Hi Anne Just to expand upon Adi's post... as she says it looks as if Emmanuel served on JOHN MILES for several years (at least 1915-17). If you get copies of the 1915 crew lists from the National archives (you only really need the earlier one) it will give you the date of the particular voyages. We know that before the earlier of those he was also on the JOHN MILES (as it is shown as his previous ship), so it is then a question of working back through the crew lists for that ship voyage by voyage until his previous ship becomes something different - and then get THAT agreement and work back from there. Success isn't guaranteed because if he took a long break between voyages, or signed on a foreign ship, or gave false details at any point (for example to disguise the fact that he had deserted somewhere along the way) then the chain will stretch and could be broken, but IN THEORY you might be able to follow his entire career back to the point you lost him. There may be other agreements in the NA (they have only indexed 1915 at that level of details), but the Maritime History Archive in Newfoundland have several crew agreements for the ship back to 1908: see https://www.mun.ca/mha/holdings/viewcombinedcrews.php?Official_No=125659 - note that they don't seem to be aware of the 1915 ones in the NA so there may be others. The MHA can do some of the legwork for you and their research prices for looking for agreements are not exorbitant, though of course it all adds up. One can ask them to work back through the lists for you and only copy those agreements in which a Emmanuel appears (and obviously, to stop with the list on which he joins the ship). "The Ships and Mariners of Shoreham" by Henry Cheal Jr might be of interest - it is a bit frustrating as there is no index and original copies are expensive, but I think you can buy reprints at abebooks. I glanced at it just now but no names sprang out at me. Cheers Piers On 4 September 2015 at 01:44, Mme_N_Carmichael via <mariners@rootsweb.com> wrote: > Hello Anne, > Erm ... The Mariners List concerns itself only with mariners. Whether any > of John (1844) or James (1846) or William (1848) were brothers to your > Emmanuel/Emanuel (1856?) is beyond the scope of this list. You will have to > establish that or not through general genealogy sources. > For researching mariners, I suggest that you "lurk" on this list for a > while and skim all the posts. You'll pick up many sources and tips that way. > That said, here are two bits: > 1) A John Tester born 1844, Shoreham, was cook and seaman on the DARE of > Portsmouth, ON (= Official Number) 35218, during the first 6 months of > 1866. He had previously been on the JOHN SHARP of Shoreham.Source: CLIP > Crew List Index > http://www.crewlist.org.uk/crew/crew.php?target=tester&searchtype=Exact&initial=&dob=&submit=+Search+ > 2) Your Emmanuel appears to have been on the JOHN MILES, ON 125659, for a > few years. He made two voyages on her as cook and steward in 1915.Source: > free online 1915 merchant navy crew lists > http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/search-merchant-navy-1915-crew-lists/?utm_source=The+National+Archives&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5900568_July+2015+enewsletter&utm_content=1915+Crew+Lists > > > Regards,Adi > > > From: Anne Capewell via <mariners@rootsweb.com> > To: "mariners@rootsweb.com" <mariners@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Thursday, September 3, 2015 6:30 PM > Subject: [MAR] Testers from Shoreham > > Hi all, > > I'm new to this list, although not to genealogy. My great grandfather, > Emmanuel Tester, was a merchant seaman most of his life and died in 1917 on > the SS John Miles. I know a reasonable amount about him through censuses > etc but am only just starting to explore his, and possibly his brothers', > merchant navy connections. So far: > > Ocean Queen Apprenticed 5/11/1872 - 3 years Shoreham > Wave Queen > Day Star 11/11/1876 - 16/12/1876 > Queen Plymouth > Shamrock 13/01/1880 Southampton - 15/03/1880 South Shields > Shamrock 16/03/1880 South Shields - 23/03/1880 South Shields (why just a > week??) > Targus > Hark Away 01/07/1884 - 31/12/1884 - remained at end of voyage > > The apprenticeship record is from Ancestry and the remainder from West > Sussex Records Office. > > As you can see there are gaps and nothing from 1885 to his death. He was a > labourer in 1881, a 'mariner' in 1891, wasn't at home in 1901 and a 'ship's > cook' in 1911. > > I may also have found apprenticeship records for 3 of his brothers - > John b1844 on the Gazelle 17/03/1861 for 3 years (and aboard the Gazelle > in the 1861 census) > James b1846 on the Gazelle 16/06/1860 for 6 years > William b1848 on the Hibernia 18/10/1865 for 3 years 6 months. > > What I don't have is concrete proof (if there is such a thing) that they > are his brothers. > > Please can anyone point me in the right direction for any further records > that may exist for these men? > > many thanks, Anne > > > > > > ------------------------------- > 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 > > > > > ------------------------------- > 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