Shipping Companies and crewlists-Possibility of tracing an ancestor 1880-1920??

[pirhana]

My great-grandfather was a seaman. On his children's birth certificates he is described as a purser or purser's clerk. On the 1911 census and his daughter's marriage certificate he is described as a ship's storekeeper. He and his wife and family lived all of their lives in Liverpool. Having said that I have absolutely no idea which shipping companies he worked for nor do I know the names of any ships on which he sailed.. Some Liverpool street directories just describe him as a mariner. Is there any possibility of finding which company( ies ) he worked for ?

[groom]

Find My Past has Merchant Navy and Maritime records and there are probably records on other sites. If you put his name and date of birth on here, someone may be able to find him for you.

[seaweed]

Central personal records of Merchant seamen were not kept between 1857 and 1913. Personal records for the period of the First World War have been destroyed. So there is nothing between these dates on FindMyPast. Except some  individual crew agreement details.
If he has sea service after 1918, it may be possible to find his previous career history via crew agreements and logbooks but it can be a long and sometimes costly procedure.
As suggested his  full name, date and place of birth would be the way forward.

[pirhana]

To groom and seaweed, thanks for your info and advice. I'll put a post up with his details.
Thanks,
Pirhana