Hi Lynne. I believe it stands for "Runner". In other words deserter. A lot of sailors would desert the ship when it arrived in an Australian port. Many did this in the 19th century, & went on to become undisclosed citizens. Seamus....(tout á fait chevalier) System protected by system mechanics/Kaspersky -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of lynne robinson Sent: Monday, 12 February 2007 8:51 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [!! SPAM] Re: [PORTSMOUTH-GOSPORT] NAVAL RECORDS JOHN LITTLE Hi Ian and Mike. Unfortunately, John Little simply doesn't appear in documentsonline at all. Presumably he would have left the Royal Navy before 1873, when the records start. This fits with what Mike suggested. On the other hand, we did find my husband's direct ancestor in documentsonline. According to the doc, he enlisted on 2 April 1896 for 12 years. There is a note that, as of Feb. 29th, '96, he transferred from the Royal Marines to the Royal Navy. Here's the puzzle. His actual service in the RN lasted from April 2 1896 to August 2, 1896, clearly MUCH less than 12 years. Under the column "If discharged, for what cause?" it states "Run" quite clearly. A note at the bottom adds Run 2-8-96 Karachi (Brisk). Brisk is the name of the ship he was on. In fact his entire service record is one line and, amusingly, the authorities have drawn a line under his record and added a second one underneath. We wonder if "Run" means he "ran away"? or could this possibly be something else? Thanks, Lynne Quoting Ian Thirlwell <[email protected]>: > Lynne, > > if you find his post 1873 record in documentsonline and he also served > before then, the post 1873 record should also give you his earlier > Continuous Service (CS) number. These are in three series from 1853 to > 1872 and you need to check if the CS number has a suffix a or b is is > without a suffix. This number, including suffix of present, can be used > to order the earlier service record from ADM 139 in the National Archives. > There's explanation of all this in Tracing Your Naval Ancestors by Bruno > Pappalardo. > > Cheers, > Ian > > lynne robinson wrote: >> Hi Mike, >> >> That's very helpful. Its difficult for me to judge how the class >> system might >> have worked at that time. Just to be sure I understand, my >> gggrandfather, the >> petty officer, would have been a COMMISSIONED officer and therefore likely >> wouldn't have left the Navy until he died or retired? >> >> How likely is it that he died on land and had his death recorded there? >> I can't >> find him in the online Royal Navy lists and, since they start at 1873, he >> should be there unless he died or retired prior to that. I guess he >> could have >> been invalided out since he likely would have been too young to retire. >> >> Any clues as to his likely life history are helpful since I have had great >> difficulty in being sure I have the right John Little. >> >> Hope you are enjoying your retirement, Mike. Thanks for taking time to help >> those of us who are still slaving away. >> >> >> Lynne >> > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the > message > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I wonder where he went from Karachi - perhaps to the Merchant Navy and parts unknown ? And then 'jumped ship' again ? Anne South Australia Timber wrote: > Hi Lynne. > > I believe it stands for "Runner". In other words deserter. > > A lot of sailors would desert the ship when it arrived in an Australian port. > Many did this in the 19th century, & went on to become undisclosed citizens. > > Seamus....(tout á fait chevalier) with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message