Friday 6 April 2012

Maritime records released by FindmyPast

From FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

FINDMYPAST.CO.UK PUBLISHES NEW TITANIC RECORDS

· Over a million Maritime birth, marriage and death records published in association with The National Archives

· White Star Line Officers’ books that were due to be destroyed made available online for the first time

Leading family history website findmypast.co.uk has published two new fascinating sets of records, which include information about the passengers and crew aboard the Titanic’s ill-fated maiden voyage. The Maritime birth, marriage and death records and White Star Line Officers' books are both available from today.

Debra Chatfield, family historian at findmypast.co.uk, said: “These fantastic new additions to findmypast.co.uk will be of immense value not only to people with ancestors who were employed at sea, but also to anyone who has been struggling to find a record of an ancestor’s birth, marriage or death. There has never been a single centralised register of births, marriages and deaths at sea, so many of the names listed in these records will not appear in the information already available online.”

Maritime births, marriages and deaths

Search for your ancestors in vivid full colour scans of the original documents recording births, marriages and deaths at sea. In addition to these, births, marriages and deaths associated with seafaring occupations are recorded – not just events that took place at sea. The Maritime death records include a list of the Titanic crew members and passengers who died at sea.

Our new online collection is published in association with The National Archives and brings together 30 different record types from 10 different record series held at The National Archives.

Types of records, number and date range:
  • Births – 38,990 records covering the years 1867-1960
  • Marriages – 37,538 records covering the years 1854-1972
  • Deaths – 949,890 records covering the years 1794-1964

The information the records contain will vary, but they will usually include a combination of the following:

Births: Child’s name, date of birth, place of birth (could be a ship name), father’s name, father’s rank, father’s place of birth, father’s last address, mother’s name, mother’s place of birth, mother’s last address.

Marriages: Name, rank, age, last address, spouse’s name, father’s name, date of marriage, place of marriage (could be a ship name), names of children.

Deaths: Name, rank, age, date of death, place of death (could be a ship name), cause of death, last address, place of birth.

White Star Line Officers' books

View full colour scans of the original service records of White Star Line officers and commanders, including all the officers on board the Titanic.

The collection comprises 1,042 records covering the years 1868 – 1934. Ron Warwick, a now-retired former employee (and former ship's captain) of White Star Line, rescued the books when they were being thrown out by the company.

The information for each officer includes date and place of birth, address, details of his apprenticeship, the names and dates of the ships served upon and the date he left the company.

The White Star Line Officers’ books include an original colour scan of the Titanic’s Captain Edward Smith's employment record, listing all the ships he served on and when. You can also see the note in red ink which tells us he was 'Lost in "Titanic" Apl 15th, 1912'.

Search other Titanic records at findmypast.co.uk

As well as these two new collections, you can also search for your Titanic ancestors in our passenger lists leaving the UK 1890-1960 and our Merchant Navy seamen records, both published in association with The National Archives. You won't find a more comprehensive set of Titanic records anywhere else.

Visit www.findmypast.co.uk to find out more about our Titanic records and discover your own connection to the infamous ship today.

(With thanks to Amy Sell)

Chris

British GENES on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES and Twitter @chrismpaton

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