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Birth, Marriage, Death at Sea
Notice to Captains |
Offsite Links |
contributed
by Harry Dodsworth, May 01 2000 |
The Board of Trade (BoT) records (Public Record Office groups
BT158, BT159, BT160) which cover births, deaths and a few marriages
on
British
registered
ships
from 1854 to 1890 are available from the LDS on four films 1419469,
1419470, 1419471, 1419472. These are not well organised, or usefully
indexed and an event may be recorded on any one of the four reels.
However these are real registers (sometimes with gossippy comments)
which make for interesting reading.
Later BoT BMD records in group BT334 (1890 to 1972) don't appear
to have been filmed by the LDS.
These Board of Trade records were supposed to be passed to the Registrar
to be used in a GRO (General Register Office) series. Sometimes this
was not done, and sometimes entries were made directly to the GRO
so are absent from the BoT
registers. Also the GRO series started earlier.
GRO Births at sea from 1837 to 1965 are available on 56 microfiche;
however these are only indexes which contain names, dates and in
some years, ship names. LDS Fiche numbers 6137268 - 6137322 The LDS
Family Search Library Catalog will identify which fiche relates to
which year.
GRO Deaths at sea from 1837 to 1965 are on 160 microfiche, again
these are only indexes. LDS Fiche numbers 6137189 to 6137266. The
LDS Family Search Library Catalog will identify which fiche or fiches
relate to which year.
Observant readers may wonder what happened
to microfiche 6137267. This is listed separately as:
Index to informal
certificate of births at sea (1-41) 1839 - 1867
Marriages at sea were really rather rare and the GRO doesn't have
a separate series. There is an RG34 series of miscellaneous foreign
marriages for British nationals and at the end of the places named,
the list adds - and at sea. I've no idea how many 'at sea' marriages
are on the film. LDS have filmed these:
volume 1, 1826-1870 film number 1818071
volume 2, 1871-1895 1818072
volume 3, 1896-1900 1818073
volume 4, 1900-1905 1818074
Apparently BoT were passing marriage entries to the GRO but GRO were
not processing these and were actually denying they had them! (source: mariners list)
The LDS catalog lists many other record groups which may contain
a few BMD at sea events but the above seem the most likely. Note
that these records generally refer to events on British registered
ships whether the people are British or not. Also the ships need
not have been trading between British (Empire) ports; so a birth
on a Cunarder sailing from Trieste
to New York may be recorded.
I'd like to thank Debbie Beavis of the Mariners List for supplying
the information about record groups but the connection to LDS numbers
is my work, so please blame me if the film or fiche numbers are wrong.
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LDS Film Numbers |
extracted
from the First Annual Report of the Registrar General of Births,
Deaths,
and Marriages
in England, published 1839 |
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Notice to all Captains and Commanding Officers of British Vessels
respecting Registry of Birth and Deaths at Sea. [circa
1837] |
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The Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages
in England, hereby directs the attention of all Captains or Commanding
Officers of
British Vessels to the following Provisions of the
Act of the 6th and 7th of William IV. cap. 86, entitled " An
Act for Registering Births, Deaths, and Marriages in England.
" namely :—
In the 21st Section it is enacted, " That if any Child of
an English Parent shall be born at Sea, on board a British
Vessel, the Captain or Commanding Officer of the Vessel on
board of which the said Child shall have been born shall forthwith
make a Minute of the several Particulars herein-before required
to be inserted in the Register touching the Birth of such Child,
so far as the same may be known, and the name of the Vessel
wherein the Birth took place, and shall, on the arrival of
the Vessel in any Port of the United Kingdom, or by any other
sooner opportunity, send a Certificate of the said Minute,
through the Post-Office, to the Registrar-General. "
The following are the Schedules containing the particulars
required to be inserted in the Register, so far as the same
may be known :—
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183 |
.—BIRTH of a Child at Sea, on Board of [here
name the Vessel] |
When
Born |
Name
if any. |
Sex |
Name and
Surname
of Father |
Name and
Maiden
Surname of
Mother |
Rank or
Profession
of Father |
Signature,
Description,
and Residence
of Infomant. |
When
Regis-
tered |
Signature
of
Registrar *
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Baptismal
Name,
if added after Registration
of Birth. |
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* Instead of the Registrar, let
the Captain or Commanding Officer here sign his name |
183 |
.—DEATH at Sea, on Board of [here
name the Vessel] |
When
Died |
Name and
Surname |
Sex |
Age |
Rank or
Profession |
Cause
of Death |
Signature,
Description,
and Residence
of Infomant. |
When
Registered |
Signature
of
Registrar * |
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* Instead of the Registrar, let
the Captain or Commanding Officer here sign his name |
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The word " English " includes only Natives of England and Wales.
The word " British " includes Vessels belonging to all parts
of the British Empire.
The Minute may be made in the Ships's Log, and the Certificate
of the Minute shall be a true copy of it, with the following
words, or others to the like effect, subscribed :—
" I hereby Certify that this is a true copy
of the Minute made in the Log of on
the day of 18 .
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Witness my hand this day
of 18 . |
(Signed) |
Captain (or Commanding Officer) of
[Here state the name
of the Vessel] |
Such Certificate to be sent through the Post-Office, directed—
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To the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and
Marriages, |
General-Register Office,
London. " |
Offsite Links: some
commercial
Births,
Marriages and Deaths at Sea (the National Archives, Kew)
Marine
births and deaths (findmypast.com)
Index of Marriages at Sea in the Public
Record Office 1854 to 1972 (onsite)
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Last updated: June 05, 2007 and maintained by
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