Merchant Seaman

[Marina26]

We have been told that my Great Great Grandfather John Queen/Quinn worked on the cargo ships sometime after 1895 when my GG Grandmother died, he cannot be found in the 1901 and 1911 census, and his children were in St Mary's in Glasgow in the 1901 census, he died in Glasgow in 1921.

Would it be possible to find out if he was on the cargo ships, and if so how would I go about finding out?

Thanks

Marina

[seaweed]

Researching Merchant seamen from that era is always very difficult because there were no central MN personal records kept from 1857 until 1913. The MN personal records for the period of the First World War have been destroyed.
Could you give at date and place of birth please and any relevent details such as discharge number, name of a ship etc. Anything to narrow down the search.

[ayrgenes]

On the National Archives site, done a search and found a John Queen, born Greenock 1879. It's pay per view if thats him (£3.36) to view his medal card 1914-1925. No John Quinn.

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=D7964730

Davie

[Marina26]

Thanks Seaweed and Davie

It was a shot in the dark, we know very little about him apart from what appears on the census returns and his childrens birth certificates, from that we guessed that he was born in 1867 in Ireland and that his parents were John and Janet Queen. 

It's very frustrating, my Uncle had been told by my Gran that he went to sea, thought it was possible they kept records with more info, as I said a shot in the dark.



Marina