Royal Navy records (pre WW1)

[junev]

Hi,

Just in case...

There is a Samuel Whitworth, a collier, who served in the Royal North Lancs reg, right age, for 12 years - his father is Samuel, brother Major, wife Bestey

Junev

[Peter J]

I have now been able to search the NA site for Samuel - no luck with the RN records under 'Samuel Whitworth', 'Sam Whitworth', 'S. Whitworth' or just plain 'Whitworth'.

His Army MIC is listed, but nothing for the Royal Navy.

[ASheriff]

Hi,

Just in case...

There is a Samuel Whitworth, a collier, who served in the Royal North Lancs reg, right age, for 12 years - his father is Samuel, brother Major, wife Bestey

Junev

Thanks junev - I'll look into that.

And PJ, thanks for your efforts, looks like it will remain a mystery.

[Peter J]

Have you tried varying the spelling of Samuel's surname during searches, or 'wildcarding' it?

PJ

[ASheriff]

PJ, nope. I haven't. I'll throw some hours at that.

One last gasp...
It says he served 12 years. Is that likely to mean he joined at 16 and did his 10 year engagement starting at age 18? If so it might give me a date of entry into Navy.

Second, in the "Why can't I find an entry?" section on the NA site it states

Service records for ratings issued with CS numbers 1- 40,000 (including those with an A or B suffix) are found within pieces ADM 188/1-4, which are not searchable by name. You can download these records free of charge and scroll through the documents, which are similar to indexes in appearance.

Does anybody know enough about this stuff to know if he might be in there? I gather CS numbers are for "Continuous Service" which if he did 12 years it's likely he did.

Ta.

[ASheriff]

To answer my own question it looks like those records end in the mid-late 1860's
My guess is Samuel Whitworth joined in 1890 if indeed he did join!

[Peter J]

If he joined the Navy aged 16, his twelve year service would have commenced when he became eighteen. As a boy rating, his elevation to Ordinary Seaman would have only begun at eighteen; prior to this he would have been classed as a Boy Seaman 2nd Class and 1st Class as he progressed until he reached eighteen.

PJ