Forrest Anderson <forrest@military-researcher.com> wrote: : The following will be of interest to those who have ancestors in the : Royal Navy. : The National Archives at Kew have begun to release Royal Navy Service : Records via their Documents Online system. Like the WW1 MICs for the : Army, RN Service Records can be searched for using an on-line : database, and the images can be downloaded for 3.50 GBP. : The following links will give you more information about this on-going : project: : =================== : http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/whats-new.asp : Registers of Seamen's Services, 1853-1923 : : Our latest digitisation project will enable you to find the service : records for any rating (non-Officer crew member) who joined the Royal : Navy as a regular serviceman between 1853 and 1923. The Registers of : Seamen's Services will help you find details about your ancestor's : birth, their occupation and which ship or ships they served on, and in : the later records a description of their physical appearance. In the Registers of Seamen's Services it gives a place of birth and a date. Is the date the date of birth, or is it a date related to the military service? -dja

Dennis Ahern wrote: > In the Registers of Seamen's Services it gives a place of birth and a > date. Is the date the date of birth, or is it a date related to the > military service? >From what I've seen so far, it's the date of birth when a specific date is given, but when it's just a range (e.g. 1892-1907) it seems to be the date of entry into the navy. Also from what I've seen so far, the date of birth isn't always very accurate. :-)

In soc.genealogy.ireland Daniel Morgan <daniel.f.morgan@gmail.com> wrote: : Dennis Ahern wrote: :> In the Registers of Seamen's Services it gives a place of birth and a :> date. Is the date the date of birth, or is it a date related to the :> military service? :>From what I've seen so far, it's the date of birth when a specific date : is given, but when it's just a range (e.g. 1892-1907) it seems to be : the date of entry into the navy. : Also from what I've seen so far, the date of birth isn't always very : accurate. :-) Has anyone paid to view an actual record? I would assume there is some heading that indicates content of the field. Or is it a case of where the date of birth field is blank, the index substitues the years of service? -dja

Dennis Ahern wrote: > Has anyone paid to view an actual record? I would assume there is some > heading that indicates content of the field. Or is it a case of where the > date of birth field is blank, the index substitues the years of service? I have bought one where the date in the index was a specific date. On the actual record, the index date was handwritten in the space next to the printed words "Date of birth". I've never bought one of the ones where the index gives a range of years. For my one-name study, I recognize a lot of the names just from the index. So far, whenever a specific date is given, it seems to match the date of birth, allowing some leeway [sic] for the usual misrememberings and misrepresentations. But when a range is given, the name seems to match someone born before the beginning of the period, but of a plausible age to join the navy during the period. I can't identify everyone yet, but in all the cases where I can, this pattern holds. Also, in the cases I've seen, the date ranges always exactly match a range that the website gives as the covering dates of a particular class of records. By the way, these records are actually quite interesting. The one I got had a full physical description and a detailed account of which ships he served in, his repeated transfers from one to the next, and a string of occasions when he spent in the cells or in gaol in various ports. It culminated with him spending 40 days in Bodmin gaol and thereafter being discharged from the navy as undesirable.

Dennis Ahern <ahern@world.std.com> wrote in news:dgu715$sgf$1 @pcls4.std.com: > Forrest Anderson <forrest@military-researcher.com> wrote: > >: The following will be of interest to those who have ancestors in the >: Royal Navy. > >: The National Archives at Kew have begun to release Royal Navy Service >: Records via their Documents Online system. Like the WW1 MICs for the >: Army, RN Service Records can be searched for using an on-line >: database, and the images can be downloaded for 3.50 GBP. > >: The following links will give you more information about this on-going >: project: > >: =================== >: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/whats-new.asp > >: Registers of Seamen's Services, 1853-1923 >: >: Our latest digitisation project will enable you to find the service >: records for any rating (non-Officer crew member) who joined the Royal >: Navy as a regular serviceman between 1853 and 1923. The Registers of >: Seamen's Services will help you find details about your ancestor's >: birth, their occupation and which ship or ships they served on, and in >: the later records a description of their physical appearance. > > In the Registers of Seamen's Services it gives a place of birth and a > date. Is the date the date of birth, or is it a date related to the > military service? > > -dja > I have a record in front of me, and the date is the date of birth. Unfortunately, this means that the record can't be the right person, as the date of birth is much too late.

Well, I hate to be churlish about this but the NA website below indicates that the project for the 1853 - 1923 period is complete but when I search for my grandfather and his son, my uncle, neither can be found either by name or by service number yet I have photocopies (from the NA) of their ADM188 service records in front of me as I write. John > > Forrest Anderson <forrest@military-researcher.com> wrote: > > > >: The following will be of interest to those who have ancestors in the > >: Royal Navy. > > > >: The National Archives at Kew have begun to release Royal Navy Service > >: Records via their Documents Online system. Like the WW1 MICs for the > >: Army, RN Service Records can be searched for using an on-line > >: database, and the images can be downloaded for 3.50 GBP. > > > >: The following links will give you more information about this on-going > >: project: > > > >: =================== > >: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/whats-new.asp > > > >: Registers of Seamen's Services, 1853-1923 > >: > >: Our latest digitisation project will enable you to find the service > >: records for any rating (non-Officer crew member) who joined the Royal > >: Navy as a regular serviceman between 1853 and 1923. The Registers of > >: Seamen's Services will help you find details about your ancestor's > >: birth, their occupation and which ship or ships they served on, and in > >: the later records a description of their physical appearance. > > > > In the Registers of Seamen's Services it gives a place of birth and a > > date. Is the date the date of birth, or is it a date related to the > > military service? > > > > -dja > > > > I have a record in front of me, and the date is the date of birth. > Unfortunately, this means that the record can't be the right person, as the > date of birth is much too late.