Barbara, Sorry, can't contribute over much on the substance of your enquiry, but hope the following comments help. Yes, "in ballast" meant she was carry no cargo. She would have discharged her previous cargo in Mobile and then travelled light (in ballast) to Elizabeth City to pick up her next cargo. Yes, as far as I am aware, the word after the ship name is the captain's. Many old Lloyd's Registers are online at: http://www.lr.org/en/research-and-innovation/historical-information/lloyds-register-of-ships-online/ I've had a quick look at the 1826, 1827, and 1828 registers. Bear in mind that in those days information would take some time to be submitted and then recorded in the annual register, so entries could be out-of-date before they were even published. You need to scroll through the pages that show up (the search facility produces a nil return!). Unfortunately, as you probably guessed, CERES was a common name for a ship at the time. There look to have been almost 50 vessels with that name, many under the British flag. About 8 of them are classified as schooners, 6 of them British. However, none of the captain names you have show up for any of these years, so this does not help identify the CERES in question. I've noted ships of the same name are recorded in alphabetical order according to the then current name of the captain! Maybe another of our members will be better able to help with the specifics of your actual ship? Ron Mapplebeck (UK) **** On 04/08/2015 03:30, Barbara A. Brown via wrote: > I am looking for news of a certain ship, and I have encountered some language I don't understand. > newspaper reports of ship news seem to have the same format [ e.g. Schooner Ceres, Tarbox, cleared...][ schr Ceres, Wheldon arrived ..] . I'm guessing that the word after the ship name is the Captain's name. Is that right? > How common was it to have three different captains within two months - or to have Capt. A followed by capts. B & C and then back to Captain A? > > this one has me confused: > "10feb 1827 - eliz city - arrived 3rd schooner ceres Pearson, 20 days from mobile, in ballast" does 'in ballast' mean that there was no cargo? > "24 feb 1827 Elizabeth City cleared, 20th schooner Ceres, Wheldon, for guadeloupe, slaves and shingles by A. Forbes, jr"is A Forbes, jr the guy who is shipping the slaves and shingles, or is he the guy to whom they are delivered, or something else? > lastly - I'm guessing that ships could have the same name as another ship?[ I have two reports of schooner ceres sinking - decades apart...] > Thank you. > > ------------------------------- > 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