England Sailors Records (National Institute)

Records Useful for all Sailors
Ship’s Logs Your ancestor’s part in history can really come alive through reading the ships’ log books for when he served. They were kept by captains, masters and lieutenants and survive from around 1688, but not for all dates for all ships, naturally. The ship’s log gives an account of where it sailed, wind and weather, and daily life on board. The muster for the Bellerophon and its part in transporting Napoleon to exile is described before in the course. The ship’s log for the summer of 1815 for HMS Bellerophon is an historic document. The ship was returning English prisoners to Dartmouth, Devon after the final defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815. Charts 66 and 67 show portions of the ship’s log whilst at sea in July and August 1815.

CHART: Extract from HMS Bellerophon Ship’s Log 15 July 1815

CHART: Extract from HMS Bellerophon Ship’s Log 7 August 1815

Navy Pensioners and Sailors’ Widows and Orphans
Officers received half-pay entitlement and pensions were provided for only a fixed number of warrant officers (from 1672), lieutenants (from 1737) and admirals (from 1747). Widows of officers who died in action received pensions from 1673. Pensions for widows of naval officers 1800-1818 (ADM 30) are on. Widows of all officers could receive pensions from 1836 (see The National Archives (TNA) leaflet M60), but pensions for ratings weren’t introduced until 1853 for those having 20 years’ service. Unfortunately very few of these records survive; refer to TNA leaflets M61 and M62.

Before 1853 some pensions were available to those who were wounded, gave outstanding service in battle, or received a medal. It was recognized very early on that sailing was a particularly hazardous occupation and various schemes and charities were instituted to provide for maimed and destitute sailors, as well as for their children, widows and orphans. Only a small minority of those who were in need actually received aid, but the records are wonderfully detailed. The most easy to find include:

Chatham Chest
A huge, ancient oak chest with an opening at the top sits in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich and from 1590 it stored the Chatham Chest charity payments. Sixpence was deducted from every Royal Navy seaman’s pay and the accumulation provided funds for some of the most deserving cases. Warrant officers’ families seem to have benefitted most before 1834, but those of ratings received more help after this date. The records include:


 * Account books 1653-1657.
 * Registers of payments to pensioners 1675-1799 with annual alphabetical lists.
 * Pension Indexes 1744-1797 give the names of the ships that the seamen served on.

It is possible that the phrase on the chat may be derived from this type of handout, just as the phrase on the dole originated when paupers stood in line to have their relief money doled out by local monks or charity officials (Burns).

Trinity House Petitions
The ancient Corporation of Trinity House had three functions:


 * It was responsible for matters relating to safety at sea, for example provision of lighthouses, lightships, buoys and beacons around Great Britain and Ireland and off Gibraltar.


 * Licensing of pilots for the Thames and later 40 outport districts around the country. 


 * The organization of charity for mariners and their dependents throughout the UK. They ran almshouses at Mile End and Deptford in east London, and gave relief to out-pensioners, typically poor disabled seamen and their widows and orphans.

Its Charter of Incorporation in 1514 granted it authority for distributing charitable funds from many benefactors including light dues levied on ships using ports.

By 1815 they supported 144 mariners (or their dependants) in their almshouses and over 7,000 out-pensioners. The Guildhall Library has records of payments to almspeople and out-pensioners from 1729 giving names, ages and reason for assistance (Herber), and they produce helpful leaflets. Almshouse applications and supporting documents from 1780-1880 can be found on, and. Trinity House minutes and many lists of people are -you’re almost sure to find someone here!

Trinity House took great care to see that only those truly destitute and genuine were assisted, and required the applicant to answer a Petition, consisting of a long list of questions as to their circumstances and eligibility. Owing to fires at Trinity House in London in 1666, 1714 and 1940 much has been lost, but the complete group of Petitions from 1787 to 1854 survive at the Guildhall Library, and the Society of Genealogists in London have produced an index (Camp 1987), which is not on film yet. A Request for Photocopies would need to include the page with the name from the general index as well as a copy of the entry page; the 2nd series begins on page 223. The petitions are available on film as follows:

1st Series of 102 vols.

2nd Series of 11 vols.

The index gives the following information about my 4th great grandparents:

The Petition itself consists of three pages and a cover/address sheet and is transcribed below.

CHART: Trinity House Petition for Ann Topping 1842

The London Trinity House was the main headquarters for the Masters and Brethren of the Society of Masters and Mariners, and others were in Scarborough, Hull and Newcastle (and perhaps elsewhere). The records of the Newcastle Trinity House with a date range of 1580-1900, and include wills, apprenticeship books, enrollment of freemen, pilots licences and various charity records.

Charity for the Payment of Pensions to the Widows of Sea Officers was established in 1732 to provide pensions to needy widows of commissioned and warrant officers. It was funded partly by parliament and partly from pay deductions, and the surviving records include:


 * Pay Books 1734-1929.
 * Application Papers 1797-1829, which include many marriage and death certificates. 
 * Applications Requiring Further Investigation 1808-1830.

Other Charities have existed for periods of time (Watts and Watts 1991) including:


 * Marine Society from 1757.
 * British and Foreign Bethel Seamen’s Union in London from 1819.
 * Seamen’s Hospital Society from 1821. 
 * Seamen’s Loyal Standard Association on Tyneside from 1824.
 * British and Foreign Sailor’s Society from 1833.
 * Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariner’s Royal Benevolent Society from 1839.
 * Missions to Seamen from 1856.

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