England Navy Ancestor Social History - International Institute

Bringing Your Navy Ancestors to Life
Many sources are available in print and electronic form, with illustrations of uniforms, ships, and the way of life on land and sea. Examples include:


 * Shire books entitled Historic Ships and Ships’ Figureheads by Stammers, Old Docks by Ritchie-Noakes, Royal Dockyards by MacDougall, and The Victorian Sailor by Marcombe.


 * Thousands of books on maritime topics are available, and secondhand bookshops are replete with them. Descriptions and dates for ships can be found in such books as Ships of the Royal Navy by Colledge. The Navy Official List books starting in 1673 give ports of call for each ship each year. Hocking (Dictionary of Disasters at Sea, During the Age of Steam, Including Sailing Ships and Ships of War Lost in Action 1824-1962. ) lists disasters at sea 1824-1862, and Hurst (Baker’s Dozen. Family Tree Magazine Vol 13 #5, page 55-57) reviews some of the more useful ones for the family historian.


 * There are some very good children’s books with excellent, authentic illustrations, one I have is Sailors of the Great Sailing Ships by Abranson. 


 * Photographs of work being carried out in dockyards can be found in class ADM 195 at The National Archives (TNA).


 * There are huge numbers of locally written books for ports large and small giving valuable historical and maritime information, often collated by eminent 19th century men with maritime blood and time on their hands. They are worth digging out of local public and historical libraries. 


 * There are plenty of officers’ memoirs but not too many of ratings, for few were literate enough. Rodger (The Narrative of William Spavens a Chatham Pensioner by Himself, 1998) has edited that written by a navy rating who served during the mid-1700s, The Narrative of William Spavens which is an excellent period piece. 


 * Popular naval topics have plenty of source material, for example Swinnerton (Was Your Man at Trafalgar. Family Tree Magazine Vol 17 #4, page 6) reviews those available for the Battle of Trafalgar.


 * The Naval Chronicle was a monthy publication from 1799-1818, and an index to its births, marriage and death announcements as well as long-lived pensioners has been published by Hurst (Naval chronicle 1799-1818, index to Births, Marriages and Deaths. 1989)


 * Newspapers of the day give detailed accounts of seafaring activities, wrecks and trade. In the General Advertiser dated Wednesday May 29, 1745 after the news of shipping arrivals and departures from Deal and London and progress of the army in Genoa, the bankrupts and marriages, and amongst the usual adverts for quack medicines and an announcement for the first performance of a New Musick by Mr. Handel entitled Belshazzar, are found three items of naval interest.

CHART: Naval Newspaper Advertisements

Naval Museums and Libraries
All kinds of displays, records, artefacts, photographs and diaries are held by specialist naval museums and libraries such as:


 * Britannia Royal Naval College Library at Dartmouth. 
 * Naval History Library at Plymouth.
 * Royal Naval Museum at Portsmouth. 
 * Royal Navy Submarine Museum at Gosport. 
 * National Maritime Museum at Greenwich with its Caird Library, whose contents include manuscripts, charts, prints, drawings, oil paintings, historic photographs, ship plans, and over 2 million artefacts and is described by Pethers, and with its catalogue on their website.

Societies
Several societies exist which are able to provide information or background material, examples are:


 * The Navy Records Society. 
 * Naval Historical Collectors and Research Association. 
 * Society for Nautical Research.
 * Liverpool Nautical Research Society.
 * World Ship Society holds photos of 53,000 ships and is a less expensive alternative for ship photographs than some of the Museums; please note that an SAE is definitely required as this is a voluntary organization.

Tombstones may reveal clues, such as that in St. Giles, Copmanthorpe, Yorkshire which states (Wood 2001-3):

Other Naval Records
TNA has several leaflets on other types of records that they hold:


 * M32 Royal Navy: Log Books and Reports of Proceedings
 * M33 Royal Navy: Operational Records, First World War, 1914-1918
 * D34 Titanic
 * M35 Royal Navy: Operational Records 1660-1914
 * M36 Admiralty Charts (maps)
 * M38 Royal Naval Research and Development
 * M41 Royal Naval Dockyards M43 Ships Wrecked or Sunk
 * M69 Royal Navy: Operational Records

The Military and Mariner Miscellanea by Ross and Ross 1991 contains a fascinating medley of information, well worth a lucky dip!

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