On Mon, 11 Jul 2011 08:51:24 +1000, Paul Booth <peebooth@mac.com> wrote: >Also, I don't know properly, but what are the chances of being >a 'boy 1st class' in 1861 and then Captaining a Schooner in 1864? (if >any list member wants to weigh in on this please feel free) Paul I would have thought that he would be able to read and write if he was a boy 1st class and would as such he would have signed on for a Continuous Service engagement in the RN, so committing himself to some 10-12 years in the RN, unless he purchased his discharge or deserted from the service. You should be able to download his service record for a small fee from the National Archives - see : http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/navy.asp and search Registers of Seamen's Services (ADM 139, ADM 188).. As a Boy First Class he would have been under 20 years of age, and would have been in the process of being trained to be an ordinary seaman, a prospective Able Seaman, and I'm not sure that he would be the sort of chap I would want to command a schooner.....not the easiest sort of vessel to sail, and although one does read of young masters in their early 20s in command of these vessels I get the feeling that they are invariably young men who have sailed in these vessels since they were boys and had probably worked their way up from cabin boy to mate, and then master, a somewhat different background to that of a Seaman.in the Royal Navy, who no doubt would be taught to sail small RN boats. See the Boy's Manual of Seamanship and Gunnery for more detail http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/B_S_M/Contents.html Plus as a master in the merchant service there are a whole load of things one needs to know regarding cargos, how to obtain them, stow them, and much else, along with ship handling, navigation, and much else, subjects which a naval AB would probably never need to know. But on the other hand an AB, in addition to being able to work aloft, can probably wield a cutlass and man a canon etc Paul 50° 33' N, 2° 26' W http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval.html