Help tracing naval record, please!

[Goldhain]

Hi, I'm trying to find out more about my g g grandfather, William Webb, who was born 1832 in Eling, Hants & died 1906 in Ringwood, Hants.  Although he started and ended his working life as an ag lab/farmer, his 1859 marriage certificate gives his occupation as 'Stoker, Royal Navy' and the 1861 census as 'Mariner'. 

Can anyone help me with info or pointers to find out more online.  Unfortunately, it was a very popular name! 

Thank you, Pippa

[seaweed]

Others may tell you about his Royal Navy service.
I can find on FindMyPast Merchant Navy records 1854-1857 for a William Webb born Eling in 1832.
He sailed on various ships mostly London registered. The hand writting is terrible but two I can make out are SOLENT official number 13883 and INDUS o/n 13884.
Both of these vessels were steam powered. I am just wondering, if it were him, if he served in the Merchant Navy before entering the RN. Stoker would be a RN rank related to steam powered vessels, and then returned to the MN. Mariner usually, though not always, referred to Merchant Seamen.
Relevent  MN Crew Agreements are stored in Series BT98 at the National Archive.

[Goldhain]

Seaweed, thank you so much for your time & interest in finding this out for me. 

Yes, I think that this record relates to my gggrandfather and that your theory is probably correct.  I haven't been to TNA, Kew before but will make the trip to look at the RN records asap.  I gather that the Merchant Navy was seen as a reserve of sailors for the RN. 

Thanks again, Pippa

[jds1949]

The NA has 17 naval records relating to William Webbs born in Hampshire - see:

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/s/res?discoveryCustomSearch=true&_fn=William&_ln=Webb&_no=&_pl=Hampshire&_sdb=&_edb=&_ser=ADM+139&_ser=ADM+188&_col=online&_dt=R&image1.x=42&image1.y=8&image1=GO

jds1949

[seaweed]

Seaweed, thank you so much for your time & interest in finding this out for me. 

Yes, I think that this record relates to my gggrandfather and that your theory is probably correct.  I haven't been to TNA, Kew before but will make the trip to look at the RN records asap.  I gather that the Merchant Navy was seen as a reserve of sailors for the RN. 

Thanks again, Pippa

The registration of seamen was introduced under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1835, to allow the Government to identify individual seamen able to serve as reserve sailors for the Royal Navy. To meet this need, the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen initially compiled indexed registers of seamen from the crew lists  and then issued each individual with a 'seaman's' or 'master's' ticket.
If you are going to Kew, bear in mind that your GGGrandfather may not have served in the RN. The registrar who wrote the details on his marriage certificate, may have made the assumption that he was RN.
Seamen sometimes gave an earlier DOB so as to qualify for enhanced rates of pay
If you look at the links given by jds1949, none of them come close with date or place of birth.
All I am saying is keep an open mind.
If I were you. I would first of all check out the details of him on FindMyPast just in case you can see something I may have missed.
If they have survived. The Crew agreements of SOLENT for 1855 (the year he sailed on Her) should be in piece BT98/4244. For INDUS 1856 BT98/4588.
Central MN Personal records 1857-1913 were not kept.

[crimea1854]

Pippa

You need to bear in mind is that signing up for Continuous Service (CS) in the Royal Navy did not become compulsory until 1873, and although CS was first introduced in 1853, men who did not sign-up were free to move between the RN and the Merchant Navy, although this meant a lower rate of pay than CS men. The service records available on the National Archives are only for those men who did signed-up for CS.

It therefore follows that your man may well have served in the RN, but without the name of at least one ship it will be almost impossible to trace his service.

Martin

[Goldhain]

Thank you jds1949, Seaweed & Martin for the extra info.  I agree that none of the discovery.nationalarchives William Webbs' details tie in with my man's but note that this record would not have shown him if he was a non-CS man.  Oh, I hadn't even thought that the reference to Royal Navy in the marriage certificate could be a red herring.  As suggested, I'll have another look at the FindMyPast details (yes, Seaweed, appalling handwriting!).  Thanks also for the Crew Agreement references.  Martin, I take your point that the name of a RN ship my ancestor served on, if he did, is needed to find out more about him.

Thank y'all, Pippa