Hello Kathleen, No, the people are not listed alphabetically. The entries are in numerical order of certificate. So, you start with the chronological table in my archived post and pick out which subfiles your William Reed *could* be in. That gives you 3 possible subfiles. Then you request to see the *earliest* one which is BT 124/7. BT 124/7 consists of 2 pdf's. The first one has 338 images and the second one has 176 images. Look immediately at the first image in the second pdf. Aha! The first entry in the second pdf is #45, 640 which tells you that the one you want will be in that second pdf and you don't need to even bother looking in the first one. Start hopscotching through the images until you get to the certificate numbered 46,200 and depending on the information you find there, you may or may not need to look at the other two possible subfiles. N.B. You will *not be able to interpret* the notations in the columns until you reach the column headed "1856". None of us can. It's an arcane code based on port numbers and ship rotation numbers. Please do not write questioning those; we cannot help there. My other remarks were about subscribing to FindMyPast. I don't have a sub either but I did a quick search for you there and came up with a probable hit for you. Regards,Adi   From: "mktgmaven2001@aol.com" <mktgmaven2001@aol.com> To: mme_n_carmichael@yahoo.ca; mariners@rootsweb.com Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 5:09 AM Subject: Re: [MAR] MARINERS Digest, Vol 10, Issue 170 - Nutman/Ringdove My confidence is up a little now to be able find my William Reed as I did just find John Nutman's entry in the BT124 pdf on the National Archive site as your posts/link guided me. Should I use the Captains version for William Reed, not the Mates? Are the people all listed alphabetically in the pdf and then I use the Certificate number to pinpoint which William Reed is mine if there is more than one? Searching by vessel name is a very good tip as well.