Seamen
Sources held elsewhere
The seamen's trade union records held at the Modern Records Centre do not readily lend themselves to tracing the careers of individual seamen, so it is probably best to start with one of the produced by the National Archives.
Sources held at the Modern Records Centre
NB This archive does not contain membership records.
Need: Evidence and exact date of receiving incapacity or old age benefit.
Need: specific dates of going missing, injuries, involvement in shipping disasters, death (only if prominent member, post-1927). Up until 1927 (inclusive), The Seaman included monthly lists of deceased members and members receiving accident and shipwreck benefits.
Editions of The Seaman between 1908, 1911-1939, 1941-1946, have been digitised and are available to read in full.
Two indexes of articles and photographs relating to meritorious service or death between September 1914 - December 1918 published in 'The Seaman', the newspaper of the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union, are available arranged by the name of the individual and by the name of the ship.
Minutes
- Need: evidence of prominence within the union, positions held and dates.
The records of the British Seafarers鈥� Union form part of the National Union of Seamen archive.
Need: specific dates of going missing, injuries, involvement in shipping disasters, death (if prominent member).
Need: evidence of prominence within the union, positions held and dates.
The National Union of Seamen archive has archives of the following unions but none of them include membership records. Only union officials and prominent members are therefore likely to feature in these archives:
- minutes, publications, 1921-5
- reports, 1914, 1920
(Grimsby Steam Fishing Vessels鈥� Engineers鈥� and Firemen鈥檚 Union up to 1961)
NB This archive does not contain membership records
Need: evidence of prominence in the union (ie positions held and dates).
;
NB prior permission needed from the Transport and General Workers鈥� Union before access to unpublished material in this archive. Details are available from the Modern Records Centre.
Reference
Maritime Information: a guide to libraries and sources of information in the United Kingdom (Maritime Information Association, 2004);
Records of Merchant Shipping and Seamen by Kelvin Smith, Christopher T Watts and Michael J Watts
My Ancestor was a Merchant Seaman by Christopher T Watts and Michael J Watts.
Len Barnett, maritime researcher: