Hi David Where are you finding a Joseph CLARKE in the 1881 as a ships steward as I can't replicate your findings The only Joseph CLARK* I can find in 1881 as a Ship Steward was born in Somerset in 1856 Was your man married to an Emma ? If so he is in the 1881 as a Clerk aged 40 born Liverpool in West Derby And where are you finding him as a Purser in 1887? Although then as now men changed occupation and ages can be varied on death records, I would not think a man 10 years different in age and as a Carpenter would be likely to be yours? Joseph CLARK(E) is not an uncommon name Have you discounted the deaths registered 1881 to 1921 ? there are seven in Lancashire alone and he could have died anywhere If you can post more details of who he married, children etc we may be able to find something on him Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > My gg grandfather, Joseph Clarke, was born in Liverpool in 1841. Records of > him up to 1881 showed him to be a bookkeeper. In the 1881 census, however, > he is described as a ship's steward and in 1887 a record shows him as a > purser. After that there is no further record of him and there is no oral > history in the family of what became of him. I think that he probably died > while abroad or at sea. > > The only possible death at sea record is the death of a Joseph Clarke on > 16th June 1889. This was on the 'SS State of Navada' a Glasgow registered > ship number 653. This Joseph is described as a carpenter aged 58. My Joseph > would have been 48. Despite the difference in age and occupation I think > that this may have been him. > > Can anyone offer any advice as to how I might be able to research this > further. > > David

Nivard, I did say that he was shown in the 1881 census as a ship's steward. This was incorrect; it was the birth certificate of one of his children in 1881 that showed him as a ship's steward. The 1887 record showing him as a purser was the marriage certificate of another child. Joseph had married Elizabeth Simmons in Liverpool in 1864. The last census record I have of him in 1861 when he was described as an accountant's clerk living with his parents at Kirkdale, Liverpool. His wife and children can be found on the 1871 census but he is missing so he may have been away at sea although in 1879 on another child's birth certificate he is described as a storekeeper. I cannot find his death in England/Wales. I know that he must have died or was missing presumed dead sometime after the last record of him in 1887 and 1891 when the census shows that Joseph's brother was living with Joseph's wife and describing themselves as man and wife although they were not married. (It was still illegal at that time for a man to marry his brother's wife). I had the impression that it was quite possible that a man may go to sea on one voyage as a purser and another as a carpenter and that ship's carpenters were not what we, today, know as time served tradesmen. I think that the 10 year difference in age could well be just an error. He certainly did not die in the area where his home was. I have been through all the burial and well as death records. David -----Original Message----- From: mariners-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:mariners-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Nivard Ovington Sent: 15 September 2011 17:08 To: mariners@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [MAR] Missing Seaman Hi David Where are you finding a Joseph CLARKE in the 1881 as a ships steward as I can't replicate your findings The only Joseph CLARK* I can find in 1881 as a Ship Steward was born in Somerset in 1856 Was your man married to an Emma ? If so he is in the 1881 as a Clerk aged 40 born Liverpool in West Derby And where are you finding him as a Purser in 1887? Although then as now men changed occupation and ages can be varied on death records, I would not think a man 10 years different in age and as a Carpenter would be likely to be yours? Joseph CLARK(E) is not an uncommon name Have you discounted the deaths registered 1881 to 1921 ? there are seven in Lancashire alone and he could have died anywhere If you can post more details of who he married, children etc we may be able to find something on him Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > My gg grandfather, Joseph Clarke, was born in Liverpool in 1841. > Records of him up to 1881 showed him to be a bookkeeper. In the 1881 > census, however, he is described as a ship's steward and in 1887 a > record shows him as a purser. After that there is no further record of > him and there is no oral history in the family of what became of him. > I think that he probably died while abroad or at sea. > > The only possible death at sea record is the death of a Joseph Clarke > on 16th June 1889. This was on the 'SS State of Navada' a Glasgow > registered ship number 653. This Joseph is described as a carpenter > aged 58. My Joseph would have been 48. Despite the difference in age > and occupation I think that this may have been him. > > Can anyone offer any advice as to how I might be able to research this > further. > > David ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MARINERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message