Dear Listers, I am working through the ADM 175 series of Coastguards records, which are presently downloadable free from the National Archives. I was very pleased to be able to trace my ancestor from Cornwall in 1821 to various stations in Ireland before returning to the UK and a couple of east coast postings until his retirement in the 1840s. The records are fascinating, but there are some things that were not clear, and I would appreciate any help in interpretation that other readers might be able to provide. I note that each station comprised a Chief Officer, a Chief Boatman and usually several Commissioned Boatmen and another category called just 'Boatmen'. I would be interested to know the differences between Commissioned Boatman and plain ordinary Boatman. My sorry ancestor was promoted from Boatman to Commissioned Boatman and then later reduced to Boatman again and I wonder what transgression is likely to have precipitated this? I also note that the Establishment books often have cryptic references that I am having trouble deciphering. For example, on the occasion of my ancestor's demotion, there is a reference 'see 77 9/29' I m pretty sure that the '29' refers to the date 1829, but the rest of the reference and its likely location are obscure. Any help with that would be much appreciated. Finally, it appears that my ancestor started his career with the nascent coastguard service on the revenue cutter 'Hind' in the late 1810s until 1821. I have gleaned a bit of information on this from the internet and it appears at some times to have been very successful at intercepting smugglers. Any more information about this would be great. Best wishes Wendy Jessup Sydney, Australia.

Hi Wendy I agree with you that ADM 175 can make interesting reading, and as you've discovered, allow you to research a rellie from abroad. Regarding the entry 'see 77 9/29' most coastguard stations, or at least the Chief Officer, much like commanding officers of HM ships, would have letter books which recorded letters received and sent to the Coastguard Station and I suspect that these references are to the letter books : so perhaps letter No. 77 received possibly Sep 1829 would have been the authority for the demotion, but without the letter book I doubt we'll ever know what that referred to, and being as it was a local document was probably destroyed after x number of years, or what ever the rules were for that sort of thing in the Coastguard ? Since there was only one step between the two ranks or ratings of Commissioned Boatmen and Boatmen, I suspect that the Commissioned Boatmen probably equated to a Petty Officer in the Royal Navy, and the Boatman to an Able Seaman. Both grades would appear to have lasted, I believe, through to the early years of the 20th Century. As to what transgression might have caused his demotion to Boatman, it is difficult to know, but one can only make suggestions, taking into account their profession and the culture that may have existed i.e. he may have enjoyed a few drinks too many which may have caused problems with time keeping or arguing when he should have been saying "Aye aye Sir," ;-) or perhaps, since he was probably in the company of the Boatmen for much of the time he was at work he was considered to be too familiar with those who he was supposed to be in charge of which might have caused problems ? Since correspondence appears to have resulted from the problem it would appear that approval from "on high" was needed before he could be reduced in rating, which suggests that their approval would also have been needed before he could have been advanced to Commissioned Boatmen in the first instance. Most certainly a fair number of the Coastguards were former RN personnel, many of whom probably enjoyed their rum and beer and who may well have brought their habits with them to the Coastguard Service. Paul On Wed, 6 Jul 2011 19:57:51 +1000, Wendy Jessup <w.jessup@unsw.edu.au> wrote: >Dear Listers, > >I am working through the ADM 175 series of Coastguards records, which are presently downloadable free from the National Archives. I was very pleased to be able to trace my ancestor from Cornwall in 1821 to various stations in Ireland before returning to the UK and a couple of east coast postings until his retirement in the 1840s. The records are fascinating, but there are some things that were not clear, and I would appreciate any help in interpretation that other readers might be able to provide. > >I note that each station comprised a Chief Officer, a Chief Boatman and usually several Commissioned Boatmen and another category called just 'Boatmen'. I would be interested to know the differences between Commissioned Boatman and plain ordinary Boatman. My sorry ancestor was promoted from Boatman to Commissioned Boatman and then later reduced to Boatman again and I wonder what transgression is likely to have precipitated this? > >I also note that the Establishment books often have cryptic references that I am having trouble deciphering. For example, on the occasion of my ancestor's demotion, there is a reference 'see 77 9/29' I m pretty sure that the '29' refers to the date 1829, but the rest of the reference and its likely location are obscure. Any help with that would be much appreciated. > >Finally, it appears that my ancestor started his career with the nascent coastguard service on the revenue cutter 'Hind' in the late 1810s until 1821. I have gleaned a bit of information on this from the internet and it appears at some times to have been very successful at intercepting smugglers. Any more information about this would be great. > >Best wishes >Wendy Jessup >Sydney, Australia. > > > > >------------------------------- >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