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 Help needed please
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| circlevision |
Posted on 19/02/2011 16:57
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 New Member  Posts: 8 Joined: 19/02/2011 |
I am new to trying to find coastguard historical info. I have managed to trace ancestor to the cruiser Harriett out of Gourock; he then upsticks for Ireland bringing his family with him. I can find the two birth records for his children at Bunbeg and Inniscoo but nothing further about him and his life in Ireland. His name was Archibald Mcnish (Mc Nish) originally from Campbeltown Argyll, 1861 vessels the Harriett Gourock, then a stint in Donegal, till around 1891 when he returned to Scotland. If anyone can point me in the right direction much appreciated jayne |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 19/02/2011 21:22
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 Administrator  Posts: 905 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Hi Jayne, and welcome to the Forum. If you have not done so yet your best bet is to download his service record from the National Archives. There are two available, one pre the other post 1873. Neither will provide any family information, but they should provide clues as to where to look for further possible births of any children. There are likely to be a number of ships listed prior to entry into the Coastguard Service, a check of their Description Books at the NA could also provide a clue as to when he married, because they include details of marital status, assuming of course that you don't already have this information! http://www.nation...diaarray=* Finally there are the ADM 175 records that can be downloaded for free from the NA, but again these provide no family information. Martin |
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| circlevision |
Posted on 19/02/2011 22:00
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New Member Posts: 8 Joined: 19/02/2011 |
Thank you so much for that link - where did I go wrong? I found the coast guard cruisier record prior to 1865 but couldnt find the man himself? I have others in the family to trace as coast guards - so pls how do I get records against an individual name? I already have the family info. so hopefully should be able to start building a picture of the life they led - is there any site which would carry descriptions of the coastguard locations in Donegal? Is there any means to post back any info. to help others? thank you again - am now going to view the records (I hope!) jayne |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 19/02/2011 22:28
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Administrator Posts: 905 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Jayne Here's the link to the NA Search facility http://www.nation...ueryType=1, the date column is the date/year of birth given by the man when he signed-up. For the location of CG Stations in Donegal go to this and the next page of the site http://www.coastg...page_id=29, but once you've downloaded his post 1873 service record, this should have the names of the stations he served at. Martin . Edited by crimea1854 on 21/02/2011 11:26 |
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| circlevision |
Posted on 20/02/2011 19:27
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New Member Posts: 8 Joined: 19/02/2011 |
Hi Martin Thank you so much for your help - those records were fantastic! Navy then coastguard records. I have too admit being totally stumped though - I followed your link to seamans servies and keyed in names and date of birth I was looking for , found nothing - ok I might be wrong re-- occupation; so I tried Archibalds details and again came up with nothing. All I keyed was 2 x name and date of birth range? I also have failed (bad day after yesterday) finding the coastguard stations listed against Archibald - Valiant Melroy, Taleant Melroy, Ballycastle, Kilcredone, Shannon , Seafield? What am I missing pls? Sorry for all the questions - I feel v.stupid J |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 20/02/2011 20:13
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Administrator Posts: 905 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Jayne The trouble is that signing up for Continuous Service did not become compulsory until 1873, therefore if the man you are looking for served prior to this date he might not even have a service record. Why you cannot find Archibald might be due to you inputing too much info.! I would be inclined to stick to names only, but as I've found before just an added 'e' on the end of a name means no result. If you would like to PM the names and any other details of the men you are seeking, I will see what I can find. On the CG stations, Valiant was not a station but a ship. The later period of CG records were arranged by 'Ships Books'. Each land based CG Station being affiliated to a ship that was the administrative centre for a CG District, Ireland had two such Districts, Limerick and Kingstown, therefore two ships. Men were expected to undertake training on their ship, and in the event of a national crisis serve on that ship in defence of the country. Martin |
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| circlevision |
Posted on 21/02/2011 10:46
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New Member Posts: 8 Joined: 19/02/2011 |
Hi Martin Success! Too much info. was the problem. I have my other records. Thank you for explaining re-the coastguard locations - sorry another question! How do I link the ships to the landbases pls?? Jayne |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 21/02/2011 11:24
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Administrator Posts: 905 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Jayne I'm glad you have eventually found your men. On the questions of ships and their stations, for Ireland there is almost a diagonal line running from the bottom south west up to top north east corner of the country, to the left of this line is Limerick District and to the right Kingstown District. Once you've established which district your land based station falls into you need to consult the ADM 175 index on the National Archives website - under each District you will see a list of ships and their dates. I hope that this all make sense!! Martin |
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| circlevision |
Posted on 21/02/2011 12:49
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New Member Posts: 8 Joined: 19/02/2011 |
ahhh all become clear - thankyou. I will go consult the records; thankyou again J` |
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| circlevision |
Posted on 21/02/2011 17:43
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New Member Posts: 8 Joined: 19/02/2011 |
Sorry Martin - hope you get this more questions I am afraid; which I hope you can help with please. I found the stations all listed for Archibald as you said - but his name isnt against any of them; do you think its because he was there 'late' ie Ballycastle 82-85?? Couldnt find the Valiant or Trafalgar anywhere. Then things got worse - found the Hogue and Lion but his name wasnt listed against any of the stations or the ship itself. Worse in 1861 census he is listed as being on the cruiser 'Harriett' - and yes his name is there , but the Harriett isnt listed against his records??? I am going to recheck the Hogue and Lion. Any thoughts you may have v.gratefully received. J |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 22/02/2011 08:04
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Administrator Posts: 905 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Jayne The Ships' Book series of records will only take you up to the late 1870's, the later books do not appear to have survived, and you then have to rely on the man's service record. HMS Valiant was in the Limerick District from 1868-1878 and can be found in ADM 175/53, 54 and 55. HMS Trafalgar was in the Leith District 1864-67 (ADM 175/47) and Lough Swilly District 1868-69 (ADM 175/61). It would really help if I could see the actual records. Martin |
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| circlevision |
Posted on 22/02/2011 09:23
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New Member Posts: 8 Joined: 19/02/2011 |
Hi Martin many thanks for this - did you get the email with the 2 x pdf's of service? Are these the records you are after or something different? Happy to send what ever we have! j |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 23/02/2011 09:30
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Administrator Posts: 905 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Jayne I've now had a chance to look at AMcN service records, and from these found him in the ADM 175 CG records. If you have not already done so you will find him here: ADM 175/61 pdf 153 of 230 ADM 175/53 pdf 339 of 423 ADM 175/54 pdf 267 of 282 ADM 175/55 pdf 273 of 313 at this point the ADM 175 series stops. From his record it would appear that he was Quarter Master on HMS Trafalgar as part of the standing crew, prior to transferring to the CG Service, with a first posting to Rutland CG Station. Also at the top of the ADM 139 record under entry it has the initials 'FE', this indicates First Entry to the Navy. Since he was immediately rated an Able Seaman he must have had prior sea service in the Merchant Navy. I think my next move would be to try and establish if, and where, he was issued a Seamans Ticket, and from this see if I could trace his merchant service. Unfortunately this can only be done at the National Archives. I also see from his record that he was awarded the RN Long Service Good Conduct Medal in 1875. Regards Martin |
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| circlevision |
Posted on 23/02/2011 12:38
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New Member Posts: 8 Joined: 19/02/2011 |
Martin Thankyou so much for this - its very kind. The wealth of info you have found is fantastic. I wont have much chance to follow up till after the weekend - but will certainly start to look at those records and try and follow the thread of where I went wrong in not finding them!! Will let you knw how I get on. Have a great weekend Jayne Merged on 30/09/2018 11:20:58: Hi Martin Hope this reaches you.... if you recall the above thread we managed to obtain the medal you mention last week... its on its way! Have you any suggestions on where to look for photos as it would be great to try and find some of the crew/theman himself? Best Jayne Edited by circlevision on 30/09/2018 11:20 |
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| crimea1854 |
Posted on 30/09/2018 16:10
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Administrator Posts: 905 Joined: 09/07/2007 |
Jayne Congratulations on finding and acquiring his long service medal, quite an accomplishment! On the issue of photographs you will be extremely lucky to find one, but you could do an online search of the National Maritime Museum archive, the catalogue of the National Archives itself and even the Queens own collection of photographs using the ship's name. Martin |
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