A bit of help please? Looking at recently released files on Ancestry, I found John Thomas CHESSON listed amongst the crew who drowned at sea on the Glencoe on 21 Oct 1882. He was described as "O.S" as were several others of his shipmates, other crew members included "Master", "Mate" and "AB". Was an "O.S" an Ordinary Seaman" and if so how did he differ from an "A.B"? The entry said he was 18 but as his birth was registered in Q2 of 1866 and he was 4 in the 1871 census, I suspect he was in fact only 16. Nick Member 4108 Chesson and Variants
One joined as an "ordinary seaman" before being promoted to "able seaman". Wikipedia has some good articles: "An ordinary seaman (OS) is an unlicensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. The position is an apprenticeship to become an able seaman, and has been for centuries. In modern times, an OS is required to work on a ship for a specific amount of time, gaining what is referred to as "sea time." Once a sufficient amount of sea time is acquired, the OS can apply to take a series of courses, and then a series of examinations to become certified as an able seaman." -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Nicholas Spence via Sent: 20 April 2016 12:04 To: [email protected] Subject: [G] Ancestry BMD at Sea A bit of help please? Looking at recently released files on Ancestry, I found John Thomas CHESSON listed amongst the crew who drowned at sea on the Glencoe on 21 Oct 1882. He was described as "O.S" as were several others of his shipmates, other crew members included "Master", "Mate" and "AB". Was an "O.S" an Ordinary Seaman" and if so how did he differ from an "A.B"? The entry said he was 18 but as his birth was registered in Q2 of 1866 and he was 4 in the 1871 census, I suspect he was in fact only 16. Nick Member 4108 Chesson and Variants _____________________________________________ RootsWeb lists - surnames, regions, software, etc: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ ------------------------------- 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
Nick, Ship's Boy (Peggy); Ordinary Seaman; Able Seaman; depending on length at sea, and therefore pay! When I was at sea in the 40s & 50s as an apprentice, there were certificates, EDH Efficient Deck Hand, Lifeboat Ticket. No doubt in earlier times being friends with the Bosun or First mate helped. In the depression 20s and 30s folk with Masters tickets were glad to sail as AB. John -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Nicholas Spence via Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2016 12:04 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [SPAM][G] Ancestry BMD at Sea A bit of help please? Looking at recently released files on Ancestry, I found John Thomas CHESSON listed amongst the crew who drowned at sea on the Glencoe on 21 Oct 1882. He was described as "O.S" as were several others of his shipmates, other crew members included "Master", "Mate" and "AB". Was an "O.S" an Ordinary Seaman" and if so how did he differ from an "A.B"? The entry said he was 18 but as his birth was registered in Q2 of 1866 and he was 4 in the 1871 census, I suspect he was in fact only 16. Nick Member 4108 Chesson and Variants _____________________________________________ RootsWeb lists - surnames, regions, software, etc: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ ------------------------------- 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 ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2015.0.6189 / Virus Database: 4556/12063 - Release Date: 04/19/16