If you have merchant seamen, fishermen, master mariners or Royal Navy ratings in your family then it is very interesting to try to find out about their careers at sea, the ships they sailed on and the voyages they undertook. Researching this information can be relatively difficult, however, unless you know where to search for it.
Through the good offices of Debbie Beavis and the Rootsweb MARINERS List I have collected together guidance notes for people researching Merchant Seamen, Royal Navy ratings and others with maritime connections and I hope that these will be of use to family historians. The link below will take you to the website where this data is available.
Debbie Beavis is an experienced Maritime Researcher who is one of the joint owners of the Rootsweb MARINERS-L genealogy list. You can contact her via the link below.
I have copies of the Index to Trinity House Petitions and Lloyds Captains Register 1869 and am prepared to look up references for researchers. E-mail me by clicking the link below.
With the expansion of Cardiff and the other South Wales Ports in the early-mid 19th century new needs arose for assistance in navigating the Bristol Channel and this made pilotage an important skill. A skeleton pilotage service had been in existence in the Bristol Channel before 1800, but at that time there was little need for assistance. With the arrival of many foreign ships an entirely new problem existed. This was complicated by the fact that in the past the pilotage service in the Channel had been vested in the port of Bristol, with the small number of pilots at Cardiff being licensed from there. From the early 19th century all shipping in the channel had to take on board a Bristol licensed pilot, who took precedence over other pilots even when the ship concerned was heading for Cardiff. In 1800 there were four Port Pilots at Cardiff but by 1830 this had increased to 15. The opening of the Bute Dock in 1839 aggravated the situation, but an attempt by Cardiff in 1840 to establish its own pilotage authority failed, although increased numbers of Cardiff pilots were authorised. Eventually in 1860, with support from Newport and Gloucester, Cardiff obtained powers under the Bristol Channel Pilotage Act to set up its own pilotage authority, despite strong opposition from Bristol. The new arrangement was applicable to Cardiff, Barry & Penarth. The Pilotage Board included representatives of the Mayor of Cardiff, two nominees of the town, and nominees of the Bute Trustees, the Glamorgan Canal Comany, the shipowners and merchants. Under the Cardiff Act the numbers of pilots (45 Channel Pilots, 19 Port Pilots and 11 holding supplemental licenses in 1865) were increased to 110 by 1883. Barry later had its own Pilotage Board.
I have a particular interest in the Channel & Port Pilots of Cardiff as well as the Dock Boatmen, as many of my relatives were involved in these occupations, which tended to run in families. My particular interests are in the families of Sanders, Burfitt, Stoodley, Woodward, Deslandes, Crofts, Morse & Stoneman, but I would welcome correspondence about any of the Bristol Channel Pilots, particularly those on the Welsh side of the Channel.
There are records of the Cardiff Pilotage Board, including details of licenses granted, minutes of the Board, apprenticeship records and details of Pilot Cutters in the Glamorgan Record Office in Cardiff.
A friend of mine, Phil Roderick, has a considerable database of pilots and has produced a booklet from information held at Glamorgan Record Office, which has been published by Glamorgan Family History Society. Links to the Glamorgan FHS Website & to Phil's page are given below, and you can E-mail Phil Roderick by clicking on his name below.
Another interest of mine is in lifeboats and lifeboatmen, particularly of Whitby and Scarborough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. My late wife's family were connected with the fishing and shipping industry in Whitby and some were lifeboatmen. I would be interested in corresponding with people of like interests.
The following links may be of interest to researchers.