Merchant Seaman lost at sea

[rebeccaclaire86]

I don't know too much about merchant seamen, but I'm curious if anyone could point me towards records regarding men who died at sea?  My ancestor's brother Samuel Cossey was apparently lost at sea at some point after 1845, but I can't find any other record regarding this, aside from what is on his merchant seaman's ticket.  The deaths at sea in the FindMyPast collection only seem to date from the 1870's onwards.  I've tried newspaper articles but haven't found anything obvious on there.

Any ideas of other places I could look?

Thank you in advance

[Jebber]

Found on Findmypast. Searching with Just his name  and dates covering 1850-1899

Suffolk Cronicle February 9th 1861.
Bungay 8th.

 Just a brief account.

There is a report of a Samuel Cossey a waterman of this town missing from Yarmouth where he had gone with his wherry. Doubts were concerned about his fate. Then a body was picked up near the junction or the Yare and Bure rivers. The contents of his pockets confirmed it was him, it was believed to have been an accident

I don’t know if this is your man.

Less is often more when searching on Findmypast, especially the newspapers. I usually just put in a name and date range then skim through the results and pick out the most likely looking entries.

[rebeccaclaire86]

Thanks for replying to this - I don't believe this is the same man as after a little digging I found his marriage certificate and the father's name is different (Samuel)

I believe my Samuel died before 1853 as his brother Henry emigrated to New Zealand, and apparently descendants on that side of the family knew there had been a brother lost at sea.  Henry was illiterate, so unlikely to have corresponded with family after his emigration.

Really struggling to find any clear set of records of men lost at sea for this time period currently!

[osprey]

That will be because registration of merchant navy deaths started in 1854.

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/birth-marriage-death-sea-or-abroad/

Local papers may be your best bet.

[ShaunJ]

The record states that he was lost on H M Ship "Queen" so it seems likely that he was in the Royal Navy at the time of his death. But I can't see a Royal Navy record for him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Queen_(1839)

[rebeccaclaire86]

Thank you - that does make sense if there was no central record.

I'm puzzled by the HM Ship Queen reference also, as the card is a Merchant Navy one; even if he had joined the Royal Navy his death wouldn't be recorded on the Merchant Navy record in that instance.  I presume there must have been another ship with the same name?  But surely a non-navy ship wouldn't have had the 'HM' prefix?

[jonwarrn]

The record states that he was lost on H M Ship "Queen"

There's something before that? And below.
Is it possible it means his ticket was lost on HM Ship Queen?
And he was given a new one, number 303, 979, or whatever that other number is
I don't have access at the moment to browse the images.

Probably me being silly!

[PatLac]

Were Sarah and William his parents? If yes, this could be him.

Samuel Cossey
Military • England, Navy Allotment Records, 1795-1850


Samuel Cossey person details
Name   Samuel Cossey
Sex   Male
Military Rank   Ordinary Seaman
Relative's Name   Sarah
Relative's Relationship to the Head of the Household   Mother
Event Type   Military Service
Event Date   1847
Event Place   England, United Kingdom
Event Place (Original)   England
Source Description   Declaration lists of allotments
Entry Number   763
Series Number   ADM 27/101
Affiliate Name   The National Archives

[Roobarb]

The record states that he was lost on H M Ship "Queen"

There's something before that? And below.
Is it possible it means his ticket was lost on HM Ship Queen?
And he was given a new one, number 303, 979, or whatever that other number is
I don't have access at the moment to browse the images.

Probably me being silly!

I would agree that it probably means his ticket was lost as the word above the entry appears to be 'Cancelled'.