Royal Navy Sailors not listed in 1861 Census

[LostSouls]

Dear All,

Does anybody know how to find men in the Royal Navy in 1861 if their ship was not in an English port??

Were they simply excluded from the census?

It appears that ships in dock were included in the census.

Steve

[Jan1954]

Hello Steve,

According to the National Archives, "Since 1861, officer and crew details were listed in special naval schedules, recording servicemen and any passengers. Vessels were enumerated in home and foreign waters. The schedules note the name, rank or rating, marital status, age, and birthplace, as well as location at the time of the census."

There should therefore be something listed on whichever resource you are using to check the census.

[Peter Goodey]

Vessels were enumerated in home and foreign waters.

Unfortunately, not comprehensively, I think.

The piece numbers can be found from the catalogue and look to be 4433 to 4441. I'm pretty sure there used to be a paper index of RN vessels back on the days of the FRC in Islington but I don't know whether it's available on line.

[Kerrywood]

Vessels were enumerated in home and foreign waters.

I thought this was only if they were actually docked in port or on rivers on census night?

[Peter Goodey]

From 1861 Royal Navy ships on the high seas and in foreign ports were included. But not all of them!

You can scan the Ancestry list for 1861 by choosing England and then Royal Navy for the County. It's pretty obvious from the size of the list that it doesn't represent the full strength of the navy.

[LostSouls]

Dear all, Thanks for the responses.

The person I am looking for is Walter Lalor from Birmingham.

He gave his dob as Aug 14th 1842 when he signed on as a Boy 2nd Class on Jul 20th 1859.

His true dob was 14th July 1843

The Continuous and General Service papers which he signed suggest he might have joined HMS Cornwallis.

However I have been unable to find him on the Cornwallis in the 1861 census - so perhaps he had been posted to a different ship which was out of port in 1861.

As a secondary query - on his marriage certificate of Nov 30th 1863 he is simply described as a "Store Person". I always thought this an odd way to describe his work until I found out (only this weekend) that he had enlisted.

Is "Store Person" a recognised work description in the Navy?

Steve

[Peter Goodey]

However I have been unable to find him on the Cornwallis in the 1861 census

I can't see the Cornwallis listed in the 1861 census.

I'd try the Ships' Muster and Pay Books, see this Research Guide

[Kerrywood]

The Continuous and General Service papers which he signed suggest he might have joined HMS Cornwallis.

I believe HMS Cornwallis was in the coastguard service and stationed in the Humber at this date.

I have moved this thread to the Military - Royal Navy forum, where you might get some specialist help interpreting the CS agreement, if that's needed.