I am new to the list and hope that someone can assist. I am helping a friend with her Irish grandfather, Michael Byrne, born Nov. 16, 1884 in Ballinglass, Wicklow. I downloaded his R. N. papers from the National Archives. At the top, near his name it says "Devonport". I assume that was where he enlisted--July 11, 1906--for 12 years. Several things I wonder about; his age says what appears to be "F E" That means what?------full age? Under CHARACTER it says "V. G."----I suppose very good ? On Feb.8, to Aug 7, 1908 it says "Run Portland" Again , I assume that he took off for parts unknown . Would that be from the Isle of Portland? Family legend says he "jumped ship in Halifax, Canada" So much for family stories. In the Census for 1911 in Toronto, Ontario he appears with a wife and 22 day old child. Now how would he ever get to Canada being a runaway from the navy? I always thought the runners were hunted down non stop. His last ship was "Sapphire 11". Is there any way to trace the movements of that ship in the period Michael was in the navy? My sincere thanks for any help offered. Kathleen in Toronto

Hi Kathleen Whilst he may possibly have joined the navy at Devonport, this actually tells us his port division, the other two divisions being Chatham and Portsmouth, this being in the days when each RN ship was attached to one of those ports and was manned by personnel from that port division. Personnel belonging to the Devonport division usually came from the west country counties and the west coast of England, and included men from Wales, Ireland and Scotland. So coming from Ireland I would suggest that he probably signed on at a recruiting office near to where he lived and would then have been sent to Devonport for training. The Isle of Portland, was a major harbour for hosting the fleet when training in the English Channel, and ships from the home ports would often be sent here for torpedo firing and gunnery practice etc.....and the local newspapers list numerous incidents that took place in the days before health and safety became an issue ;-) However, I suspect that a static ship at Portland would probably be the last place a young man should have been sent.....whilst a beautiful part of the World it was somewhat isolated and except for the row of pubs that line the road outside the dockyard gates I wouldn't have thought that there would have been much for a young man to do in those days unless her had a penchant for walking ? The following URL shows the view from Portland to the mainland, with the part of the harbour to the right of the picture : http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/chesil.htm If, as would appear to be the case, he managed to desert and get off the island before the alarm was raised, he might well have got to Southampton and found work on board a merchant vessel leaving for your side of the Pond, where he might have jumped ship, so a part of the story might be true ? Whilst the Navy did follow up deserters and would send notices of desertion to the police at a man's home town and may be locally to where a ship was based it was unable to pursue men and would leave that to the police. "Full Age" implies that he was at least 18 years old and that his 12 years service would commence from the first day of service, whereas the service of those who entered under the age of 18 would not start until their 18th birthday. Paul On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 21:53:18 -0400, "KATHLEEN LOPEZ" <kathleen.lopez@rogers.com> wrote: >I am new to the list and hope that someone can assist. I am helping a friend with her Irish grandfather, Michael Byrne, born Nov. 16, 1884 in Ballinglass, Wicklow. I downloaded his R. N. papers from the National Archives. At the top, near his name it says "Devonport". I assume that was where he enlisted--July 11, 1906--for 12 years. Several things I wonder about; his age says what appears to be "F E" That means what?------full age? Under CHARACTER it says "V. G."----I suppose very good ? On Feb.8, to Aug 7, 1908 it says "Run Portland" Again , I assume that he took off for parts unknown . Would that be from the Isle of Portland? Family legend says he "jumped ship in Halifax, Canada" So much for family stories. In the Census for 1911 in Toronto, Ontario he appears with a wife and 22 day old child. Now how would he ever get to Canada being a runaway from the navy? I always thought the runners were hunted down non stop. His last ship was "Sapphire 11". I! s! > there any way to trace the movements of that ship in the period Michael was in the navy? My sincere thanks for any help offered. > Kathleen in Toronto > >------------------------------- >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 50° 33' N, 2° 26' W http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval.html