Mars Training Ship Dundee

WilmaM · Post by **WilmaM** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 4:10 pm

The BBC had an article this morning about the Mars Training Ship that was moored in the River Tay and used to house and train orphans or street boys from the city.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tay ... 716431.stm

They say they have discharge books for the boys complete with follow-up records, and the plan is to trace each boy and post the details on the Internet.

It doesn't say where but it sounds intriguing if you have 'lost boys' from that area.

gordie · Post by **gordie** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:18 pm

Hi

My maternal grandfather served in the Royal Navy from 1895 to 1907 and one of the ships he served on was HMS Mars ( 1897 to 1898 ). Obviously it must have been a replacement for the one anchored in the river Tay.
If you Google " hms mars " ( without the quotes ) you will find a history of the ship with lots of old pictures of the ship and it's crew.
In fact the site has a wealth of information on Naval shipping with pictures of ships and their crews.
Who knows somebody might find a picture of a naval relative.

Gordie

scotmum · Post by **scotmum** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:29 am

I discovered from the 1881 Census that a son of one of my ancestors seems to have been on the Mars. Dundee Local History Library suggested to me about a year ago that the records of the Mars are administered by a chap called Brian Anderson. They gave me contact details and I did write, but heard nothing back. A good picture can be found at:

http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/photodb/wc2146.htm

scotmum · Post by **scotmum** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:43 am

Aha, have found the site connected, I believe, to the author mentioned in the article in the first post:

http://www.sonsofthemars.com/

and it returns 4 matches to the surname I am interested in. I have sent a contact mail to them to ask how to get more details as, given the forenames returned, it looks possible that it is the chap I found on the 1881 plus his three brothers.

UPDATE:

Have discovered they do a research service for £20. Will have to leave it for time being. Perhaps one day.

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:52 am

Well done, Scotmum!

Adam Brown · Post by **Adam Brown** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 1:04 pm

For photographs of the Mars TS Memorial at Woodhaven see here:

http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=305

Regards

Adam