{"id":11952,"date":"2022-04-08T11:09:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T09:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=11952"},"modified":"2022-04-08T11:09:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T09:09:00","slug":"mariners-records-revealed-our-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/2022\/04\/08\/mariners-records-revealed-our-roots\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Mariners\u2019 Records Revealed Our Roots\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lorraine Tomlinson\u2019s 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 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"\"
John Joseph Gilbert <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n

MY BRICK WALL<\/h5>\n\n

My mum Patricia Gilbert didn\u2019t 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\u2019s name was Charles Calistro Gilbert, and Mum\u2019s family all had dark hair and tanned well in summer.<\/p>\n\n

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\u2019s docks.<\/p>\n\n

The 1911 census revealed that Charles\u2019 father was John Joseph Gilbert, born in Liverpool in 1878. His parents were John Gilbert and Bridget West, my great great grandparents.<\/p>\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n

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?<\/p>\n\n

MY EUREK A MOMENT<\/h5>\n\n

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 (<\/span>ancestry.co.uk<\/a>). There he was, listed on a record that stated \u201cJohn Gilbert, 34 years, cook on <\/span>Saint <\/em>Maur, <\/em>missing at sea\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n

I sent for John\u2019s death certificate and it confirmed that Saint <\/em>Maur <\/em>went missing on 4 April 1882. To my astonishment, the certificate also revealed John\u2019s birthplace. It wasn\u2019t Portugal after all \u2013 he was a native of Cape Verde.<\/p>\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"\"
SS Asperity\u2019s logbook was a great help to Lorraine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The inquest into Saint <\/em>Maur\u2019s <\/em>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.<\/p>\n\n

It was considered seaworthy before departure, then disappeared with all of its crew presumed drowned. It\u2019s 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\u2019s owners Rankin, Gilmour & Co.<\/p>\n\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Anna\u2019s family was originally from West Africa, and this tallied with my DNA test which gave me 2\u20134 per cent Senegalese ethnicity. Rufino may have been born in Portugal and sailed to Cape Verde, where he settled.<\/p>\n\n

My Breakthrough<\/h5>\n\n

I was keen to discover more about John and Bridget\u2019s son, my great grandfather John Joseph. He became a sailor as well and worked for the White Star Line as a fireman.<\/p>\n\n

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 \u2013 like father, like son.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

John Joseph had died aboard the SS Asperity <\/em>at 7am on 14 August 1936, while it was crossing the Atlantic. The cause of death was \u201cmissing overboard\u201d. Fortunately the Maritime History Archive of Memorial University, Newfoundland, Canada (mha.<\/a><\/span>mun.ca\/mha<\/a>), <\/strong>held the ship\u2019s logbook with more information about the tragic event.<\/p>\n\n

John Joseph was fireman on duty and described by the chief officer as being in \u201cquite fit condition\u201d 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\u2019t find him.<\/p>\n\n

I\u2019ve since traced John Joseph\u2019s 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\u2019s mistress and had one of his many illegitimate children.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

LORRAINE TOMLINSON lives in Cheshire and has been researching her tree for 17 years<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

<\/div>
\n

READER TIPS<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

What advice does Lorraine have for other family historians?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Never give up. Sometimes taking a break from researching a particular brick wall then returning to it delivers the breakthrough you need.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Old family stories provide valuable leads, but you should never assume that they\u2019re completely accurate.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Widen your research \u2013 don\u2019t just rely on searching the same handful of websites.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

TRACING SEAFARING ANCESTORS<\/h4>\n\n

Discover more about mariners and their families using these essential online resources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Board Of Trade Records <\/p>\n\n

w ancestry.co.uk\/search\/collections\/60998<\/a> <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Ancestry has the collection \u2018UK, Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths at Sea, 1844\u20131890\u2019, which includes various Board of Trade records held at The National Archives in Kew.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Maritime Memorials <\/p>\n\n

w memorials.rmg.co.uk<\/a> <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

The Royal Museums Greenwich\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Merchant Seamen\u2019s Records <\/p>\n\n

w bit.ly\/fmp-merchant-seamen<\/a> <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Findmypast\u2019s collection \u2018Britain, Merchant Seamen, 1835\u20131857\u2019, again based on Board of Trade records at TNA, contains more than 1.9 million records and includes physical descriptions.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

<\/div>
\n
HAVE YOU BROKEN THROUGH A BRICK WALL?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Share your family story with us and you could appear in the magazine!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please write to us or email wdytyaeditorial@ourmedia.co.uk<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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