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Shirley and Sheila,Merchant seaman records

ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

Blue1

Blue1 Report 27 Sep 2012 12:56

Hi,
does any one know if I can search these records within the free trial offer that Find My Past gives please.

Thanks
Blue1

Shirley~I,m getting the hang of it

Shirley~I,m getting the hang of it Report 27 Sep 2012 14:05

Not sure .you can only try ! have you already taken up the free offer? if not then we can take a look for you if you give names

sheila7

sheila7 Report 27 Sep 2012 14:27

Shirley i have just been on FMP and entered name i was looking for in Merchant navy and it gave info plus a document to download didnt even have to click for free trial
Sheila

Blue1

Blue1 Report 27 Sep 2012 15:27

Hi Shirley and Sheila,
sorry for not getting back sooner,I'm having problems with my PC.

I'm looking for the records of John Urquhart born 1906 Aberdeenshire.

I did a search +- 2 years and this came up

URQUHART John 1905 R65156 VIEW
URQUHART John R110164 VIEW
URQUHART J 996012 VIEW

however I can't view without a sub of some sort

So, I would appreciate some help,even though stricktly speaking I'm not supposed to ask on this board?

Thanks
Blue1

Shirley~I,m getting the hang of it

Shirley~I,m getting the hang of it Report 27 Sep 2012 17:01

Not sure what those records are you posted

When did he die ?

Tenerife Sun

Tenerife Sun Report 27 Sep 2012 20:22

They are from FMP and don't really tell you anything.

R65156 Bonhill Dunbartonshire born 1905 height 5'11" hair and eyes brown.

110164 stamped M M Office Dock Street E1. Written on it 'deceased'

996012 Stamped M M Office Leith 05/05/1922 SS Cairncowan of Newcastle.

989099 Leith age 52 stamped with date 04/05/1938


So not very helpful...

Blue1

Blue1 Report 28 Sep 2012 11:00

Tenerife Sun
thank you so much for taking the time to look for me.
I was rather hoping that the 1905 one was my granddad,but,the place of birth is wrong,so not him and none of the others match.

It's a shame,I have a lovely phot of him in uniform with my Gran and two of her sisters so along with family stories I know he was in the Merchant Navy.
Looks like when I can get to London I shall have to have a go at the Marine records at Kew.

Thanks again

Thanks also to Shirley for getting back to me.My Granddad died in London in 1967 so he made it through the war thank goodness.

Blue1

CuriousFish

CuriousFish Report 28 Sep 2012 14:15

Have you tried the records ar National Archives. My grandfatehr was also a merchant seaman. At the archives I was able to find a few of the ships the was sailing on . You could also try the medal rolls .
I have a sub to Ancestry and have located a possible match for your John Urquhart . Did he marry Catherine Anderson Geddes

Blue1

Blue1 Report 29 Sep 2012 11:17

Hi CuriousFish,

thanks for replying to my thread.
Yes my Gran was Catherine Geddes.I wonder if the link you have found is to my tree,Urquhart family treejan2009.

I'm in Cornwall so a long way from the archives.
I've promised my self a trip to it, but I will have to be a bit more organised than I am and create a list of things I need to look at.
Several of my ancestors were in the Merchant Navy,out of NE of Scotland, and one of my husbands ancestors was in the Royal Navy in the 1800's so need to check him out also.

I believe my Granddad was in the Russian convoys and one of his ships was hit by a Sub,that's a family story which I need to try and verify.

So many of my Scottish ancestors worked at sea that I will be at the archives for some time,to be honest I'm finding it a bit daunting and worry that I'll waste time faffing about.

Thanks again for your input

Blue1

CuriousFish

CuriousFish Report 29 Sep 2012 22:17

Hi Blue 1
The entry on ancestry is by alastaircairns.
So your John would have served in WWII
Yes you are a little way from the Archives. you can search online a bit though, which might save you some time once you get there. I got no hits on his name at nat archives when i did a basic search
My grandfather was on a ship that was supposedly sunk by an 'internal bomb planted by volunteer labour in Australia .The family story was that the captain had sealed orders to be opened after leaving Oz, when they were supposed to be heading back to UK. The orders sent them to NZ, the 'bomb' when of when they were off the coast of Nz and all the crew were saved.
What actually happened was that it hit a mine laid by the German mine layer Wolf.
Cheers