Not only could the master's wife travel, but she might give birth during the voyage, as in the case of one member of my ONS. Full marks to the vicar who baptised him on their return to England, and helpfully noted in the register: "This child was born 15 March 1855 on board barque Walsoken on homeward voyage from Ceylon." The wife concerned seems to have been acquired on an earlier voyage, because she came from Memel in East Prussia (now Klaipeda in Lithuania). Chris Pitt Lewis GOONS Member 2137 - BRIGSTOCK(E)/BRIDG(E)STOCK/BRICKSTOCK On 07/02/2015 23:35, Jim Owston via wrote: > John: > > Masters on merchant vessels were in charge of the ship under the > auspices of the owners. This is unlike masters in the Royal Navy who > were warrant officers (and eventually commissioned as commanders) and > were only in charge of the navigation and stowage. Sometimes they had > other duties as assigned. The captain was in charge of the ship in > the RN. The master in the merchant service was the de facto captain > and was often known by that courtesy title. > > Family were permitted to travel. It appears that the entire lot of my > 3rd great grandfather's family of 8 were living aboard the ship of his > last merchant master's position. > > You may want to check if logs exist. I learned a great deal from the > master's log from one of the RN ships on which my ancestor served. > --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com