great granddad's a black sheep

[Leslie W]

My great grandfather, John Shelby ROBERTS, was serving as a midshipman in the Royal Navy when he jumped ship in New York, so the family story goes. U.S. Census records report he was born in England in 1861, and "immigrated" to the U.S. in 1870. His death certificate reports he was born in Liverpool in 1852. The family stories also report Lord Frederick Sleigh Roberts to be an uncle (my grandmother's? or my great grandfather's?). I have a copy of General Abraham Roberts' will which mentions a John Roberts as a lesser beneficiary (and John is the only one with strings tied to his inheritance, implying he couldn't behave himself where money was concerned), but the actual relationship was not stated. John died in 1930. At some point, probably between 1914 and 1930, a professional "tracer" located John Roberts to arrange for a final settlement - to get potential male heirs of Lord Roberts' estate paid off so that the title and properties could pass on to Lord Roberts' daughter(s).

I'm having quite a time substantiating all of this. How extensive does "disowning" go--are birth records stricken from the rolls or do they continue to exist? What other resources are there for finding records on my black sheep great grandfather? Are there records on deserters?

[Geoffers]

My great grandfather, John Shelby ROBERTS, was serving as a midshipman in the Royal Navy when he jumped ship in New York, so the family story goes.
What a cad!

Some of the records you want to try and prove/disprove this will be in England.

One you might try to find in a libary in America (try the British Embassy) is the Navy List. Midshipmen were included in this publication from 1870 onwards. The Navy List is a publication of the disposition and appointment of Commissioned Officers and some warrrant ranks, together with ships and stations.

continued.......

[Geoffers]

part 2.......

To show he was(n't) a Midshipman in the RN, you will need to search recrods at The National Archives (TNA) at Kew

Service registers for Midshipmen 1846-73 are in document series ADM196/36-41

If the story of him being in the RN has been inflated over the years, and he was an ordinary seaman. try the Register of Seamen's Services, which can be searched online at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/default.asp
If you find a match, you can pay to download the full service register. I'd suggest a fairly broad search on the name John ROberts, the years 1850-1870.

TNA has a web-site with many research aids which may give other ideas. The URL is http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
move your cursor along the red horizontal bar until it's over 'research, education and online exhibtions' from the drop-down menu, select 'research guides', then browse to your heart's content.

continued.......

[Geoffers]

part 3.....


U.S. Census records report he was born in England in 1861,Not possible if he was a Midshipman in 1870


His death certificate reports he was born in Liverpool in 1852.Try searching the General Register Office (GRO) index of births. First try freebmd, a project to transcribe the index http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl
This not complete, but free and so worth a try, again, just search on John ROBERTS, say from 1850-1854
Then try the full GRO index, this can also be found online at a number of pay-per-view sites. The one I use is 1837 online again search the same period.

If you find a match, you can order a copy of the certificate online via,
http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/

continued.....

[Geoffers]

part 4......

Try searching the 1861 census too, again it can be found online in several places, including 1837 online.


I'm having quite a time substantiating all of this. How extensive does "disowning" go--are birth records stricken from the rolls or do they continue to exist?
If a member of a family was disowned, this would be a private family matter and would not affect public records.

Geoffers