Can you tell me what this mariner’s ticket stamp says?
QThis is my great great great grandfather’s mariner’s register ticket, dating from around 1845. The original was lost in the post, so all I have are these copies. Is it possible to find records for the personnel who signed the docket? I am at a loss to decipher the rubber stamp in the bottom right-hand corner.
Anthony Rush
AIt’s a shame when a family document is lost, but thankfully you made a copy. These tickets were taken to sea to secure employment, and were folded to fit into a small container held on the belt.
The information on mariners’ tickets (BT113 at The National Archives, or TNA) is usually included in the merchant seamen records on findmypast. co.uk, so you can double-check any factual details there. The missing header text is: “Issued pursuant to the Act of 7th & 8th Victoria, Cap. 112.” The stamp is an oval with “General Register & Record Office of Seamen” surrounding an anchor. There’s an example issued in the same year on the Liverpool Museums website at bit.ly/DischargeCert.
James had a long career. Look on the Maritime History Archive 1881 database for James ( mun.ca/mha/1881/ crews1881.php) and you’ll see him listed as an able seaman, aged 59, on the Douro of Sunderland. His previous ship was Minerva of the same port (official number 19615). You can order the 1880 crew list for Minerva from mun.ca/mha/holdings/ searchcombinedcrews.php and that will tell you his previous ship. With luck, you can keep repeating this process and trace his career, but it can prove expensive. You’ll need TNA’s guide to finding other crew lists ( bit.ly/CrewLists). You can also discover more about each ship via Lloyd’s Register of Ships
( bit.ly/RegisterShips).