thanks Dave for your thoughts on my Charles Frederick S. Terdrey, Captain's valet HMS Flirt 1907 and his marriage/living at Portsmouth, 1907-8. I have ordered the birth cert for Frank D Terdrey born Portsmouth 1908. You mentioned "using Navy Lists" to track the captain of HMS Flirt throughout his career, how might I do this? I tried Nationalarchives but couldnt bring him up nor could i bring up any records for TERDREY. I have problems with the many many spellings of "Terdrey" that have appeared in indexes. Looking for more tips and thanks for your help, it's appreciated, liz of Canada