Lorraine Tomlinson’s family believed that they were from Portugal, but after smashing a brick wall she discovered links to a number of faraway lands. An unexplained death at sea led her on the trail, says Gail Dixon
Tracing seafaring ancestors can lead to exciting revelations, and connections that span continents. You may have to do some sleuthing, but there are excellent resources to help. Discover how Lorraine Tomlinson traced her heritage back to West Africa and remote Atlantic islands.
MY BRICK WALL
My mum Patricia Gilbert didn’t speak much about her ancestors, but one thing the family was adamant about was that the Gilberts were from Portugal. This seemed credible because my grandad’s name was Charles Calistro Gilbert, and Mum’s family all had dark hair and tanned well in summer.
It was tough to research this line due to a lack of information. I knew that Charles was a sailor, like his father, and that the family lived near Liverpool’s docks.
The 1911 census revealed that Charles’ father was John Joseph Gilbert, born in Liverpool in 1878. His parents were John Gilbert and Bridget West, my great great grandparents.
John senior was a sailor and away at sea when the 1881 census was taken. I did find Bridget living in Liverpool with their children, John Joseph and Caroline.
I was intrigued to see that on the 1891 census Bridget had remarried to Charles Oldridge. The marriage took place in 1884, so she must have been widowed in the years since the census. What had happened to John Gilbert?
MY EUREK A MOMENT
I searched for a death record for John in Liverpool, all to no avail. A friend suggested that I try the registers of births, marriages and deaths at sea, which are on Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk). There he was, listed on a record that stated “John Gilbert, 34 years, cook on Saint Maur, missing at sea”.
It was so sad to see that John had died young and in such tragic circumstances. Also, Bridget was left alone with two young children to raise on her own.
I sent for John’s death certificate and it confirmed that Saint Maur went missing on 4 April 1882. To my astonishment, the certificate also revealed John’s birthplace. It wasn’t Portugal after all – he was a native of Cape Verde.
This is an archipelago about 460 nautical miles off the westernmost point of Africa. It was a Portuguese colony until 1975, so that explained the family rumour about our origins.
John must have sailed from Cape Verde to Liverpool at some point and met his future wife, Bridget. Perhaps it made life easier to anglicise Gilmette, his birth surname, to Gilbert.
The inquest into Saint Maur’s disappearance was held in Liverpool, and I found newspaper articles covering it. The ship carried cargo like rapeseed oil, and was on its return journey from Calcutta, India, to Liverpool.
It was considered seaworthy before departure, then disappeared with all of its crew presumed drowned. It’s possible that the oils on board ship may have blown up during a storm. I wonder if Bridget was given any support by the ship’s owners Rankin, Gilmour & Co.
After I placed John on my online family tree a distant cousin Anna contacted me with exciting news about his parents. They were Rufino Gilmette and Anna De Burgo, who lived on the island of Brava in Cape Verde.
Anna’s family was originally from West Africa, and this tallied with my DNA test which gave me 2–4 per cent Senegalese ethnicity. Rufino may have been born in Portugal and sailed to Cape Verde, where he settled.
My Breakthrough
I was keen to discover more about John and Bridget’s son, my great grandfather John Joseph. He became a sailor as well and worked for the White Star Line as a fireman.
I knew that John was b orn in 1878 in Liverpool, and traced him forward through various sources. I tried to find his death record, but nothing appeared online. This was a familiar scenario, so I again searched for a death at sea. There he was – like father, like son.
John Joseph had died aboard the SS Asperity at 7am on 14 August 1936, while it was crossing the Atlantic. The cause of death was “missing overboard”. Fortunately the Maritime History Archive of Memorial University, Newfoundland, Canada (mha.mun.ca/mha), held the ship’s logbook with more information about the tragic event.
John Joseph was fireman on duty and described by the chief officer as being in “quite fit condition” that morning. At 7.10am the steamer began going backwards, so the engineer went to see John and found him missing. The ship turned around and they searched the waters, but couldn’t find him.
I’ve since traced John Joseph’s wife Eliza Dare, who was descended from the notorious Killigrew family of Cornwall. They were members of the nobility and had a place at the Tudor court, but by night they were shipwreckers and thieves. Another of the Killigrews became Charles II’s mistress and had one of his many illegitimate children.
I’ve made plenty of dramatic finds on the Gilbert line. By far the most satisfying part has been solving the mystery of where we come from.
LORRAINE TOMLINSON lives in Cheshire and has been researching her tree for 17 years
READER TIPS
What advice does Lorraine have for other family historians?
• Never give up. Sometimes taking a break from researching a particular brick wall then returning to it delivers the breakthrough you need.
• Old family stories provide valuable leads, but you should never assume that they’re completely accurate.
• Widen your research – don’t just rely on searching the same handful of websites.
TRACING SEAFARING ANCESTORS
Discover more about mariners and their families using these essential online resources
Board Of Trade Records
w ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/60998
Ancestry has the collection ‘UK, Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths at Sea, 1844–1890’, which includes various Board of Trade records held at The National Archives in Kew.
Maritime Memorials
The Royal Museums Greenwich’s website has a searchable database with details of more than 6,000 memorials to those who endured peril on the seas, including the names of those who are commemorated.
Merchant Seamen’s Records
Findmypast’s collection ‘Britain, Merchant Seamen, 1835–1857’, again based on Board of Trade records at TNA, contains more than 1.9 million records and includes physical descriptions.
HAVE YOU BROKEN THROUGH A BRICK WALL?
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