Hi All, Just Joined! Can anyone please help with my Grandpa’s Merchant Navy history

[Greig Wilkie]

Gents, thanks again for all your advice and assistance!
Re the dates of engagement and release, it’s 5 voyages from March to July 1928. Glasgow to New York or Montreal and return. Each voyage dates stamps 24/25 days apart . There is also the issue of his year of birth. He has 1904 in his service book. His actual year of birth was 1905. The CR1 has the 1904 birth and the CR2 1905. Not sure if he declared a false year of birth initially had any bearing on this. Thanks Greig

[Doc Vernon]

Hi Greig
Those conflicting dates of Birth is something that happened quite a lot in the old days , as it was all hand done, and errors were made, so i feel that is the case here!
Hope you get some more info from the NA SOON.
Cheers

[Doc Vernon]

When a new book was issued it is usually clear of all ships previous . When the new dis A. Books were brought in this was also the case. JS. I have 3 books and when the third one was full I went back to the first book with spaces to keep a personal record of all British Ships I was on this was for my own convenience for a record of seatime also. All 3 books are now full but have little bearing of all the ships was on , previously yonks ago it was illegal according to the BSF to have a foreign discharge in a British Book and all the years that I was master I stood by these now irrevelent rules. That was the reason of my run in when trying to get a passport in Trinidad where the stupid clerk would not hand over my new passport unless the Liberian ship was on was put in the book and I explained to him the facts of life before the
Skirmish. JS. This was in 1967. JS

Thanks JS, however i think Greig is relating to a lost Discharge Book, and not a continuous Book, as is the case when one Book is replaced by another once the previous is filled! When a new book was issued it is usually clear of all ships previous Your Quote quite correct!

In the case of a lost Book, as said i am not too sure, but possibly it may also not include all previous ships?

If one looks at the Maritime site for getting a Replacement Book, it does say there (I recall seeing this ) that the new Replacement Book in lieu of a lost Book, will not have any entries in it!?

So on that basis i think any Replacement Book would just be an Empty one , thus the Mystery again of Greig having a Book that contains only one Ship ??
The Mystery deepens!
Cheers

So as previous Posts Greig, there must be other entries somewhere if he went to places like Cape Town and Buenos Aires, and possibly other places as well!

[j.sabourn]

If replacing a lost book should have words to that effect written in the first page and signed by a shipping master where issued. JS
All this talk about discharge books of earlier years can only be done on assumptions of one’s own knowledge and a copy of what most of us have never seen would be invaluable.
For example the likes of NHI number and maybe a few more would not be in, as there was no NHI in those days. I have never seen earlier seamen’s books not even in a museum , so anyone who has would have more knowledge than all of us put together. Assumptions are easy to make as it runs through all these threads , but facts are what you are seeking and do believe there are no 110 year old seamen on site. Another example re Seamen’s Identity cards used to be fingerprints this today is not seen, personally think it should have been retained to identify the shysters. Cheers JS.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

John.
My fathers discharge book has nothing to indicate who h is, no picture, no fingerprints, just his height and hair colour and birth date 1897, could be anyone.
Des

[j.sabourn]

#15. You probably have a replica of what the person looking for info. has Des. Maybe as time progressed tattoos and distinguishing marks and who knows a photo would be added. You wouldn’t happen to know when the Shipping Federation came into being would you ? PS my hair was put down as Auburn, really it was Ginger. However now it is white. Went white quicker than what it should . Thought about dying it to fool the females, but one has to have the bits and pieces to go with it. Cheers JS

[j.sabourn]

#16 Just looked up the BSF was formed in 1890. 1 year after a seaman’s strike in 1889. JS

[Johnny Kieran]

One thing missing here about discharge books, is the monkey ones. They were available, at a cost, in the pub near to the Seamans Union office at the Royal docks. Seamen getting DRs, or other problems with their DBs, could, with the advice from certain persons, obtain monkey DBs.
I suppose, with the advent of pooters and AI, that kind of thing was done away with? Mind you, it could be even easier?

[j.sabourn]

Thought you had to come from Hartlepool area to get one of those ? JS.

[John Arton]

Regarding discharge books, either lost or displaced.
I knew of one engineer who got a new discharge book by claiming his previous one had gone walkabouts. When he was asked his last ship and rank he gave the ships name and his rank as 3 rd engineer and that was entered into his new book. It later turned out that his only engineering knowledge was as a motorman, so it was possible to get a new book in the U.K under false pretentious , presumably at some port that had a B.O.T office that was not in a major port or where it was known that the officials were, let's say, open to brown envelopes or not particularly efficient.
Rgds
J.A