Information needed

[William giacomelli]

I’m hoping someone might be able to help , my wife is trying to locate the burial place of her great uncle Gwylim Jones who died around 1950 in Marseille on board a white funnel ship we understand that he was taken in by convent in Marseille and buried but we haven’t been able to find out where we tried contacting a convent there in the hope there might be a record somewhere , any help in pointing us in the right direction would be appreciated
Bill

[Keith at Tregenna]

Initially a quick hello.

As you have discovered it is extremely difficult to find the information you require
and this with all and any information that you hold.

To make a start we would require as much as you possibly know.

Especially is this his full name ? Date and place of birth, any official numbers etc from MN documents etc.

I do have a contact in Paris that could help but, they would also require more information.

Your enquiry will not be to easy but, easier than one of my own,
My relative was lost in France 1938 and the records lost in war time bombing..

Hope to hear from you again soon and will do all possible to assist.

Regards, Keith.

.

[Gareth Davies]

I’m hoping someone might be able to help , my wife is trying to locate the burial place of her great uncle Gwylim Jones who died around 1950 in Marseille on board a white funnel ship we understand that he was taken in by convent in Marseille and buried but we haven’t been able to find out where we tried contacting a convent there in the hope there might be a record somewhere , any help in pointing us in the right direction would be appreciated
Bill

Good day Bill,
Your great uncle's name should almost certainly be spelt Gwilym Jones. As a fluent Welsh speaker I have never seen this fairly common Welsh name spelt otherwise. This correction may assist in checking records. Since the 2nd World War many ports have a cemetery section where deceased foreign seamen were buried.
All Merchant ships sailed with a recorded Crew List, usually retained by the Registrar General of Seamen. So the name of the ship and the approximate date of the incident is vital. A record of all signings on, signings off, births, marriages and deaths were recorded in the ship's Official Log Book. This was also landed for retention at the closure of the Articles of Agreement with the crew. So exact detail may be easier found in the shipping records rather than ashore in Marseille.
If you are lucky, there may be a repository of White Funnel crew records somewhere, either at a Maritime Museum or with one of the present shipping companies who may have taken them over in later years. Armed with exact information it will be easier for the local consulate or shipping agency in Marseille to advise in which cemetery deceased foreign seamen were usually buried.
As with all research of this nature, much patience and determination is required.

Good luck,
Gareth Davies

[robpage]

If I am getting this correct the white Funnel line was p and a Campbell of Bristol if it is the same company then p and a Campbell records are all held in the Bristol archive office and I believe there is an index available online

[Keith at Tregenna]

We require a response from William to continue further.

Keith.

[robpage]

White Funnel line P & A Campbell*was a shipping company based in*Bristol*from 1893 to 1979 which operated steamship services

Peter and Alexander Campbell were the sons of Captain Bob Campbell, who ran a steamboat on the*River Clyde; in 1887 their paddle steamer*Waverleywas moved from the Clyde to the*Bristol Channel[1]*and they set up the White Funnel fleet for coastal cruising.

They had a shaky start when they were summoned before the Bristol Magistrates in July 1887 for having an uncertified engineer for the Waverley.[2]

The company was formally formed in 1893 and they used the White Funnel image as a company logo, during the*First World War, twelve of the fleet were requisitioned by the*Admiralty*as minesweepers and a troop ship. Two ships,*Brighton Queen*and*Lady Ismay*were lost.

During the*Second World War*the fleet was requisitioned again. Four new vessels were planned after the war, but only*PS*Bristol Queen*and*PS*Cardiff Queen*were built. They lasted until 1967 and 1968 respectively, after this the company used motor vessels until 1979 when it finally folded.[3]

The company had a brief fling with high speed craft in the summer of 1963, using the experimental*SRN2*as a ferry between*Penarth*and*Weston-super-Mare.[4]

Archives

Records of P & A Campbell are held at*Bristol Archives*(Ref. 37980) (online catalogue 1), (Ref. 40140) (online catalogue 2), (Ref. 40505) (online catalogue 3).

[Doc Vernon]

Hi Rob
Just giving the actual Link to make it a bit easier
Cheers
Bristol Archives online catalogue: Record view

[William giacomelli]

Hi Rob
Just giving the actual Link to make it a bit easier
Cheers
Bristol Archives online catalogue: Record view

Thanks to everyone for trying to help I misspelt his first name it is gwilym Jones ,thanks Gareth, he was born 1915 in Holyhead Anglesey north wales and I got the shipping company wrong it seems it was blue funnel not white sorry to start off so badly I’m still trying to find out which ship and what year all I know it was around 1950 I’ll keep trying to find out more
cheers Bill

[robpage]

I'm glad you said that I was a little bit concerned how on Earth anybody got one of p and a Campbell's white Funnel line ships all the way down to the Med as far as I was ever concerned they just did a little bit of coastal cruising and that's about the extent of what they did I'm pretty sure that they are quite a lot of sites dedicated to blue Funnel line if not I'm sure there a lot of X blue fluid guys here who might know where the links are

[Captain Kong]

Does the now defunct Blue Funnel Line still have records of their seafaring men??
They had a Head Office in India Buildings in Water St. Liverpool, and Odyssey Works in Birkenhead but maybe all gone now. They always looked after their men many of whom were Welsh. sometimes known as the Welsh Navy.
Brian.