unknown seaman's photo

[peacekeeper]

I would be very grateful if someone could tell me exactly what type of document this photo is from. I presume it is from some kind of seaman's registration card.
I found this photo among my Grandmother's papers and a cousin has found it among her late father's papers also but neither of us know who he is.
My main question is would the name A Smith written across the front be his name or is it the signature of someone authenticating the photo.
All our ancestors were either Scottish fishermen or merchant seaman.
Both my cousin and I live in Australia so it has obviously been sent to our parents or Grandparents by the same family member in Scotland some years back. Any advice at all would be welcome.

[still_looking]

Hello,

Obviously I can't judge when the photograph was taken but I do know from research I carried out for my own family that the archives in Southampton have (or had) the merchant seamen registration cards.

The card series is limited in terms of the time it covers.

I don't recall any of the cards that I've seen copies of having names written across the front but I'll check when I have access to them again this evening.

Your biggest issue may be in identifying your A. Smith from many others. Here's hoping that there aren't too many and they can use your photo to track him down. If they can (and it is a very big if) then if you also had the registration cards for family members you could cross check the ships mentioned to see if there is a connection that way.

S_L