What did the client ask for?
As the heading says the client wanted to learn about the vessels her Father served on during WW2. They specifically wanted to know where these vessels had sailed and the conditions of service during this time.
What I needed from the client
Most clients know a little of their relative’s career, perhaps when they started and finished and where they were based. On this occassion the client knew the name of one vessel, which was a great help as their father’s service on this ship was at the end of his service and this enabled me to work backwards in time, which is what one must do for merchant seamen career searches.
What did I do?
This commission involved using records that are found at The National Archives in Kew, London. They hold the collection of ‘seaman’s pouches’, which are envelopes containing information about the seaman and the vessels he served on, though unfortunately they often do not give the full story.
Vessels are always referred to, and catalogued by, an official number rather than a name. Using this number I am able to search for, locate and then view crewlists. On the crewlist I will manually search for the seaman’s name and thus can obtain the dates of his voyage and the where it sailed from and to.
During WW2 the government kept detailed records of merchant shipping on ‘movement cards’. These are a wonderful resource as they tell us exactly where the vessel went and when it arrived and departed. Sometimes they will also include details of what the vessel was carrying and any incidents that occured.
What did the client receive?
From this research the client received a report. A merchant seaman’s career report would normally contain a timeline of the vessels they served on, details of each voyage and photos of the vessels. On this occasion I had been tasked with also providing an indication of the conditions that the seaman would have had to endure and to this end I included information about this aspect and gave links to further reading.
In addition to the written report the client was given electronic copies, usually photographs, of all the documents that I inspected. These included crewlists and movement cards.
What did this cost the client?
The period under investigation was relatively short and only three vessels needed to be researched so not a great deal of time was spent at The National Archives. There was the additional aspect of the conditions to consider so that added to the time needed to create the report. To read the report click here.
The total cost was £500.
All research undertaken is based upon information supplied by the client. If the information supplied is not sufficient or incorrect then I can make no guarantees to find further information to build their story. Furthermore I am unable to guarantee that records pertaining to their family are 100% accurate or even exist!
Where necessary I will undertake a short initial search and if nothing is found I will contact them in the first instance. If they have paid for a number of hours in advance then I will refund any unused hours.