Help with Merchant Navy Apprentice Indenture record

[LemonMallie]

I recently found a record on Anc in the UK, Apprentices Indentured in Merchant Navy, 1824-1910 (from the National Archives BT 150/1-53) and was hoping for some advice.

I've attached a snippet and my fellow is Edward Peter Mallandain. The Indenture Expires value is crossed out in all of the 20 odd records (except one where it is noted the indenture was cancelled). Can I assume this means he completed the apprenticeship? I haven't been able to find him in any other records on Anc or FindMyPast after this date - any suggestions on how to find more on his career in the Merchant Navy? Is it possible to search by ship name for more information?

Any idea what the initial in the Remarks column mean? Looks like M.L or M.S.

I assumed Edward died due to the lack of records so I was happy to find this but also confused as I know nothing about the Merchant Navy.

Many thanks,
Lynwen

[Westoe]

Hello Lynwen,

The WARWICK of Shields has an entry in Richard Keys' "Dictionary of Tyne Sailing Ships".

Her Official Number was 3461. She was a "Home Trade" vessel i.e. a coastal trader, not foreign-going. The Maritime History Archive at Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada holds a number of crew agreements for her including 1864 so your lad should be listed.

Go to this link and plug in that Official Number:
https://www.mun.ca/mha/holdings/searchcombinedcrews.php

His surname is one that could easily be mistranscribed. Try searching Ancestry's merchant seamen records with variant spellings.

Cheers,
Westoe

[seaweed]

The reason you cannot find any records for him was because there was no official registration  of merchant seaman between 1857 and 1913. The Merchant Navy began to register its seamen again in 1913, in the central indexed register, or Fourth Register of Seamen. However, the entries for 1913 to 1917 have not survived.
So the only way to find out which vessels he served on is from logbooks and crew agreements. Westoe has given you a link to the Warwick's C/A's but I assume you are searching for details post Apprenticeship.
As far as I am aware, There are a few C/A's on FindMyPast. The only comprehensive collection I know which may fit in with your man's sea service, is for the year 1881 which coincided with the census of that year. http://www.mun.ca/mha/1881/crews1881.php

There is also on line CA's for the year 1915 available from NMM Greenwich. http://1915crewlists.rmg.co.uk/

Tyne and Wear Archives may have some local records.

[LemonMallie]

Thank you so much for your posts, Westoe & Seaweed, the info you shared is very helpful! I will try and find him in the available crew lists.

If a merchant seaman died on duty, would his death have to be registered in the UK? He doesn't appear in any UK marriage or census records and I haven't found him in the Overseas marriages or deaths register either. So I wonder if the lack of records might point to him jumping ship in a foreign port - I am assuming if a seaman did this, it would be recorded in the log book?

Lynwen

[Westoe]

If he deserted from a vessel on which he was a crew member, that will be noted against his name on that crew list IF it survives.

Do you have access to historical newspapers? They are a major source for snippetts of information.

Cheers,
Westoe

[LemonMallie]

Thanks Westoe.  I have a sub to FindMyPast and I've had luck with their newspaper archive in the past, even found another Master Mariner in the family who appeared at a court of inquiry after his ship ran aground en route to Aden.

This Edward is a complete mystery though but hey, at least now I know he is out there somewhere.

[Westoe]

The usual format in the shipping news columns is "Vessel Name COMMA Master's Surname"
so I would start searching for "WARWICK, Robson" to get details of, at least, your Edward's first voyage in 1864.

By the way, that 1864 crew list I pointed you to at MHA covers 6 months for home trade vessels, in other words multiple voyages.

Cheers,
Westoe

[Br1ckWallAgain(]

Hiya,

Did you ever get to the bottom of what M.L and M.S mean?  Have just found exactly the same thing and can't find any info around it.

Thanks