Merchant Seaman’s record

[callbrian]

Hi
I am currently researching for a friend and have come up against a brick wall. Any help would be appreciated.
My friend tells me his “father“ was John Banks in the merchant service probably c1940 onward.
The only other info on him is that he married Myrtle Jean Piper 18 Oct 1947 and were divorced in 1951.
Is there a possible means of finding if there are any records available for public access, other than the National Archives.
Best regards
Brian

[HMac]

Hi Brian
Do you have a date and place of birth? There is no doubt his main service record will be held at Kew. Any other records will depend on when he joined the service. There may also be passenger or crew records.
Regards
Hugh

[callbrian]

Hi Hugh,
Sorry I’ve nothing else to go on. My friend has only recently discovered that this could be his father and knows nothing more about him. He only found his name when checking his mother’s marriage details. I’ll check with him to see if he sent for the marriage certificate for any further details.
If I find out anything, I will repost in replies.
Thanks again!
Brian

[seaweed]

 From early 1941 there are 46 results for merchant seaman named J Banks. Some can be dismissed by age. That is why Hugh is asking for date and place of birth to narrow down the search.
Take a look here to see if it rings any bells.
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_ep=banks%20j&_cr=bt372&_dss=range&_ro=any&_st=adv

[callbrian]

Hi Seaweed,
Thanks for this. I am waiting for my friend to answer my request for any further details.
Do you happen to know whether a next of kin would be included in the records?
Regards
Brian

[seaweed]

 As far as I am aware all personal MN records for the period are in the National Archive.To answer your last question. Depends on who was writing the entry in the crew agreement and what kind of information was given by the seaman. see attached as an example.
However you would need to know the name of the ship and/or her official number.
If he joined the MN early in the war he would probably have records in the series  BT382 at the National Archive.
See https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10988299
This would record the vessel's he served on, together with dates and places of engagement and discharge.
These records are stored alphabetically, in blocks of 60 names. At one time you could search the whole block of records until you found the correct person but due to security concerns. You now have to submit details of one person. That's why date and place of birth is so important. Ideally also his Dis A number which is unique to him. This is usually a six digit number prefixed with the letter R.
Unless you can furnish more details I am afraid the chances of finding the correct person are remote.

[callbrian]

Hi Seaweed,
Thanks again. Still awaiting a reply from my friend. I’m pretty sure he will have to send for the marriage certificate with the hope of getting more info.
Thanks for your efforts, again I will reply when he comes back to me.
Regards
Brian

[cafetiere]

Hope it's okay to piggy-back on to this one. I've just looked at the Kew records linked earlier and found some I'd be very interested in looking at. But they've not been digitised. I can request a copy, apparently (but that service is suspended at the moment). Does anyone know how much that would be, approximately?

Thanks

[seaweed]

The first link I gave was to the series BT372. "Seamans Pouch's. I take it that the person you are interested in was British.
    
These records relate to individual seamen filed together in a pouch. These documents may include application forms, certificates, identity cards,(most with a photograph of the seaman) cessation documents and notifications of death.
As these documents relate to an individual and are catalogued as such, they should be  easy to find and copy, therefore, theoretically, they should be relatively cheap. I have long given up on how TNA fix a charge for copying. You would need to ask for a quote.

The second link i gave was to the series BT382. Because these records are in blocks of 60 names, TNA would consider it research and charge accordingly. Again it appears that no fixed fee is applicable. I have heard of people being quoted £80 plus!

In all honesty. you would be advised to visit Kew yourself. you can the view  both sets of documents for free and whilst there extend your research to maybe look at the logbooks of the vessels he sailed on.
If it's problematic for you to visit Kew. Let me know and I will attempt to take a look for you next time I visit. Whenever that may be.