Hi all A new database which may be of interest to those in Yorkshire (and elsewhere of course) As you can not only search by name but by place names or County with no names you can search for say Loftus or Brotton to find those from places your relatives were from, doing this I can recognise several names of families with connections to mine For example a keyword search for Whitby gets 3,102 hits ======================== Ancestry.com. Great Britain, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Master's Certificates. Greenwich, London, UK: National Maritime Museum. About Great Britain, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927 This database contains master and mate certificates issued to merchant seamen by the British Board of Trade. What You May Find in the Records Great Britain has long been known for its maritime prowess in both military and commercial spheres. The certificates and other documents included in this database were issued to merchant seamen who qualified as masters or mates aboard merchant ships. Records include certificates of competency, certificates of service, examination applications, and other documents. Forms vary, but they may include the following details: name certificate number birth date birthplace issue port issue date address examination date history of service (dates, vessels, occupations, years in service) Some of the information is included on the back of the certificates, and some documents in a seaman’s folder have not been indexed, so when you find a record, use the arrows to browse surrounding documents to make sure you see all the records available. You may want to browse through an entire roll since the original folders were sometimes filed in random order. -- Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK)

Thanks Nivard for this. I've found one of mine!! The tip to go forward and backwards as well from the image shown was useful as in my case there were extra images. Lin PLEASE REMOVE NAMES & email ADDRESSES BEFORE FORWARDING. USE THE Bcc BOX FOR YOUR NAMES & ADDRESSES WHICH WILL HELP ELIMINATE UNWANTED EMAILS On 12/09/2012 13:45, Nivard Ovington wrote: > Hi all > > A new database which may be of interest to those in Yorkshire (and > elsewhere of course) > > As you can not only search by name but by place names or County with no > names you can search for say Loftus or Brotton to find those from places > your relatives were from, doing this I can recognise several names of > families with connections to mine > > For example a keyword search for Whitby gets 3,102 hits > > ======================== > > Ancestry.com. Great Britain, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927 > [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. > Original data: Master's Certificates. Greenwich, London, UK: National > Maritime Museum. > > About Great Britain, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927 > > This database contains master and mate certificates issued to merchant > seamen by the British Board of Trade. > > What You May Find in the Records > > Great Britain has long been known for its maritime prowess in both > military and commercial spheres. The certificates and other documents > included in this database were issued to merchant seamen who qualified > as masters or mates aboard merchant ships. Records include certificates > of competency, certificates of service, examination applications, and > other documents. Forms vary, but they may include the following details: > > name > certificate number > birth date > birthplace > issue port > issue date > address > examination date > history of service (dates, vessels, occupations, years in service) > > Some of the information is included on the back of the certificates, and > some documents in a seaman’s folder have not been indexed, so when you > find a record, use the arrows to browse surrounding documents to make > sure you see all the records available. You may want to browse through > an entire roll since the original folders were sometimes filed in random > order. > > >