Cabin Boy

[pcoups]

Charles Rollinson appears in the 1871 census for Stepney..... a 4 year old born Ratcliffe.
Not found again on any other UK census. No he didn't die. In 1901 he married in Cape Town, South Africa and returned to Stepney with his wife, Mary Ann, where a daughter was born to them in 1902. They returned to live in South Africa after that.
I'm trying to uncover the 30 years between the 1871 census and his marriage in Cape Town. Family story has it that he left home at an early age (around 10 yrs old - I'm told) and worked as a cabin boy on a ship. He's also supposed to have worked as a lumberjack in Canada for a while but then went back to the sea. He's supposed to have jumped ship in Cape Town.
Can someone help me as to how to find out if he did ........I don't know........become a sailor........crew on ship?

[Geoffers]

Charles Rollinson appears in the 1871 census for Stepney..... a 4 year old born Ratcliffe. In 1901 he married in Cape Town, South Africa and returned to Stepney with his wife, Mary Ann, where a daughter was born to them in 1902. They returned to live in South Africa after that.
If he was a seaman, he should appear in the Agreements and Crew Lists. Best thing I suggest is to look at the research guide on TNA's website
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/researchguidesindex.asp#m
(Look for Merchant Seamen Crew Lists and Agrements after 1861 - or something very similar to that) You'll see that most of the crew lists after 1861 have been trasferred to the Memorial University of Newfoundland. I understand that they will search their records for a fee.

If he married in SA in 1901, do you have a marriage certificate?

Geoffers
Charlbury, Oxfodshire

[pcoups]

Unfortunately I don't have a marriage certificate. The Anglican Church has sent all their documents to have them logged filed and computerised. I wrote about a year ago and the reply was as soon as they're organised they'll let me know......trouble is I don't know where in Cape Town they got married. All I have is a death notice on which it states that they were married in Cape Town.
Thanks for the address.
Lynn