Hello all, I am on the trail of James GOWANS, son of James Gowans and Margaret McInroy Moir. He was born in 1874 in Perth, appears in the 1881 census with his parents in Dovecotland and thereafter disappears until his death on the Western Front in 1918 and his subsequent burial in Kirkton of Mailer burial ground in Aberdalgie. I cannot find him on either the 1891 or 1901 census for Scotland but I have found an entry on the 1901 census for England that might be him. The only problem is, it is as a stoker aboard HMS Illustrious then stationed at Malta! The entry lists him as being 25 last birthday and being born in Perth - both details would be right for my James - and I cannot find any other James Gowans born in Perth at abou the same time, so I think it is probably him. Which gets me to my query.... are there likely to be any navy records for that period that cover ordinary ratings as opposed to officers and would they give me any details that might corroborate what I suspect? Thanks, Ursula --------------------------------- ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!

Ursula, Royal Navy records are with the National Archives (TNA) in London - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ (specifically http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/familyhistory/military/navy/ ) There are various guides to the records and links into the catalogue. If you can't visit yourself to look at any appropriate records, there is a categorised list of researchers at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/irlist/ Regards, ============== Grant E. L. Buttars Dundee, Scotland http://www.taybank.freeserve.co.uk/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ursula" <ursularclarke@yahoo.com> To: <PERTHSHIRE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2004 4:53 PM Subject: Navy records > Hello all, > > I am on the trail of James GOWANS, son of James Gowans and Margaret McInroy Moir. > > He was born in 1874 in Perth, appears in the 1881 census with his parents in Dovecotland and thereafter disappears until his death on the Western Front in 1918 and his subsequent burial in Kirkton of Mailer burial ground in Aberdalgie. > > I cannot find him on either the 1891 or 1901 census for Scotland but I have found an entry on the 1901 census for England that might be him. The only problem is, it is as a stoker aboard HMS Illustrious then stationed at Malta! > > The entry lists him as being 25 last birthday and being born in Perth - both details would be right for my James - and I cannot find any other James Gowans born in Perth at abou the same time, so I think it is probably him. > > Which gets me to my query.... are there likely to be any navy records for that period that cover ordinary ratings as opposed to officers and would they give me any details that might corroborate what I suspect? > > Thanks, > > Ursula > > > - ------------------------------- > ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! > > ______________________________ --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.745 / Virus Database: 497 - Release Date: 31/08/2004