Tracing early naval life of Grand-Uncle

[Colin Rowledge]

My grand-uncle - Errnest Golley - was born in Redruth, Cornwall on October 4, 1893. He died in 1984.

In the years after he retired from the R.N, I was blessed with vacations in Cornwall, and he regaled me with his exploits from W.W.2

What I am attempting to do is trace his early naval life - what ships he served on and the various campaigns he was engaged in.

Through Ancestry - I have his Naval Medal and Award Rolls for 1914-1920 in Europe and 1925-1930

Through F.M.P. - I found him as a Boy Seaman in 1911, serving as a Boy 1st Class Exexutive, the ship would appear to be "Irresistable", based in [B]Glengarriff, Ireland/B] and away at sea at the time of the 1911 census

Where else can suggestions be made about finding information on his further career. He served in W.W. 2 and retired back to Cornwall where we met several times in the '50's and early '60's until came to Canda.

Thanks
Colin

[Geoffers]

As a start, have you downloaded his service record from TNA's document's online? - see Ernest GOLLEY, bn 4 Oct 1893 Redruth no. J8988

It will cost £3.50 to download, see how far that takes you for a starter

[Geoffers]

Further to the above, there seem to be several Cornish GOLLEYs who also joined the RN, one is an Acting Boatswain and can be found in the Officer's Service records (ADM196).

To find out generally about the 19th century (and early 20th century) RN, see Paul Benyon's excellent web-site - all free information and not an advert in site, that's what I call a good web-site. N.B. Put the kettle on and make a large pot of tea before going anywhere near the site, it will take many cuppas to work through it all.

[Colin Rowledge]

As a start, have you downloaded his service record from TNA's document's online? - see Ernest GOLLEY, bn 4 Oct 1893 Redruth no. J8988

It will cost £3.50 to download, see how far that takes you for a starter

Thank you, Geoffers. That was excellent and the info, took me up to 1928. The print is pretty darn small though and even with a 'glass' it's difficult to read, but I'll give it a shot.

[Geoffers]

TNA do permit the posting of extracts for the purpose of aiding interpretation. I'm sure that we could do our best to help if you get stuck.

For later records of service, see this TNA research signpost - the record is available to next-of-kin.

If your chap was commissioned (and some Warrant Officers) you should be able to find some details of service through The Navy List. This is available on some pay-per-view sites, and can be purchased from The Parish Chest. Large research libraries may have a partial run of the List. There may also be some information in The London Gazette