Genealogy Chat

Can anyone please advise,my dad was a fisherman onboard a small fishing boat they were called Seine Netters,he sailed mainly out of Grimsby our home town. The crew consisted of four persons. In 1961 when I was ten years old my fathers ship was lost at sea,all hands went down with the ship/boat. My problem is I have never been able to obtain a death cert for him,(Lloyds list have nothing to do with boats that small) does anyone have an inkling of where I go from here,the fishing company he sailed for are now extinct. thanks Emmybaby

1837online has the Marine Deaths Indices to 1965 in their Overseas Section. Have you had a look in there. Keith

If you want to give his name I'll have a look on 1837 for you. Kath. x

Found this on Genuki: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LIN/civilreg.html#AtSea

Was there an inquest - was it reported in the local papers? Keith

Thanks for that idea Keith just looked,no joy Im afraid,plus they all looked like the larger ships to me,nice idea though,guess I will have to keep on plodding xxxx

Would there have been a report in the local newspaper about the deaths at the time? The local library for the area might have back copies on film that could help. Kath. x

Thanks for the offer Kathleen but I already looked on 1837,your a gem for offering. Nana Anna can I have that site in simple english please,haha and Keith yes mate it was reported in local papers dont know about inquest though as in them days ships went out and never came back,I was only ten and next of kin my mum was divorced from him at time so I dont know if she went to any inquest. I know the next thing your going to suggest is our local paper,well I am in Saudi and the times I have emailed my ex local paper and gotten nowhere they suggest I visit my local library,thats a joke as a lot of the books are in arabic here,no joking aside Im stuck. xxx

Anything at the national archives, under board of trade or maritime losses inquiries? Do you know the name of the boat? Try writing to the Hull maritime museum (I know it's a different county - but they might be able to offer advice on possible research ideas) Write or e-mail main library in Grimsby - explain where you live & ask for help. jay

Yes. I agree. Email the local studies library and tell them what you are looking for. Most local studies libraries are very helpful. Try here:- http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/leisure/localhistory/ Kath. x

Try looking in the 'Fishing News' section of the 'Grimsby Telegraph' . There would have been a Board of Trade inquiry after the loss was confirmed. Smaller vessels could be overwhelmed very quickly by a heavy sea. Open hatches were a cause of some losses or fishing in weather too extreme, although a seine netter was sixty feet in length with a low freeboard. They are or were very good in bad weather. I worked from Lowestoft & Grimsby in the mid sixties and in a hurricane I witnessed the seine netters seaworthiness and being of timber construction they were very buoyant and not too lively. The Fisherman's Chapel at Central Hall,Gy would have an index of lives and vessels lost so a request to them or Gy Central Library should yield a result. Strangely coroners records are very rare as they are not normally archived for most places, I think they keep them for about fifteen years and then dispose of them or place them in County record offices. Good luck

This is what Genuki site says: 'Deaths at Sea Search the Marine Register of Deaths at the GRO. The index to this Register is at the Family Record Centre at Myddleton St, London, and may be available at other large libraries. The Death Certificate will give the name of the trawler, date, and place of death. Armed with that information, you can search through the Fishing Dock Arrivals section of the Grimsby Telegraph to find when the trawler next docked a after the death. A death likely would not have been reported until the trawler returned to port, although after 1927 they may have used a radio. Look in the Fishing News section of the Grimsby Telegraph on the day the trawler docked for a report of the accident. You may also find a report of the Board of Trade inquiry in the following day's edition. They usually held an Inquiry before the trawler went back to sea. Another good source for finding the deaths of Grimsby men who died at sea within the fishing industry is the fisherman's chapel within the Central Hall at Grimsby, it was moved from the old Fisherman's mission when it was replaced by New Saint Andrews Church. It has all their deaths and an index. You might try e-mailing the Grimsby library, who could do a quick look up for you.' Contact details for Grimsby Library: Because traditional Lincolnshire has been split in recent years by political boundary reorganisation, the North East portion was once part of a separate political entity (Humberside) and had its own Record Office and Archive. That RO and Archive were in Grimsby and continue to operate as the NE Lincolnshire Archive. The nearby Grimsby Library have the GRO Index (formerly St. Catherine's) of Civil Registration from 1837. The Archive location is: NE Lincolnshire Archives Grimsby Town Hall Grimsby, Lincs. DN31 1HX United Kingdom There is wheelchair access Web site: www.nelincs.gov.uk/ic/ e-mail: Archivist (at sign) nelincs.gov.uk or try: LibrariesAndMuseums (at sign) @ nelincs.gov.uk Tel: (01472) 323585 Fax: (01472) 323582 Monday - Friday 10:00am - 12:30noon The Searchroom is closed in the afternoon