Missing Merchant Seaman

[RW1]

FindMyPast has the register for Woolston School, Southampton which records
 
Samuel Topley - born 2 Jun 1895. Admitted/readmitted - 6 Feb 1905. Parent/Guardian/Address - blank. Date of last attendance - 25 Sep 1908. Reason for leaving - work.

Had hoped to find Samuel Snr's details under "Parent" which would narrow down death period.

Great.  Thanks for that - a little snippet I didn't have about Samuel Jr (he died in the explosion - see first post).  That probably is him, although birthdate is wrong.  Samuel III (as I call him) was registered in the December quarter 1894 (not to be confused with his brother, also Samuel - born and died 1892).

[RW1]

Just throwing this out there:

There is a John Topley, age 54, that died in S. Stoneham in Mar Quarter of 1905.  I am wondering if somehow there is an error with the first name, or perhaps your Samuel had a middle name of John? 
I cannot find any John Topley running around S. Stoneham in any census prior to 1905.

Topley    John    54    S.Stoneham    2c    [23]2

Thanks, could be a hospital administrator getting it wrong?  I've seen deaths before, registered by officials, where the middle name is wrong, or the first name is misspelled - but not completely different.  And no, Samuel had no middle name at all.

[seaweed]

SW,

Ship's Name - J C; official no - 23757; master - Joseph Chaffey (both Certs).

One Cert relates to this voyage -
Shipping & Mercantile Gazette, 23 July 1869
SUNDERLAND - arrived [July 21]
JC Chaffey, Portsmouth


Drew a blank on deaths at sea. Yet to check newspapers

regards
HT

Intriguing!
I have transcripts of the 1869 crew agreements for the vessel J C ( The Mercantile Navy List has her as I C) same official number 23757.
In the second half yearly Crew Agreement  01/07/1869 to 31/12/1869
Listed as an ordinary seaman  Sam TOPLEY Age 20, born Lester. Previous ship, Same Ship.

In the first half yearly Crew Agreement 01/01/1869  to 30/06/1869 we have Samuel TOPLESS listed O/S, aged 20, born Portsmouth. Previous ship LOUISA of Shoreham.
I suggest the OP looks at the original Crew Agreements for 1869 available from Portsmouth City Record Office and orders the Crew Agreements late 1868, early 1869 for LOUISA Official Number  23789 from  the Maritime History Archive.
https://www.mun.ca/mha/holdings/viewcombinedcrews.php?Official_No=23789
To see if there are any clues there as to his correct identity.

[hanes teulu]

Good spot.
FindMyPast has 2 x 1869 certificates - transcribed as Samuel Topless, born 1849 and Samuel Toples born 1846.
The original for Toples reads "Topless" and the age 20, not 23. Crews identical on both.

As you say, intriguing!

[RW1]

Thanks.  I need to work through these possible anomalies and find something that lists his correct birthplace (Portsea/Southsea) and age (born April 1850), that puts him in the merchant navy as early as 1869 - just to clarify if these records are actually him with incorrect birthplace and age, and even surname.

For the first, Sam Topley sounds right, but he would be 19 and not born in "Lester".  However, there is no Sam(uel) Topley born in Leicester between 1845 and 1855 on freebmd.org or GRO.

For the second, there's only one Samuel (James) Topless on freebmd.org, who was born c.1859, so wouldn't be at sea at 10, even in 1869?  So Topless is incorrect?  This may be Samuel Topley with an incorrect age - he was 19 - but this time the birthplace of Portsmouth is correct.

Going back to my original question - I'm going to look for Rhoda (his wife) in Southampton's Archives to see if I can find a grave.  Even if Samuel died at sea or abroad, he might be noted on her headstone?  I hope so!

BTW he's my great-great-grandfather!

Thanks for all the effort you've made to help me.  Much appreciated.

[hanes teulu]

Just to clarify.
Topless gives PoB as "Portsmouth" and DoB 1849 (age 20) on both his certs.
Topley gives PoB as "Lester" and DoB 1849 (age 20) on both his certs.

[seaweed]

Yes. The two half yearly crew agreements 1869  confirms TOPLESS born Portsmouth Age 20.
TOPLEY  born Lester. Age 20