An introduction to the Merchant Navy
Britain’s Mercantile Marine Service has a long and complex history. Unlike the Royal Navy and the British Army, the Merchant Navy (as it has been officially known since the 1920s) has never been a single organisation.
Yet in the 19th century, much of the administration relating to the ships and the men who served on them became the responsibility of central government through the Board of Trade and the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, and the records created by these organisations and by various private companies allow us to uncover the fascinating stories of our merchant navy ancestors.
At the beginning of the 19th century, most merchant seamen were employed by private individuals, many of whom would have owned just one vessel. It wasn’t until the advent of steam in the middle of the century that large shipping companies came to the fore and began to become major employers. During this period, the workforce consisted almost entirely of men.
Decoding an entry in Lloyd's Register
In this case, the entry tells us that the was a Brig (Bg) with a hull that had been sheathed in 1802 (s The Captain or Master was and the tonnage (i.e.The had a single deck with beams (SDB); the abbreviations tell us that the deck was new in 1802 and that new ‘upper works’ had also been built then. She had been built in years ago and the owner (or at least the majority shareholder) was called The number in the next column indicates the ‘Feet of the Draught of Water when loaded’. The latest voyage was between Hull and Lisbon (Hl Her overall classification was – i.e. a Second Class vessel with First Class ‘materials’ – the survey having been carried out in April 1802 (denoted by the figure ‘4’).
