Our Welsh Mariners Website has just been updated.
New inclusions are details of over 800 Trinity House Petitions made by poor mariners
and/or their families. The surviving documents are from the period 1789-1852. These
petitions can be of great value to the family historian as the mariners and/or their
families would try to prove their ages and relationships. They often did this with
certified records from parish registers, Family Bibles etc.
For some of the petitions a précis is included on the website; this is an on going task.
If the reader wishes to brows the petitions just carry out a search by using the word
Trinity on the "Details contains" section coupled with a birthplace or county of
interest.
Numbers of Petitions on a county basis are: PEM, 301; CAE, 147; CGN, 124; GLA, 64; MER,
53; AGY 47; CMN, 43.
The original documents are held at the Society of Genealogists, London, who published a
calendar to the whole UK collection.
Example:
[Trinity House Petition of John Roberts, aged 64, and wife Jane Roberts, aged 69, of 46
Fisher St., Toxteth Park, Liverpool, 1850]. Precis: John Roberts went to sea at 12 in 1796
and employed for 37 years. s/Lady/400t/1806, Liverpool to St Kitts etc. s/Mary/380t/1809,
London to Malta, Capt Lewis. s/Jamaica/535t/1818-20, John Harvey Master, Liverpool to
Jamaica. s/Hector/370t/1822, Liverpool to Demerara. s/Caledonia/480t/1827, Liverpool to
Demerara. s/Thomas Nailor/280t/1832-3, Liverpool to Odessa. He left the sea in 1833,
failure of sight. He is supported at 2/6 per week from 'Seaman's Fund' and
occasional tidewatching. His declaration 'I John Roberts of Anglesey in Wales was born
in January 1786'. Petition dated 17 Jan 1850 with further correspondence 8 Dec 1851.
The outcome of this or any petition is not known as such records are said to have been
destroyed by enemy action in World War 2. However there may be locally held records which
may give clues. Naturally we welcome any input about any petition or mariner on the
website.
Reg Davies and Nigel Callaghan
Website of Welsh mariners at
www.welshmariners.org.uk
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