passenger or naval ship?

[barbarai]

Hi
I have just found an ancestor, Thomas Austin, in the 1851 devon census and he says he was born on board HMS Edgar (could be Elgar) in the medditeranean, i have googled the ships name but cannot find out if this was a passenger or Naval ship. Can someone please advise me on how to find this out. I think his father may have been in the Navy and would love to find out about his career.
Thank you
Barbarai

[Little Nell]

Hi Barbarai,

From the transcript information, he was born in Malta?

HMS Edgar indicates that it was a navy vessel.  Passenger ships were/are not given the designation H(is) M(ajesty's) S(hip).

The third HMS Edgar was built in Woolwich in 1779 and returned to Chatham in 1811, ending life as a hulk before being broken up in 1835 under the new name of Retribution.  You can see a brief history of the ship here:
http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/E.HTM

It doesn't say anything about the ship being in Malta, but it is only a very brief history.

Nell

[barbarai]

Hi Nell
Thanks for the information, I'm not sure if he was born in Malta all it says on the census transcript is Med, all i know for sure is that the Austin family came from Devon.
Barbarai