England Royal Navy Records for Family History (National Institute)

Lieutenants Passing Certificates
The Admiralty started examinations in 1677 for those wishing to start as a lieutenant, the lowest rung of the officer’s career ladder. Standards were raised gradually over time, and the young man had to:


 * Be over 21 years of age, with proof in the form of a baptism entry.
 * Have served at sea for at least six years. 
 * Show he possessed the requisite seamanship skills. 
 * Produce his own journals. 
 * Produce certificates of his diligence and sobriety from his Captains.

Passing Certificates for Lieutenants 1691-1832 are found in ADM 107, ADM 6, ADM 13, and ADM 1 to which there is an index at The National Archives (TNA). Similar examinations were set for warrant officers and their passing certificates 1660-1899 are in classes ADM 6, ADM 13, ADM 106 and ADM 11. These papers may contain his baptismal certificate, and will certainly summarize his previous training and career. Below shows my 5th great grandfather Joseph Dashwood’s Lieutenant’s Passing Certificate from ADM 107.

CHART: Lieutenant’s Passing Certificate

One can then proceed to the muster rolls of each ship on which he served to find further details. In this case, romantic notions of being cast away on a tropical island were dashed when I investigated the demise of the Colchester at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. The ship foundered on a sand bar in the Thames estuary!

Finding distant cousins may pay off for you and future generations of researchers. One of my third cousins had Joseph Dashwood’s Book of Regulations for Service at Sea, known colloquially as the Fighting Instructions. He signed and dated it 7 August 1746, shortly after he passed his Lieutenants Examination, and the day he joined his new ship, The Prince George, as shown in its muster. The book was an earlier edition than currently held by either the TNA or the National Maritime Museum, so when my bookbinder brother stripped it for rebinding he made copies and donated one to each archive. The National Maritime Museum was able to supply a photograph of a painting of the Prince George.

It seems that a large number of the crew of this ship were sent to serve on the Lyon during its service the next year at the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in the Bay of Biscay during the War of the Austrian Succession. The men were still carried on the muster for the Prince George, and following through this it wasn’t long before Joseph received the notation DD (Discharged Dead) on 14 Oct 1747. Josh Dashwood 6 Lt. Slain in a fight on board His Maj. Ship the Lyon, and Ticket [for pay] to be delivered to the N.O. [Navy Office]. A description of the battle can be found in regular military texts. My third cousin also had two small pieces of sailcloth, one of which had the date 14 Oct 1747 written in black ink on it; the other was given to me. It seems reasonable to conjecture that these were pieces of his shroud given to his wife and lovingly passed down for 250 years. The shroud for burial at sea was typically made from the sailor’s own hammock, and sewn up by the sail maker on board, the last stitch going through the nose! The tour guides on HMS Victory at Portsmouth indicate that the process of sewing up the hammock/shroud and piercing the nose was to prevent sailors feigning death in order to be released from the harsh navy routine. Dashwood’s early death explains why he only had two children and why his wife was a widow at the christening of the second.

Commissioned Officers’ Service Registers
These detailed records of officers’ careers are reasonably complete from 1840-1920 and there are different types of register with variable amounts of data. Generally they give the dates and places of births and deaths, dates and places of marriages with maiden names of brides, rank (quality), and names of ships on which each officer served. Indexes exist but are not perfect and not everyone will be found easily, as it is a mixed bag of registers but other sources do exist, for example ADM 104 for medical officers, thus persistence is rewarded. TNA leaflets M30 and M79 should be consulted.

Commissioned Officers Survey Returns
After the Napoleonic Wars the navy was reduced from 145,000 to 19,000 men. In order to retain the best officers and men, and to improve record keeping, surveys of commissioned and warrant officers were made in 1817, 1828 and 1846. Not everyone received, or returned, one and they are only partly indexed but it is worth checking for them as they give dates of birth and are full of career information. Those for commissioned officers are in ADM 9 with indexes in ADM 10, and further ones are in ADM 6, ADM 11, and ADM 106.

Commissioned Officers Succession Books
One can trace commissioned officers by means of the indexes to the books kept by each ship noting the succession of officers appointed to it.

Commissioned Officers’ Pay Registers
Records of full pay only give the man’s name and salary paid, but they show when he was active. From 1795 to 1830 they are separate by rank, and after 1830 all together. Half pay was used as a retainer between spells of duty and as a kind of pension, and is particularly useful in giving the recipient’s address.

Captain’s Log Books 1669-1852 are in ADM 51, and there are many Lieutenants’ Logs at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

Naval Officers’ Marriage Certificates and Letters 1806-1902 (ADM 13) are.

Records of Warrant Officers
The status of the warrant officer improved steadily over the years with masters, pursers, surgeons and engineers achieving commissioned rank during the first half of the 19th century. More and more specialized junior warrant officer branches evolved until there were 24 types in 1945. A summary of the main available records in date order appears below; some of these are the same as for commissioned officers whilst others are the same as for ratings. As some of the records are kept for each specialist branch it pays to find out what type of warrant officer he was. Rodger has details of the many records and indexes available.

Warrant Officers’ Passing Certificates
These certificates give a summary of the officer’s service and training, and some have birth or baptism certificates in proof of age. Engineers are listed separately.

CHART: Royal Navy Records for Warrant Officers

Warrant Officers’ Service Registers
These detailed records of officers’ careers are reasonably complete from 1840-1920 and there are different types of register with variable amounts of data. Generally they give the dates and places of births and deaths, dates and places of marriages with maiden names of brides, and names of ships on which each officer served. Indexes exist but are not perfect and not everyone will be found easily, as it is a mixed bag of registers but other sources do exist, for example ADM 29 and ADM 73 for those discharged to pension, thus persistence is rewarded.

Survey Returns, Succession Books and Pay Registers (Warrant Officers) These are the same as those described under Commissioned Officers above.

Some Other Warrant Officers’ Records Register of Surgeon’s Appointments to ships 1851-1891 Colonial Office (CO 386/186-187) on * (see Preface). Surgeons 1774-1886 are recorded in ADM 104, ADM 11 and ADM 106 and there are some Surgeons’ Journals in ADM 101.

Masters Qualifications 1660-1830 in ADM 106, and their Passing Certificates 1851-1863 in ADM 13 both include certificates of baptism. Masters Log Books 1672-1840 in ADM 52 contain much biographical detail if you are lucky to find relevant ones that have survived.

Clerks’ Passing Certificates can be found in ADM 13.

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