United Kingdom, Merchant Navy Seamen Records, 1835-1941
This collection includes Merchant Navy Seamen records held at The National Archives. The contents of the records vary, but they usually include name, age, place of birth, register ticket, ship names, and dates of voyages. These records come from The National Archives' record series BT112, BT113, BT114, BT115, BT116, BT119 and BT120.
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United Kingdom, Merchant Navy Seamen Records
What is in This Collection?
The collection is comprised in three series of seamen’s tickets.
- Series I began in 1835 and ended in 1836 (BT 120)
- Series II included 1835. It was kept until 1844. It is divided into the actual tickets (BT 112) which is arranged in numerical order and the index to the tickets (BT 119). It continues from 1845 to 1854 with tickets (BT 113) and an alphabetical register (BT 114). Within this register M’, Mc, and Mac surnames may be filed under “M” or under the names. For example: MacDuff may be filed under “M” or under “D”
- Series III covers the time period 1853 to 1857 in an alphabetical arrangement without index (BT 116)
The collection is in good condition with little damage to the volumes. These records contain information on all of the merchant seamen between 1835 and 1857.
An act of Parliament required agreements and crew lists to be filed with the Register Office of Merchant Seamen to create a means of manning the Royal Navy in wartime.
Registration of merchant seamen was provided for in the 1835 Merchant Shipping Act. Seamen were engaged by the voyage at this period, and there was no permanent merchant service. The registers were made up from the new returns of agreements and crew lists for each voyage. In 1857 the use of seamen’s registers was discontinued.
This collection includes records for the years 1835 to 1857.
Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.
What Can These Records Tell Me?
Series I, BT 120, 1835-1844, includes the following information:
- Ticket number
- Name with surname first, followed by the given name
- Age
- Place of birth
- Quality – whether a seaman, a master, a foreman, a carpenter, a mate (position on board the ship)
- Ship belonging to (name of the ship and the port it docked at such as London, Liverpool, etc.)
- How disposed of (in most cases nothing is mentioned. In some cases a desertion is noted with the date and the location)
Series II, BT 112 with index in BT 119, 1835-1844, includes the following information:
- Number
- Name, with surname first, then given name
- Age
- Place of birth
- Multiple fields for entering multiple voyages, which include a code for the ship’s name, and destination of the voyage
BT 113, 1845-1854, includes the following information:
- Ticket number
- Name with given name first followed by surname
- Place of birth
- County of birth
- Date of birth
- Capacity
- Height
- Hair color
- Complexion
- Eye color
- Marks
- First went to Sea as
- Year (first went to sea)
- Has served in the Royal Navy
- Has been in Foreign Service
- When unemployed, resides at
- Issued at (place ticket was issued)
- Date (ticket was issued)
- Age in 1845
- Age when ticketed
- Can write
- Multiple columns by year in order to record out voyages and return voyages. A ship number was used to indicate which ship the seaman sailed on.
BT 114, index to BT 113 includes the following information:
- Number of register ticket
- Name, surname first followed by given name
- Place of birth or residence
Series III, BT 116, 1853-1857 (no index) includes the following information:
- Name (given name first, followed by surname)
- Place of birth
- Age
- Multiple columns for each year
- Under each year column there are two columns, one for outbound voyages and one for return home voyages. The date and ship are entered into the columns for each voyage taken.
- Remarks
Collection Details
Location of Original Records
The National Archives
"United Kingdom, Merchant Navy Seamen Records, 1835-1941." Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 6 May 2025. From "Merchant Navy Seamen1835-1941." Database and images. findmypast. http://www.findmypast.com : n.d. Citing BT 112-116, 119-120. The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
