatz]

I got my great grandfather's naval history (download from Archives)
His offical no was 66128 and he was born 09 Jan 1855 in Shoreditch, London.

Service as follows:
Immortal(can't read end bit)                    07 Jan 1872-3 May 1873
                                                             01 Jun 1873-12 Feb 1874
Revenge                                                13 Feb 1873-05 Mar 1874
Naval Barracks                                       06 Mar 1874-25 Mar 1874
Favorite                                                 26 Mar 1874
                                                              01 Sep 1875-15 Sep 1875
Pembroke                                              16 Sep 1875-01 Aug 1876
Wolverine                                              02 Aug 1876-17 Jan 1882
He paid for discharge UKP12.00 in Sydney, Australia

Would he have been in England all this time or overseas? he's an Ordinary Rating till 26 Mar 1874, then on 01 Sept 1875 he becomes a Painter 2nd Class.

How can find out more about where he was during his time in the Navy?
Also, Good Conduct Badges - were they actual badges and what did they look like?
Regards
Jan

[km1971]

Hi Jan

If you put HMS in front of each ‘ship’ name in a search engine you should find a picture of most of them or tell you if it was a shore base. This link will tell you when the ship was launched, and maybe more – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ship_names_of_the_Royal_Navy_(D%E2%80%93F)

Once you have the launch date is it normal to record the date in brackets after the name, to reduce confusion. Example - HMS Euryalus (1803), HMS Euryalus (1853), HMS Euryalus (1939) etc

The one page summary is usually all you can find on an individual. He would not have received a pension as he purchased his discharge. But you should read this about crew lists etc - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/royal-navy-rating.htm

GC ‘badges’ were actually small stripes/chevrons. Each one gave the man 1d a day extra pay.

Ken

[kiwicatz]

Thank you for that information Ken

I did as you suggested and looked up all the ships with HMS in front. It appears that he served on ships that were for coastal defence, except for HMS Wolverine which he joined after being station at HMS Pembroke from 16 Sept 1875 to 01 Aug 1876 (I missed this bit out originally). I guess that whilst at HMS Pembroke (at Chatham, Kent?) he would have worked at maintenance on the base (he was a Painter). But how would he have got from there to Australia to join HMS Wolverine? (it had been attached to the the Australian Station from 7 Sept 1875) Did sailors volunteer to go to Australia, or was it just part of their service. It just seems a big jump from Coastal service in UK to Australia. What would HMS Wolverine have done in Australia? I assume coastal patrol work, perhaps?
Thanks for your time, Ken.
Regards
Jan

[km1971]

Hi Jan

I am not an expert in RN matters but as there is no gap in service from Pembroke to Wolverine it would suggest that Wolverine was in Chatham in 1876. HMS Pembroke then was a ship. In fact a number of ships changed their name to Pembroke when they took over the role of 'shore' base. The problem is that there are discrepancies with dates on Wikipedia, and I cannot find anything of use on the National Archives catalogue.

The Australian station covered a large part of the Pacific, so it would have involved more than coastal patrol work.

Ken

[seaweed]

 except for HMS Wolverine which he joined after being station at HMS Pembroke from 16 Sept 1875 to 01 Aug 1876 (I missed this bit out originally). I guess that whilst at HMS Pembroke (at Chatham, Kent?) he would have worked at maintenance on the base (he was a Painter). But how would he have got from there to Australia to join HMS Wolverine? (it had been attached to the the Australian Station from 7 Sept 1875)

A search of several newspaper reports gives the following

May 27th 1876 HMS WOLVERINE was at Sheerness Yard  fitting out for Senior officers ship for the Australia Station

July 27th 1876 Commander Walter B Bridges in command WOLVERINE when in commission.

August 21st 1876 Sailed from Devonport.

December 18th 1876 sailed from Cape of Good Hope

January 22nd 1877 case of Small Pox reported in Sydney

I suggest your man sailed on her on the 18th August 1876. To prove this I suggest you try and get hold of the ships ledger from the British Archive.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=3500477&CATLN=6&Highlight=%2CWOLVERINE&accessmethod=0

Ships' ledgers were instituted by regulations established by Admiralty circular letter No. 53 of 21 September 1872. The ledger was to record the full pay and allowance of every officer, man and boy on board, and all necessary particulars as to victualling.

[kiwicatz]

Thanks for that Seaweed
I will try to bribe one of my daughters to go to Kew for me - they live in London, whilst I'm in Australia.
Regards
Jan