Genealogy Chat

Please everybody just get your facts correct before posting! Valerie You have not stated what years of Navy you are interested in nor whether or not you are interested in Royal Navy or Merchant Navy. Royal Navy Records pre 1922 can be obtained through TNA(The National Archives ) at Kew. You can either go in person and search or you can pay a researcher to do this for you. You can access the TNA site www.nationalarchives.gov.uk Royal Navy Records post 1922 are still with the Ministry of Defence and can be obtained through the Gosport Address provided you can prove Next of Kin and also give some details for them to realise you are looking for the correct person. John Smith just will not do! There is a cost of approx £30 for this and a very long wait. I obtained my father's Royal Navy Records pre 1922 at Kew and the address I wrote to for my father's post 1922 records to include his service in the 2 W War was actually at Hayes and to Gosport for his medal entitlement, but I did do this about 8 years ago and I understand it has all now gone to the Gosport address. I paid £25 and only received one page, but it did fill in many gaps so I was very pleased to have it to complete my record. Nobody has ever claimed that this absorbing interest of genealogyis a cheap hobby. The information included all the ships as well as shore establishments in which he served. The pre 1922 records included his place of birth, age on joining, where he joined and his trade on entry, none of which I knew before I obtained the records. Merchant Navy Records are also in TNA but only about 10% of these records have survived. Royal Navy Medals for 2 W War can now be downloaded through TNA, cost about £3. 50. I understand that anyone in the Merchant Navy during 2 W War may also have medals which can be downloaded. Some Merchant Navy Records are in Newfoundland in Canada but unsure how to access these. Janet

For records after 1923 try this site for information www*nationalarchives*gov*uk/documentsonline/royal-navy-service*asp as usual insert . for *

Thanks for the information. What a rip-off, I know a hobby should cost you a little but £30 to turn a few pages is beyond a joke. If anyone knows of a good money-making scam I'm listening.

I think the Register of Seamen's Services only goes up to 1923 .

What I detailed above was from the Registers of Seamen's Services. You can download records from it via The National Archive's website, costs about £4 per record. As I was only looking into a distant cousin I didn't investigate further, so it's possible there are more copious records available as well.

Hello, I enquired on this in a past discussion. Someone advised me that for Naval Records to apply to the address below and request a kinship form; NAVAL PAY+PENSIONS(ACCOUNTS), M. O. D CENTURION BUILDING, GRANGE RD, GOSPORT, HAMPSHIRE, PO139XA. I haven't applied yet. Did others use this same address? Regards, Andy www.familytreediscovery.net

Hi I asked for my father's Naval Records and they quoted my 30 pounds, unfortunately since I live overseas I can't send for them as they only take British money and no credit cards.

I've got the same problem. I don't even know whether the person I want researched is a relative, it's rather clutching at straws. Do they give the names of parents because that really is the only way I shall know whether it is him or not? Also do you have any idea of how much a search would cost? Gloria

I got the record for a cousin, who was sadly killed at the age of 16 at the Battle of Jutland. Here's what was included: No. Full name Date of birth Place of birth Occupation at the time he was enlisted When he signed up, and how long for Age when he enlisted Height Chest measurement Hair colour Eye colour Complexion Whether he had any wounds, scars, or marks; I presume this only applies to any he'd have when he enlisted. A list of where and when he served, and at what rank. Also included is the reason for his leaving the service, or where and when he died. My cousin only had a very short service record, but if he'd been around for longer then he might have built up an interesting set of details giving his 'Character & Ability'. The columns for those aer extremely narrow, so I'd imagine that a simple code was used. Hope this helped!

If I applied for my rellies naval records what sort of things would they tell me thanks