Hi My Great Great Grandmother was called Agnes Souter nee Potts and first appeared in North Shields in the early 1800s. A marriage certificate and children baptism records identify her husband as James Souter, a mariner living in South Shields. We can calculate from the birth of their last child and Agnes becoming a widow, that James died in the 1870s. We have no birth or death certificate for a James Souter living in South Shields who fits the few facts we have. In fact, there is only one James Souter, a sea captain whose age, family etc is well documented and definitely not our James Souter. We can speculate that James moved to South Shields to join the Merchant Navy as a young man. This would explain why we can't find a birth certificate, especially if he moved from Scotland. Following this lead, we did discover a James Souter who registered in Newcastle under the new arrangements introduced in 1845. He gave the year he was born as 1830 and his place of birth as Aberdeen. A good candidate but no proof. Our speculation on the lack of a death certificate led us to explore the possibility that he died at sea, and we discovered a James Souter who died in 1873 aboard the St Helens which sunk in the North Sea carrying coal gas from South Shields to London. Again, a good candidate who might also line up with the young man who registered in 1845, but no proof. Following up the shipwreck, we discovered inaccurate speculation in the press about what might have happened, and we tracked the ship back to Yard 13 on the Clyde. The St Helens was built in 1871 by William Hamilton and first owned by the Commercial Steamship Co Ltd of London. I feel the next step to try and tie the James Souter lost at sea to Agnes, and to discover his birthplace, nationality etc, is to find an entry in the Registers of Wages and Effects for Deceased Seamen held by the a General Register Office or the Public Record Office in Kew. At this stage I am writing on this mailing list to ask for advice on searching these records, and to see if anyone can think of anything else to try. Has anyone any knowledge of the St Helens and its owners, the Commercial Steamship Co Ltd? Would the owners be likely to keep next of kin records? How would the family be informed when a ship is lost? I look forward to any replies. Thanks in anticipation. Brian Souter