Understanding a seamans identity document

[Errol Chandler]

I have now been told that if I want to see the Foreign Office records of 1915 to 1918 I will have to petition the Foreign Minister as the files would not normally be opened until 100 years have passed...so 2015 would be the earliest....... and even then the official secrets act could stop me from seeing them. It gets more intriguing with every passing day.,

[Errol Chandler]

Not surprisingly for this time of the year the various archives and record sources are closed.
However I have been looking into the family background of my father and have traced back to a 6 x great grandfather. Previously I was only aware on one!
One from about 1840 was a bloke to avoid as he simultaneously was the village: medical assistant, chemist, druggist, dentist and postmaster! He was called "Doctor" Jones.
My brother reckons he probably filled in his spare time disposing of the local stiffs.

An update as at 28 February.
Southampton Archives are still searching....they are on restricted time so very slow (and very apologetic).

[Errol Chandler]

To those that may be following this thread.....
Not much to tell you as I am still delving some lines of enquiry....in particular British merchant crew lists, which for some strange reason are stored in Newfoundland, Canada!
As a side-shoot of this I have followed another off-shoot of his family that emigrated to Masssachusetts in 1637.
The trouble with any enquiry you follow is that you soon find it branches out in all sorts of directions.
Curiosity being what it is it becomes hard to resist having a look at all of them!

[Errol Chandler]

Gentlemen, it has been a long time and I have been working on this project for almost 12 years. I thought I would give you an update.
That Dis A number on his Seaman's Identity Card is 61123.
While searching for crew lists an archive in Canada assisted me but also pointed out that the number 61123 belongs to a man named Frederick Adams Taylor. I am tying to establish more about him.
It seems that my Dad had an "officially cooked" identity that was largely concocted!
I think I mentioned previously that his ID card is lodged at the National Archives, Kew, so the assumption is that it is accepted as official.
I previously wondered if he was employed as an interpreter by the UK government because he was fluent in Russian.
Well it has turned out to be better than that. He was recruited into the British Secret Service ( forerunner of MI5 & 6) before he was 18 and was based at the British embassy, Petrograd (St.Petersburg.).. which until 1917 was the capital of Russia. Recently released Foreign Office documents prove beyond doubt that he was a "spook" and he that he and his colleagues) were using the Merchant Navy as a cover to get in and out of Russia. On at least one of the crew lists that I have it is recorded by the master that "Leslie Chandler deserted in Vladivostok". Other voyages ended in foreign ports with no onward trail recorded. It was here, on this site, that I was pointed in the right direction to the crew lists, the Maritime Archives in St John's Newfoundland, after which the whole story slowly began to unravel. I am very grateful for the assistance you gave me.

[j.sabourn]

Errol during the Cold War period much later than your enquires , MN personnel were being recruited for amateur and I repeat amateur espionage tasks, also business men frequenting satellite countries , I think someone called Someone Grenville May have been one, there was a big outcry in the media when he was caught by the Soviets I doubt he was a professional. I was approached 3 times by the relevant department as had three trips in a row to Murmansk , there must have been others also. I refused each time , on the third refusal I was accused of being unpatriotic , but to me was better than being treated like Grenville who was caught and all government knowledge of him disclaimed . Cheers JS

[Errol Chandler]

I have now found that Dis A 61123 belongs to Frederick Adams Taylor. So yet more is false on the card.