Sea Burial - William Collings

[Cathy]

Trying to help a distant relly.

William Collings, Master Mariner, said to be buried at sea.

His son John Collings, b.c.1881 is said to remember his father being buried at sea when he was a small boy.

I have no other info or dates except the son John married Coatbridge 1908 and died 1929 Glasgow.

Does anyone know how to follow up a sea burial?

[LesleyB]

Hi Cathy
The only thing I can think of is to follow up the ship's manifest - the death may be noted (one person I was following was noted as having died at sea, no mention of "burial" at sea, but he must have been as the body was not brought back to port) His death was mentioned at NRH - but was not online as far as I remember as it was in the Marine Registers:
http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/famrec/h ... flet1.html

Marine register of births and deaths (from 1855) and Air register (from 1948). Births and deaths on British-registered merchant vessels at sea or in British-registered aircraft in any part of the world, where it appears that one of the child's parents or the deceased person was usually resident in Scotland.

From there, as the name of the ship was given I was able to find the Ship's manifest (held at the Maritime History Archive Memorial University of Newfoundland, http://www.mun.ca/mha ) which gave me a little more information. (though not what I was looking for; a next of kin to confirm his identity)

Just for general info too:

• The Maritime History Archive holds approximately 75 percent of the surviving crew agreements and official log books of British registered vessels for the periods 1863-1938 and 1951-1976. The National Archives, Kew, has retained all surviving documents prior to 1861, as well as a 10 percent sample in the 1861-1938 and 1951-1976 periods. All surviving documents for 1861-1862 and years ending in "5" (e.g. 1885) are held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

Best wishes
Lesley

[Hugh Stevely]

If you had an ancestor who served in the British Merchant Navy, you can trace these records at the National Archives, Kew. Before 1835 the records are hard to trace, but from 1835-1857 you will find the records in the registers of seamen. These are listed by date under BT 112, BT 113, BT 114, BT 116 and BT 120. The entries are arranged alphabetically and give date and place of birth, as well as a physical description.

From 1857-1913 there was no official registration of Merchant Seamen, but you can trace the service records from 1913-1941 in BT 350 and BT 364. However, unfortunately there are few surviving records for the years 1913 to 1920



If your ancestor served in the Royal Navy, you can see these records at the National Archives, Kew. Registration of naval ratings was centralised in 1853, and the National Archives has records available from 1853 to 1923. There is an index to service numbers in ADM 139, and from this, you can access the records in ADM 188 (they are arranged by service number). Service records after 1923 are still held by the Ministry of Defence and are only available to the person who served, or their next of kin.

Hugh.

[Cathy]

Thanks Lesley and Hugh. I'll follow these up.