RESOURCES
ill, died, or decided to join the fishing industry. It can reveal unexpected details. For example, 16-year-old Oswald Beale was an apprentice on the Shannon, which went missing in 1885 and was never heard of again.
Unfortunately, most of the indentures (the apprentice agreements) were not retained, although a small sample is available at TNA. These are indexed by date in series BT151 (BT152 for fishing vessels). The indenture includes the apprentice’s place of abode, details of payments, and the apprentice’s signature. It may occasionally name parents.
Various organisations prepared trainee seafarers for a life afloat. In 1756, Jonas Hanway established the
Marine Society in London, which trained impoverished young men to go to sea. A training ship was established in the Thames, which became known as HMS Warspite.
The training-ship model was popular in Victorian Britain, and many similar organisations grew up offering education prior to employment at sea, or as a precursor to a formal apprenticeship. Many acquired the prefix ‘TS’, for ‘Training Ship’. Accordingly, TS Cumberland and TS Empress on the Clyde were created to take impoverished young men off the streets, educate them, and encourage a seagoing career. Others, such as HMS Conway in Liverpool, became fee-paying organisations that prepared teenagers for a career as a Merchant Navy officer.
Some facilities were effectively reformatory schools, designed to instil discipline in boys as young as 10 years old who had broken the law or become a nuisance, before shipping them off to sea.
Surviving training or admission records for these establishments will be in local archives. For example, the records of the Marine Society cover mainly London and are kept at the National Maritime Museum’s library at Greenwich, while those related to HMS Conway are available at the Merseyside Maritime Museum.
The various national registrations of merchant seamen that survive from 1835 to 1857, and from 1918 to 1941, can also identify apprentices. These are all on Findmypast ( findmypast.co.uk).
Crew lists are another useful source, from 1835 onwards. These were accounts of every individual on board a merchant ship. However, finding them is complicated so consult TNA’s research guides at bit.ly/tnacrew-lists-to-1860 and bit.ly/ tna-crew-lists-from-1861.
A crew list shows an apprentice’s birth year, birthplace, nationality, port of embarkation and the date, and the name of the
Take your research further
BOOK
Tracing Your Merchant Navy Ancestors
Simon Wills
Pen & Sword, 2012 Learn how to explore the lives of forebears in the Merchant Navy at every stage of their careers.
MUSEUMS
MERSEYSIDE MARITIME MUSEUM
a
Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool L3 4AQ
t 0151 478 4499
w bit.ly/mersey-maritime Find out about Merchant Navy seafaring and the port of Liverpool. The museum also has an associated archive.
NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM
a
Greenwich, London SE10 9NF
t 020 8312 6608
w rmg.co.uk
Uncover maritime history in art, maps, artefacts and displays, and step aboard the Cutty Sark. NMM has extensive archives too. previous ship served on. Be aware that apprentices are often identified in their own separate section. Most crew lists are only on paper, but there are free online collections for 1915 at 1915crewlists.rmg.co.uk and for 1881 at mun.ca/mha/1881/ crews1881.php. You can also find small collections on some subscription sites.
DR SIMON WILLS is a maritime genealogist. His books include Tracing Your Seafaring Ancestors (Pen & Sword, 2016)