G'day William, The majority of the "Crew Agreements" for British registered ships were acquired by the Maritime History Archive at Memorial University, St John's, Newfoundland. < http://www.mun.ca/mha/ > These records allow you to trace the career, voyage by voyage, as the Crew Agreements list the name and date of the previous voyage. The Agreements give details of the sailor such as age and place of birth, rank and rate of pay, date signing on etc. Other information on the Agreements includes details of the ship, its owners, where it was licensed to sail (for insurance purposes), and on the back page, the stamp of the Harbour Master or British Consul for each port where the ship docked. I used these records in the pre-internet days so I can't comment on the Archives current standard of service or cost. However they allowed me to succeed in tracing my Great Grandfather, Asmus Kunde, back voyage by voyage until he first signed on as a seaman while his ship was docked in Hamburg. A subsequent search of the available Hamburg records gave me his full date of birth and his parish of birth in Holstein. They also allowed me to prove that my Orcadian Great Great Grandfather, Alexander Stewart, and his elder brother, John, were in Limerick at the time of Alexander's marriage (John was a witness on the marriage certificate). This information allowed me to prove that the Mary Kerly or Cairley of Orcadian records was the Mary Kirby of Limerick. Hope this helps David Armstrong Maylands, Western Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: William Sinclair To: orkney@rootsweb.com Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 3:20 AM Subject: [ORKNEY] Alexander Hassock (Hossack) Sinclair I had previously asked for information on Alexander Hassock (Hossack) Sinclair who was lost at sea and has his grave marked as 06 Nov 1918 lost at sea as the date of his death. Unfortunately I did not get any information. I have since learned that he was on the Schooner Janet of Kirkwall which was 74 tons, official number 89,021 Sinclair master. The schooner had sailed from Leith with a cargo of coal on 04 Nov 1918. I wonder if any one has any information about the schooner, or if this triggers something that can shed more information on Alexander. William Sinclair.

Hi Dave With the help of some friends from another forum I have found out the following information. Alexander does not appear to be registered as a master. The Janet was on essentially "local" service. Unlike foreign service ships, they did not have to file a crewlist every time they left a port. They used the same list for 6 months and were supposed to record crew changes as they happened. They would then file at the end of six months. This results in, if accurate records are not kept, a sailor being on two ships at the same time. >From Lloyds War Losses (Page 311). The entry in the Lloyd's ledger was made on 15th January 1919 and simply says - "Missing - Janet (sailing vessel) 74t net - Leith November 4th to Kirkwall (coal)" This makes it almost certain that nothing was ever found of the ship - anything found would have led to another amended entry. It is reckoned that she was probably lost in a marine accident but a mine is always a possibility. "A check on the weather map for 4/11/18 shows a full blown Atlantic storm moving SE, with the center located NW of Scotland, barometric pressure already down to 980 MB over the Orkneys, which makes a strong case for Janet being lost in heavy weather." 4 entries for crew of the Janet as follows: Seaman JAMES BURGHES MM, Schooner Janet, after 6th November 1918, age 17, (Papa Stronsay). Mate JOHN GUTHRIE MM, Schooner Janet, after 6th November 1918, age 31, (Burray). Master ALEXANDER SINCLAIR MM, Schooner Janet, after 6th November 1918, age 31, (South Ronaldsay). Seaman HENRY STEVENSON MM, Schooner Janet, after 6th November 1918, age 17, Westray. So it looks as if John Guthrie was the mate when Alexander was Master - perhaps he was a qualified Master too and took charge when Alexander couldn't do a trip? I thought there may have been a story about it somewhere. Willie Sinclair 2008/7/8 David Armstrong <davidrli@iinet.net.au>: > G'day William, > > The majority of the "Crew Agreements" for British registered ships were acquired by the Maritime History Archive at Memorial University, St John's, Newfoundland. < http://www.mun.ca/mha/ > > > These records allow you to trace the career, voyage by voyage, as the Crew Agreements list the name and date of the previous voyage. The Agreements give details of the sailor such as age and place of birth, rank and rate of pay, date signing on etc. Other information on the Agreements includes details of the ship, its owners, where it was licensed to sail (for insurance purposes), and on the back page, the stamp of the Harbour Master or British Consul for each port where the ship docked. > > I used these records in the pre-internet days so I can't comment on the Archives current standard of service or cost. However they allowed me to succeed in tracing my Great Grandfather, Asmus Kunde, back voyage by voyage until he first signed on as a seaman while his ship was docked in Hamburg. A subsequent search of the available Hamburg records gave me his full date of birth and his parish of birth in Holstein. They also allowed me to prove that my Orcadian Great Great Grandfather, Alexander Stewart, and his elder brother, John, were in Limerick at the time of Alexander's marriage (John was a witness on the marriage certificate). This information allowed me to prove that the Mary Kerly or Cairley of Orcadian records was the Mary Kirby of Limerick. > > Hope this helps > > David Armstrong > Maylands, > Western Australia > ----- Original Message ----- > From: William Sinclair > To: orkney@rootsweb.com > Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 3:20 AM > Subject: [ORKNEY] Alexander Hassock (Hossack) Sinclair > > > I had previously asked for information on Alexander Hassock (Hossack) Sinclair who was lost at sea and has his grave marked as 06 Nov 1918 lost at sea as the date of his death. Unfortunately I did not get any > information. > > I have since learned that he was on the Schooner Janet of Kirkwall which was 74 tons, official number 89,021 Sinclair master. The schooner had sailed from Leith with a cargo of coal on 04 Nov 1918. > > I wonder if any one has any information about the schooner, or if this triggers something that can shed more information on Alexander. > > William Sinclair. > ------------------ > List Archives, information on contacting list administrator, Subscribing and UnSubscribing can be found at: > > http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/SCT/ORKNEY.html > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORKNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >