Genealogy Chat

Im sure no one took that as being unhelpful Ann, it was just a reasonable aside :)

You could check the Times online, but if you just put in St Helena, you get thousands of hits! I didn't mean to sound unhelpful about searching 30 years of newspapers - I have made other helpful suggestions, but unless you've got absolutely HOURS and HOURS to spare, I don't think it's practical. I've done a lot of very long searches too, including a 2 year search of a daily newspaper - that took long enough! My maths isn't too good, but how many is 30 years x 300 approx for a daily, not counting Sunday, paper!!

Oh, this may be useful, its actually based in cambridgeshire over here:

http://www.archeion.talktalk.net/sthelena/

and what about the National Maritime museum?

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/

Just another thought, if the fire occurred off St helena - is it worth seeing if there are any records there about it? Have a google to see if they have an archives there.

Yes I do, thank you! - it was a heartbreaking it came too late for dad to see it though. He hadnt mentioned it ever before - just came out with it whilst we were watching tv at Christmas the previous year.

Theres so many things out there for us, if only we knew!

Oh, I meant to say, have you checked the online papers like the London Gazette and Times?

That was a fantastic find for you Heather, you must treasure it.

Good luck, Im sure something will turn up. I spent over a year searching for a silent film my dad had appeared in as a child in 1923 - never thought Id ever sort it out. Sadly a few weeks after I lost him I had an email out of the blue from a cine museum in amsterdam where the film had been restored and actually shown as a classic of the post WW1 period. Got my copy of the film - saw my dad as a 9 year old.

If you have the tenacity, you will find the information one day :) Do update us when you do.

Yes Heather it does and depend how much 'someone' wants the info. I just wanted help and advice which I have now had plenty of as I wanted as many helpful people on here to read my threads as possible. I have listed all the advice and I am going to go through each one.

Id happily look through 30 years of papers - have done worse jobs in this research! Though Id have thought the records office would likely have marine disasters held separately. Id try to narrow it down first, by finding out when he was likely away (checking censuses and other records) and check the possible mariner angle - Liverpool has a huge amount of port info. Then theres Lloyds - ships were insured and Lloyds would have any disasters like that recorded.

Depends on just how much someone wants the info doesnt it.:)

Ok Ann, thanks for the advice.

As we said before, I think only if he was Navy or Merchant Navy would you be able to find out which ships he was on. Records pre 1920 are at Kew.

Well I think it was worth asking on here, never know.

Would you want to look through 30 years worth of newspapers???!!

So no joy from the local records office then? Take it it would have been in local paper.

Thanks you two. I will follow all the advice I have had when I win the Lotto or marry that very elderly multi-millionaire.

I think we have covered all the possibilities in the previous thread on this subject Country Girl. Have you followed all of those suggestions up?

Have you tried local papers from his home area? Or the area near where the event happened - if it's not the same area?

If he was in the Royal Navy you might find his records on the National Archives site. I'm not so sure about records for Merchant Navy.

Jill

Help please

How can I find out what ship my Great Grandad was on when it caught fire at sea leaving him in an open boat for four days. It happened approximately between 1880 and 1910 somewhere around St Helena.
His name was James Long and he was a ships stoker from Liverpool.
All help and advise welcomed.