Could you give us his full name, date and place of birth?
John Francis/Kevin Scollay
19/29 September 1925
Cushendall, co. Antrim
I searched the available on line Merchant Navy personal records and there is no mention of him. That is
not to say he was not a Merchant Seaman, only that if he was the records that are on line, have not survived. This is not unusual as many were destroyed in the 1950's.
For what it's worth, I feel he was MN and the photograph was taken in the 1950's.
All I can advise is that you try and get hold of his form CRS 10. A standard form (CRS 10) relates to the service of individual merchant seamen and lists the ships on which they served with relevant dates.
The CRS 10s give personal details of each seaman; the front page of the service entries includes:
name;
date of birth;
place of birth;
discharge A number;
rank or rating, with relevant certificate details;
details of any other qualifications;
date CRS 10 first page was created;
British Seamen's Identity Card Notations. The entries refer to correspondence and issuing of cards, certificates, applications etc. The originals in general do not survive except where they have been filed in the seaman's pouch.
The continuation pages show:
a list of ships and their official numbers with date and place of engagement;
rank or rating;
F or H (for Foreign or Home trade voyage);
date and place of discharge from the ship;
character grade;
National Insurance contribution code;
Registry clerk's initials and date of the entry;
when ashore the sheet may bear the entry MNRP (Merchant Navy Reserve Pool) with date and place.
This information about service was extracted from ship's logs and crew agreements lodged by ship owners. The information contained in the register is used to verify entitlement to wartime service medals.
The Fifth Register was maintained in a number of parts or sub-series as follows:
Part 1: European origin mainly : covering mainly Europeans and mainly the period from 1941 to approximately 1946, although some late 1940s and 1950s records can also be found. Pieces BT 382/1-2022 and BT 382/3289.
Part 2: European origin mainly: covering mainly Europeans and mainly the period from 1946 to 1972., although some records covering the Second World War period can also be found. From piece BT 382/2023.
These forms are stored alphabetically in blocks of 60 names. So a visit to the national archive is your best move. They are not available on line.
If he was MN his form CRS 10 should be here.
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_st=adv&_cr1=bt382%2F2881&_dss=range&_ro=anyif not here.
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_st=adv&_cr1=bt382%2F1593&_dss=range&_ro=any