Maritime Mystery!

[Alders]

Hi all, i'm tracing the husband's family & have come to his 2x great grandfather
Michael Joseph Furey b 1883 Galway D 17/10/1914 married to Emma Mary Cowderoy
I can't trace his parents or family which is frustrating! 
But i am confused by his employment in 1909 he was a crew member on Carmania (Liverpool) 1911 he was a general labourer ship building, Nov 1911- to at least Aug 1912 he was a crew member on Franconia & then in October 1914 he listed as missing at sea on HMS Hector :-
Michael Furey,age 31, fireman and trimmer. Born Galway. 7 Meteor St Birkenhead. 17 Oct 1914 HMS Hector missing at sea.
I can't find naval or merchant seamans records for him.
What maritime service was he employed in & how did he end up on a RN vessal? Any ideas on how i can find some clues on him?

Jackie

[garstonite]

Do you have any children for him - for instance -
www.cheshirebmd.org.uk
births
furey
mothers maiden name   Cowderoy
1904 Florence May Furey - in Bebington
1905 James Charles Furey - in Bebington ....Charles was the name of Emmas father
1907 Thomas Albert Furey - in Birkenhead
1909 John Arthur Furey - in Tranmere
1913 Annie Furey - in Birkenhead  named after Emmas mum
 https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2FPN-882
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JQKH-FF8
looking at James Charles Furey 1905 - I wonder if James was the name of Michaels father ? and thus James Charles was named after both grandads ?

[aghadowey]

His marriage certificate should list name and occupation of his father. If his name was James and Michael was still in Galway in 1901 then this family might be the correct one (I can't see that Michael Furey in Galway in 1911 which is a good sign)-
www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Galway/Clifden/Tullyvoheen/1369618

Catholic Parish Registers are now online-
http://registers.nli.ie/#home_map

[ScouseBoy]

Carmania and Franconia were both Cunard boats.

[LisaRobinson87]

There is a 1901 census in Ireland for a Michael Furey born about 1884 age 17 in Saintclerans, Kilconieran, Galway, Ireland. The parents are called Michael and Mary and there are ten children.

[seaweed]

No mystery. HECTOR official number 102191 was still classed as a Merchant vessel in late 1914.
No central personal records of Merchant Seamen were kept between 1857 and 1913. In the main, MN personal records between 1914 and 1918 have been destroyed. Therefore no central personal MN records would have been kept relating to him.
Your man would have been a Merchant Seaman at the time of his demise so no RN records will have existed for him either.

Your only recourse is to look at the late 1914 Logbooks and Crew Agreements of HECTOR. Available from
 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2480342

Hopefully the  Logbook should give details of his demise  and the Crew Agreement should tell you his previous ship. By back tracking Crew Agreements of his previous vessels, with a slice of luck, it may be possible to find all the ships he sailed on together with some personal information about him.
Your best course of action, is to visit Kew yourself to research these documents.
 

[Alders]

Do you have any children for him - for instance -
www.cheshirebmd.org.uk
births
furey
mothers maiden name   Cowderoy
1904 Florence May Furey - in Bebington
1905 James Charles Furey - in Bebington ....Charles was the name of Emmas father
1907 Thomas Albert Furey - in Birkenhead
1909 John Arthur Furey - in Tranmere
1913 Annie Furey - in Birkenhead  named after Emmas mum
 https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2FPN-882
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JQKH-FF8
looking at James Charles Furey 1905 - I wonder if James was the name of Michaels father ? and thus James Charles was named after both grandads ?

Thank you, these are their children.

[Alders]

No mystery. HECTOR official number 102191 was still classed as a Merchant vessel in late 1914.
No central personal records of Merchant Seamen were kept between 1857 and 1913. In the main, MN personal records between 1914 and 1918 have been destroyed. Therefore no central personal MN records would have been kept relating to him.
Your man would have been a Merchant Seaman at the time of his demise so no RN records will have existed for him either.

Your only recourse is to look at the late 1914 Logbooks and Crew Agreements of HECTOR. Available from
 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2480342

Hopefully the  Logbook should give details of his demise  and the Crew Agreement should tell you his previous ship. By back tracking Crew Agreements of his previous vessels, with a slice of luck, it may be possible to find all the ships he sailed on together with some personal information about him.
Your best course of action, is to visit Kew yourself to research these documents.

Thank you, that will have to be a one day visit!
So when he worked on the cunard chips he wouldn't of been MN, but then signed up to the MN when he was on the Hector??  Just out of interest, do you know what provisions would be in place for his family after going missing at sea?

[seaweed]

You wrote.
"So when he worked on the Cunard chips he wouldn't of been MN, but then signed up to the MN when he was on the Hector??  Just out of interest, do you know what provisions would be in place for his family after going missing at sea?"


As far as I can ascertain, he was a Merchant Seaman for all of his seagoing career including the Cunard vessels he sailed on.   Where did  you get the information that he served on HMS HECTOR ? There are no records for him on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.

Merchant vessel HECTOR official number 102191,  was a entirely different ship to HMS HECTOR!
I note that his entry in the returns of Deaths at Sea,  November 1914, reported to the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894.

Says he "disappeared at sea"

Whatever the reason of his demise, I leave it  to your imagination but suicide, murder, where not an entirely unknown phenomena.
Given his rank, I think it doubtful, that apart from a "whip round" by his shipmates for his widow, That any formal provision for his family by the shipowners.