1907 Crew List lookup for the 'Lizzie Ellen' Official No. 69851

[seaweed]

As it happens I am away on the same date flying from Heathrow. As Kew is just down the road, I will kill two birds with one stone and contact you on your/my return.
I have found a couple of on line crew agreements for 1908 on FindMyPast relating to a J Champion born 1888 on board the Brixham registered vessel WAVE. O/N 51347. He gives his previous ship as LIZZIE ELLEN and his birthplace as Appledore.
Don't know if this is one of your men.

[chrisc]

Hi Seaweed,

Yes I sure the J Champion in this record is one of my ancestors. The vessel I believe is the 'Waft', I have copies of the Crew Agreements for Jun 1908 and December 1908.

There are a couple of other entries which may also be him;
page 2 John Champion Born -, Died -, Event 1909
page 3 John Champion Born 1879, Died -, Event 1910

I have run out of credit, will update it and check to see if it is my ancestor.

Chris

[seaweed]

Sorry, my typo. The vessel is WAFT. Documents pre ordered for 16/09/2016. PM me on your return.

[seaweed]

There was no one with the surname CHAMPION listed as crew on both the 1907 Half yearly Crew Agreements of LIZZIE ELLEN. Why did he give LIZZIE ELLEN as his previous ship. Could there be two vessels with the same name?
Do you still want the Registration papers of LIZZIE ELLEN. To be honest there's not a lot a relevant info there.
If so just PM you EMA.

[chrisc]

Hi Seaweed,

Many thanks for taking time out to check the Crew Agreements for the ‘Lizzie Ellen’. Disappointed to see no CHAMPION’s listed though. I agree there is no point retaining the digital copies.

This one is proving to be a mystery to resolve. I have a copy of a Crew Agreement for the ship ‘Waft’ for the six months up to 30 June 1908. John CHAMPION is listed as having signed-on as an Ordinary Seaman on the 1 January 1908 in Ipswich, Suffolk, having previously sailed on the ‘Lizzie Ellen’, Barnstaple. His brother William was the Mate, and had remained on board the ‘Waft’ when he signed the agreement, also on the 1 January 1908 in Ipswich, Suffolk.

I found three ‘Lizzie Ellen’s’ in the Clip Project Database;

O/no.: 53432; Port of Registry: Cardigan; First Registered: 1866; In MNL: 1870-1890; Register closed: blank
O/no.: 69851; Port of Registry: Cardigan; First Registered: 1874; In MNL: 1880-1915; Register closed: 1918
O/no.: 84492; Port of Registry: Dunedin; First Registered: 1888; In MNL: 1890; Register closed: 1897

I ruled out the first ship 53432 because the record dates did not cover the period I was interested in, and ruled out 84492 because this was a ship based in New Zealand.

The Maritime History Archive lists a 1906 Crew Agreement as being held at Ceredigion Archives, Aberystwyth. I think this will be my next port of call, to see if John CHAMPION appears in one of the 1906 Agreements.

Regards

Chris