Now Mary Ellen, I did go to sea in 1957 not 1860's ha! ha! , however to the best of my knowledge this is how it was in my days. A rating is not an officer, he is as you suggest a seaman. This was commonly referred to in my days in the Navy not the Merchant Navy. When I signed on in Sydney I was given a "Seaman's Record" which was basically an I.D.card. On entering the U.K for the first time they prepared a "British Identity Book", this detailed all you personal information and the authorities entered detailed information on each voyage you signed on. At the end of each voyage one would sign off and details as to your conduct etc were recorded. Voyages were either called "Home Articles" i.e. from UK to the Continent, or "Deep Sea Articles " being overseas to Australia, United States, Canada, Africa, India etc. Tramp ships were on Deep Sea articles and one would never know as to when you would ever return home, for they took cargo from port to port. I did, at some stage recently transcribe from original manifests details of passengers and ships in Australian Waters during the time frame you mentioned. for NSW Records. Details on these manifests always showed the Captain , officers and crew on each vessel. My suggestion to you is to log onto www.mariners.records.gov.au and laboriously go through each vessel for his name. You will be able to eliminate a ship by noticing as from where they departed. If you would like, if you gave me your ancestors information I will try and look for you as well. John Walton...Sydney. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Ellen Chambers" <maryln61@sbcglobal.net> To: <IRL-CLARE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2006 8:13 AM Subject: Re: [IRL-CLARE] [CLARE] emigrant ship questions > John~ > I am trying to locate my g grandfather but the timeline is > 1860-1868. Oral history has him deserting the Royal Navy. He was English > but was living in Limerick City when he married my g grandmother in 1860. > The marriage certificate his occupation is listed as a seaman. He lived > on St. Mary's Lane and attended St. Mary's church (Protestant). I tried > to track him through records at Kew but they told me they had no record of > him. That he was probably a "rating" because officers rarely deserted. > They had pensions to maintain. Have you ever heard of the the term > "rating". Is that the same as a seaman? > > Mary Ellen Chambers > Lakewood, OH > > John Walton <vabre@optusnet.com.au> wrote: > Hi Robert and Marylyn, > > I thought I would jump in here to let you know of my experience. > In the late 1950's and early 1960's I was an engineer in the British > Mercatile > Marine. As you most probably know the Maritime industry is steeped in > tradition, > but I guess things have now changed. However when I was at sea, on each > trip > we > signed on for the voyage or part thereof, if that was agreeable to the > captain. > I know that when I first went to sea I signed on in Sydney for the voyage > to > Liverpool, > and on each voyage I had to sign on again, whether that was, what was > termed > as "Home Articles" ( voyages to ports on the Continent) or > Deep Sea Articles ( voyages to Australia, USA etc). I wouldn't think that > there > had been many changes to that procedure over the last hundred and fifty > odd > years. > Tradition in the Navy ( Mercanile or Royal) still exists. Therefore it > doesn't come as a surprise > that your ancestor changed ships. > The other aspect is in my time some ships were "tramp" ships, picking up > cargo from port to port > and if one signed on a tramp ship for the voyage then you had no idea as > to > when you would > return to your home port. This lead to seaman jumping ship. Poor > conditions > they at some times had to endure also prompted them to jump ship. > Regular shipping companies such as Cunard, Port Line , Blue Star, Castle > Line etc. ran > god ships and looked after their crew. Where the tramp ships were usually > pretty "rusty" old buckets. > This is not perhaps directly related to your ancestor but it may throw > some > light on to the traditions > that exist in the maritime industry. > > John...Sydney. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Robert Craig Doherty" > To: > Sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 8:52 AM > Subject: RE: [CLARE] emigrant ship questions > > >> G'Day Marilyn >> >> That's very interesting information; I look forward to the letter >> transcriptions. That puts a different completion on crews changing ship. >> >> Robert in Aus >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: MSiperek@aol.com [mailto:MSiperek@aol.com] >> Sent: Monday, 28 August 2006 1:27 AM >> To: IRL-CLARE-L@rootsweb.com >> Subject: Re: [CLARE] emigrant ship questions >> >> I know this response is delayed but I wanted to add some first hand >> information on ship travel during the 1819-1822. I have some >> correspondence from an >> ancestor who was a ship mate on a variety of ships traveling to and from >> Scotland, Ireland and US and Canada. I cannot transcribe these letters >> or >> scan >> them at this time, due family commitments. I cannot speak for all >> shiphands >> but here are some observations from his letters: >> 1. He did not stay with one ship. Sometimes he would look for a >> different >> >> ship to return to his homeland. >> 2. At times the condition of the ship were so bad that he would wait for >> months to find another ship to return home. >> 3. I was amazed to see that he was able to correspond with his family at >> all. >> When I have more time I will offer more details. >> Marilyn >> >> >> >> >> ==== IRL-CLARE Mailing List ==== >> If you just want to subscribe to this list or unsubscribe from it, send >> e-mail to IRL-CLARE-L-request@rootsweb.com >> or (for the digest list) IRL-CLARE-D-request@rootsweb.com and put the >> word >> subscribe or unsubscribe in the message body >> >> ============================== >> Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the >> last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: >> http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx >> >> >> ==== IRL-CLARE Mailing List ==== >> http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/1901census/1901_clare_census.htm >> >> ============================== >> Census images 1901, 1891, 1881 and 1871, plus so much more. >> Ancestry.com's United Kingdom & Ireland Collection. 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