Chapter Six – continued
Chapter Six – continued
Royal Navy Records
As with Army records there are very few records pertaining to commissioned navy personnel pre 1660. What there is can be found in the various series of "State Papers Domestic" for the reign of Charles I & the Commonwealth 1625-1660. Post 1660 you should consult "Commissioned Sea Officers List, 1660-1815" a copy of which can be consulted at the Public Record Office. From the end of the eighteenth century, in the year 1782, there are also printed "Navy Lists" on the shelves of the reference room at the Public Record Office.
For a list of what is available in print for some commissioned officers you should consult "Tracing Your Naval Ancestors" by Bruno Pappalardo. To establish when a naval officer was commissioned you should search records of "Commissions and Warrants" which run from 1695 down to 1849, at the Public Record Office, Kew. Records relating to officer's applications for employment, promotion and leave can also be found in Admiralty records at Kew but it has to be said that the survival rate is patchy.
Early Service Records for admirals, captains, commanders and lieutenants do exist for the period 1660 to 1688. However, they were systematically kept until the mid nineteenth century. The main series of records for all officers runs from 1756 to 1931 but they mainly relate to those who served between 1840 and 1910. Together with passing certificates, commission and warrant books plus ships musters and pay lists you should be able to piece together the naval career of your ancestor.
Passing certificates were introduced in 1677 and the applicant for the examination had to be twenty years old with at least three years experience at sea. Individuals had to supply their age, place of birth and names of ships served on. The earliest surviving certificates relate to Lieutenants 1691, Masters 1660, Surgeons 1700.
Commission and Warrant Books begin in 1695 and are arranged in date order, the officer's name, name of the ship and his rank.
The earliest Ships' Pay Books begin in 1669 and Ships' Musters 1667, however the officer's age and place of birth is not recorded until after 1761. They are arranged by ship but once again the survival rate is patchy.
Initially there were no Pension Records for Naval officers', instead they were put on half pay. However, in 1672 the Navy decided that a fixed number of senior warrant officers should be entitled to pensions and thirty of the most senior lieutenants also in 1737. However, the survival rate is again very patchy. Pre 1761 there are records relating to Captains from 1666 to 1747, Lieutenants from 1737 to 1781 and yellow Admirals 1747 to 1781 as well as other ranks. From 1761 to 1809 there is a register listing the names of all commissioned officers who were to receive pensions and another from 1781 to 1820 recording payments and retirement pensions to flag officers, commanders and lieutenants.
Similar lists cover the period 1836 down to 1920. Only from October 1836 is the age and date of death of a warrant officer given. There is also a surname index to records of pensions paid to officers' widows from 1689 to 1832. Pay books of officers' widows pensions covering the period 1734 to 1835 give the name and husband's rank etc and after 1744, date of husband's death, plus details of her death, burial or re-marriage. From 1830 to 1878 widow's pension payments also give the date of marriage.
Pre 1761 there are no enlistment records for naval ratings. In order to trace a ratings naval career and background you must search the surviving Ships' Pay Books and Musters which run from 1667 down to 1884. However, many of the pre 1688 musters were destroyed by fire and most of the ledgers from 1878 to 1909 destroyed by enemy action in 1941.
Nevertheless the importance of those that have survived cannot be stressed too highly as they are the only means by which you can record a ratings continuous service pre 1853. From 1761 the ratings age and place of birth is given plus date of death. If you do not know the name of your ancestors' ship but you do know where he was at a particular time, you must examine the List Books, which are monthly returns, from 1673 to 1909 with gaps 1750 to 92, in order to locate the names of the ships in that location.
Once you have the name(s) you can then search the appropriate records. From 1853 to 1872 there are Continuous Service and Engagement Books for ratings, arranged by surname; the year of birth is given only after 1863. However, the original documents do give date and place of birth. The series is continued from 1873 down to 1928 in Registers of Seamens' Service. Post 1928, these records are closed to public inspection.
If you believe that your ancestor was in receipt of a pension, you should begin by searching the records of Greenwich Hospital in order to determine if he was an out-pensioner of an in-pensioner. Entry Books for the latter have survived from 1704 to 1745 and 1748 to 1873, with surname indexes from 1704 to 1803. Post 1748 these give the name, age and place of birth, marital status, number of children. Out-pension records only begin in 1781, however there are out-letters concerning the nomination of persons to become out-pensioners from 1763. Applications for admission to Greenwich Hospital as an in-pensioner have survived from 1737 to 1763, 1781-84 and 1816 to 1859.
Applications for out-pensions began in 1789. Records of ratings widows' receiving pensions can be found in Chatham Chest records and run from 1653 down to 1799, with gaps 1685 to 87 and 1690 to 94. Nomination, Admission and Leaver records for Greenwich Hospital School and the Royal Naval Asylum are also very useful sources if you believe that your ancestor's children attended one of these schools. The most useful are the original application papers, which often contain service records, marriage and death details and copy baptismal certificates. They are arranged alphabetically for the period 1728 to 1870.
Helpful Hints
1) If you do not know the name of the ship in which your ancestor served, you must search the List Books to determine which ship(s) were stationed near to his known place of residence.
2) Remember there are no enlistment records pre 1853, hence Ships Muster and Pay Books are vitally important as are surviving service records.
3) If your ancestor served in the Merchant Marine, it is possible that he might also have served in the Royal Navy.
Chapter continued on next page
Burke's Peerage & Gentry the complete reference guide to the UK and Ireland's titled and landed families
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