Thread: dauntless

sheila52 · 25-11-2006, 07:31 PM

Can any one help my great great grandfather william insall was in the merchant services in 1871he was on board the ship on april 2nd 1871 i have a list of the crew singned by the master on that date i was wondering if any one could tell me what sort of ship this was the masters name was John Mitford .

CharlieSomerset · 27-02-2007, 11:08 AM

Hello Shiela - did you ever get a reply here ? If not, I've been doing a bit of work in Merchant Nacvy areas and have found soem sites and info that may help. Trouble is, "Dauntless" is a very good name for a ship - there are hundreds across the english- speaking world with that name

What do you know : was it actually the British Merchant Navy ? Was she just a coastal vessel or did he go overseas with her ? do you know her home port ? Do you have any info about when he signed on ? did he sail with oterh ships as well ? How old was he in the photo ?

Anything you can add and I'll dig a bit more for you.

Charlie

CharlieSomerset · 04-03-2007, 10:31 PM

Hello sheila - sorry for the delay, too many committee meetings late at night followed by a weekend of the lurgy - probably a connection...

there's a great deal of information available, but not too much of it is on line yet. I suspect you may well end up having to buy-in some research on this one, if nobody can offer a paper look up for you.

Information that you are looking for should certainly be about : from 1845 masters of foreign-going vessels took examinations of competency, albeit on a voluntary basis. From 1850, they became compulsory, and from 1854 masters of home-waters vessels were also required to take these examinations. Anyone working as a master, mate, skipper, or engineer post 1845 should have held one. so Master John Mitford, in 1871, ought to be recorded. If as you say William Insall became Master eventually, then so should he.

The certificates give various details, such as home address and date and year and place of birth. More detailed are the applications for the certificates, which usually give the ships served on up until the application was made, exact date of birth and occasionally a brief description of the individual

This site carries information about the plethora of records held at The Guildhall Library - http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/capreg.htm. Records of ship's Masters are among them but the records are microfiche only, I think. Similarly, the national Archives hold even more information - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ then "Merchant Navy" then "Master 1845 - 1968" to get to the list of records they hold and whats in them. Finally, The National Maritime Museum at http://www.nmm.ac.uk has a very good listing of papers and subject matter, plus research guides.

I don't know where you are based - a number of museums keep actual paper copies of Lloyd's register going back to 1850-ish.

Hope all this helps you

Charlie

25-11-2006, 07:31 PM	#1 (permalink)
sheila52 New Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: lincolnshire Posts: 16	dauntless Can any one help my great great grandfather william insall was in the merchant services in 1871he was on board the ship on april 2nd 1871 i have a list of the crew singned by the master on that date i was wondering if any one could tell me what sort of ship this was the masters name was John Mitford .

27-02-2007, 11:08 AM	#2 (permalink)
CharlieSomerset New Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Somerset, England Posts: 6	Re: dauntless Hello Shiela - did you ever get a reply here ? If not, I've been doing a bit of work in Merchant Nacvy areas and have found soem sites and info that may help. Trouble is, "Dauntless" is a very good name for a ship - there are hundreds across the english- speaking world with that name What do you know : was it actually the British Merchant Navy ? Was she just a coastal vessel or did he go overseas with her ? do you know her home port ? Do you have any info about when he signed on ? did he sail with oterh ships as well ? How old was he in the photo ? Anything you can add and I'll dig a bit more for you. Charlie

04-03-2007, 10:31 PM	#3 (permalink)
CharlieSomerset New Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Somerset, England Posts: 6	Re: dauntless Hello sheila - sorry for the delay, too many committee meetings late at night followed by a weekend of the lurgy - probably a connection... there's a great deal of information available, but not too much of it is on line yet. I suspect you may well end up having to buy-in some research on this one, if nobody can offer a paper look up for you. Information that you are looking for should certainly be about : from 1845 masters of foreign-going vessels took examinations of competency, albeit on a voluntary basis. From 1850, they became compulsory, and from 1854 masters of home-waters vessels were also required to take these examinations. Anyone working as a master, mate, skipper, or engineer post 1845 should have held one. so Master John Mitford, in 1871, ought to be recorded. If as you say William Insall became Master eventually, then so should he. The certificates give various details, such as home address and date and year and place of birth. More detailed are the applications for the certificates, which usually give the ships served on up until the application was made, exact date of birth and occasionally a brief description of the individual This site carries information about the plethora of records held at The Guildhall Library - http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/capreg.htm. Records of ship's Masters are among them but the records are microfiche only, I think. Similarly, the national Archives hold even more information - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ then "Merchant Navy" then "Master 1845 - 1968" to get to the list of records they hold and whats in them. Finally, The National Maritime Museum at http://www.nmm.ac.uk has a very good listing of papers and subject matter, plus research guides. I don't know where you are based - a number of museums keep actual paper copies of Lloyd's register going back to 1850-ish. Hope all this helps you Charlie