"Blue hair" in the Royal Navy

[ritthichai]

One of my ancestors was a stoker in HMS James Watt, and in the muster he is listed as having run off (not quite the same as deserted, apparently) on 22 January 1855. Intriguingly, his description suggests he had blue hair (see picture).

Does anyone know if blue hair was a tradition in the 19th-century Royal Navy? Or have I misinterpreted the description?

[IrishOrigins]

Looks to me as though the colours had been initially entered in the wrong order and that numbers had been added after the words "Hair" and "eyes" later to show which entry should have gone where.

If that's the case then it should read "hair - brown; eyes - blue".

It's quite possible I've misinterpreted here, but it's a thought.

Philippa

 

[HeatherLynne]

I agree with Philippa    although blue hair would be more interesting! 

Heather

[Deb D]

One doubts they would have found him, when he "ran off", with that description to go by 

[crimea1854]

Hi

If he served on HMS James Watt then he may be entitled to the Baltic Medal, however, if he did Run (which does mean deserted) then this may have been forfeited.

Martin