Seaweed - the story of jumping ship could be just that - he may have been trying to impress his kids with the story. I've since heard that there was talk that he made his way to Canada. I think I need to get a detailed timeline of all his trips (whether fictional or not) and perhaps from that I / we can glean some solid information. It's definitely Merchant Navy and Dorsetshire Regiment and Deffo naturalised in Boston when he was in his 30s.
