T.S. Vindicatrix
		Association HQ

Seamen's Records at the National Archive, Kew.

Merchant Seman's Records at the National Archive, Kew

    Many who read this site, will be aware that I often obtain copies of  MN Service Records from the National Archive, in particular from sections BT372, where all the loose forms and documents  concerning their time at sea, are kept,  and also in section BT382, where there are duplicate entries from their Discharge Books, listing all the ships on which they sailed.

    On the Friday 25th April I was  perturbed to receive a courtesy phone call from the head of the Copying Dept. at Kew, telling me that, as from that day, until a date in early May, all access to files in those two categories has been blocked, and the jobs already with them, either as Estimates, or as Orders have been placed 'on hold'.  This is a result of a threat of identity theft, where a criminal can obtain the identity of another person, using information which is already in the public domain.

     When the public are again allowed to access them there will be new draconian restrictions in place.  The details haven't yet appeared on the National Archives website, but I do know that finger prints on the old British Seaman's Identity Cards will be obscured, as also will be National Health Insurance Nos.  I'm told that the only exceptions will be when the seaman or woman can be assumed to having died, by virtue of them being born more than 100 years ago, or by the production to the National Archives, of a Certificate of Death  of the individual whose records are sought

    Over the last 8 months, I must have done over 60 of these jobs, either for living Members of our Assn., their families, or other seafarers, and I'm not too sure if I will be able to continue with them in a meaningful way, once the new restrictions have been published.

    I will carry out a review of this page once I have a better understanding of the new restrictions

______________________________________________________

    I get many requests, to see if I can help Members or their nearest and dearest, to  find  their MN history for them.  Whilst none of these records can be seen online, I can offer some pointers as to how you can trace a Catalogue No. for  them. After that, you would either have to make a personal visit to Kew to read them and obtain copies, pay a professional researcher, or pay the National Archive their fee online to look for you, after you tell them the files at which to look.

    To help you to find your own  records, I have transferred some information which was previously on the Ditty Box page, but  I have now added some screen shots of the pages on the National Archives site. 

--------------------------------------------

First, read down this page before returning to this picture of the National Archive; then click on it to start your search....

....which will take you  to their main Search Engine screen. Wait for the page to fully load, and then click on the link, "Search the Catalogue",

which will take you to this screen.

    The easiest way to find a Seaman's file No. is to type a Discharge Book No. in the 'Word or phrase' line. This should be without a space between the letter R and the Serial No.. Then type 'BT372' in the 'Department No. or serial code'  bottom line. If that doesn't come up with anything, try it with a space between the R and the number, as the data-entry on this site is far from perfect, and there are many errors in it.    In the BT372 section, every Seaman for whom they hold a record (which aren't withheld by the 'Thirty Year Rule'), should have a pouch with his name, date and place of birth and Discharge Book No. on it. If you were to enter a d.o.b. in the 'Word or phrase' line, it must be in the format of dd/mm/yyyy.  You can also use a Surname and Initial as a target, leaving a space between the two.  In these pouches you never know what they will find. Mostly, it is duplicate 'mughot' photos, taken during the Seaman's time in the service. Sometimes it's his Seaman's Identity Card or maybe the pink CRS1 card, which was filled out in order to obtain his (or her) first Discharge Book. 

    My own entry on the Kew catalogue looks like this:-

BT 372/1207/3	R510727 HURST R L 21/11/1931 BOGNOR REGIS

     What you won't find in the BT372 section, are duplicate entries of trips from his or her Discharge Book, these are filed under the section BT382 which are held in loose-leaf binders with Surnames the same or near to your own. You can explore these by typing in reference "BT382/xxx"    completed by any number up to about 2,500 in the 'go to reference' box in the top left hand corner of the page.  For example, 'BT382/500' would take you to.

 Piece details: BT 382/500 Downham A G to Downton R T .

 In a leaflet I have from the National Archives, referring to records in their section BT372/, they also have added this note.

 "Not all seamen had a pouch. 95,000 were destroyed in the mid 20th Century. The pouches may contain discharge books and identity cards, application forms and maybe some personal items, including photographs."

None of these records can be viewed online, but can be seen and copies obtained on a personal visit.  They will also find and copy them for you with an online payment. You can read about it at Ordering online from the National Archives.  Records are not normally released to the general public until 30 year after the last entry in a file; bear this in mind if you can't find yours.

I'm afraid that there have been many inputting errors in their data, with spelling mistakes and the inclusion of a space between the letter 'R' and the first figure of your Discharge Book No.; dates of birth have to be entered in the format of  01/01/1930. for the 1st January, 1930.  If you wade through their catalogue, you will find many 4, 5 and 7 digit Discharge Book Nos. which are obvious data input errors, which I brought  to the attention of the National Archives, (see the example below) to which I received the following reply.

Piece details for BT 372/126
  
Discharge A numbers R1674 - R1667850

If any reader requires any help with find their Catalogue No., please contact me at TSVAHQ@aol.com

Back to the top of this page

Copyright 2008, T.S. Vindicatrix Association. No part of this site may be reproduced, in any way or form, without the express written permission of the Executive Committee of the TSVA.

Return to Home Page

Website design by Angelina Cosgrove
Site Bosun Robin Hurst