Confusion over 1911 census

[RobinC]

How can he have just disappeared off the face of the earth?

[Kerrywood]

As Geoffers suggested, he may already have been at sea in 1911 and not appearing in the census.

[RobinC]

I guess I'll have to wait to get access to the 1921 census to see if he surfaces again.

My next question is what happens if he died at sea, would there be a death record available?

[Kerrywood]

Deaths at Sea can be found on FindmyPast. However I've just taken a look and there are no returns for A. Crouch so it looks like you can eliminate that as an option

I believe those GRO Registers of Marine Deaths cover the years 1854-1890 only.

Later records of deaths at sea were submitted to the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen and are now in BT 334 at the National Archives. As far as I know these aren't indexed online and require a visit to Kew.

For more information see this Research Signpost, and this Research Guide, especially section 2.2.

[RobinC]

What do I need to know before I start?
Try to find out:

•the person's name (and name of their parents, spouse or next of kin, where applicable)
•the approximate date of the birth, marriage or death
•the area or ship where the event is likely to have taken place

That's where the problem will lie as I don't know if he actually went to see despite the circumstantial evidence from the medal card I posted earlier in this thread.

[Kerrywood]

It seems very likely that the medal index card for Alfred Robert CROUCH is for your man. The combination of names is distinctive, and the address that you say appears on the card is very close to where his family were in 1911.

I don't know if he actually went to see despite the circumstantial evidence from the medal card

This man apparently earned the Mercantile Marine medal and the British War medal for service during WW1. So he will definitely have served at sea during that period.

I'm not sure why you think he died at sea. After the war ended he could have been anywhere in the world, which may be why there is no obvious death for him in the GRO index. On the other hand, he could be one of several Alfred CROUCH with no middle name recorded in the GRO death index.

I would perhaps start by trying to find some formal record of his service in the merchant navy. I'll have to leave others more expert to advise you on that.

If necessary we could move this thread to another forum.

[Geoffers]

How can he have just disappeared off the face of the earth?

Easy-peasy - far fewer records were kept of people in times gone by.

This man apparently earned the Mercantile Marine medal and the British War medal for service during WW1. So he will definitely have served at sea during that period.

And of course the problem in tracing seamen for this period is that the seamen's (fourth register of seamen) covering the years 1913-1918 was destroyed in 1969.

I would perhaps start by trying to find some formal record of his service in the merchant navy. I'll have to leave others more expert to advise you on that.

Have a look at the research guides on TNA's web-site

In particular, begin with Merchant Seamen Sea Service Records 1913-1972

Does the medal car indicate a rank for A R Crouch?

The Crew List Indexing Project (C.L.I.P) has its indexed records 1861-1913 online - these can be accessed via the pay-per-view site 'findmypast'. If there is no trace of him in the index, it is likely that your chap didn't go to sea until WW1 began.

Any trace (try freebmd) of a marriage for Alfred R CROUCH - perhaps in the West Ham area - after WW1?

When Alfred's mum died, did she leave a will? - or was perhaps admon granted to Alfred Robert CROUCH? (Try searching the Probate Calendar, which I believe is available via the pay-per-view site 'ancestry' up to 1941).

Does anyone with your chap's name appear in something like the Post office Directory following WW1 - again perhaps in the West Ham area?

I think a trip to Kew will be needed to try and resolve things.

[Geoffers]

As the vessel shown at the above 1911 reference appears to be in RN service, I wonder if that is Alfred William CROUCH?

It could be Alfred William CROUCH or Alfred Herbert CROUCH .

I think it is helpful that these other two Alfreds who were born close by in 1888 joined the RN as it definitively separates them from Alfred Robert CROUCH and makes it much more likely that the medal card found by Kerrywood does relate to your chap and gives you lines of enquiry to follow.

[RobinC]

I have found 4 marriages involving an Alfred R Crouch after 1918 and they happened in 1927 (Northwich, Cheshire), 1931 (Leicester), 1944 (Coventry), 1947 (Birmingham) so I'm not convinced that he was married.

I think trying to find the will of Harriet Cox is the way to go.

[RobinC]

I've just been on the TNA site and it says that wills aren't available online after 1858, how would I be able to ensure I found the right will for Harriet?