Genealogy Chat

Hi there. I've pm'd you. Regards Keith

I have only just seen your original message try www.1837online.com they have listings for WW1 & WW2 I have some credits left with them so if you gave me details I could have a look for you.

Sorry this reply is so late, hopefully better late than never though. A big big THANK YOU to you all for the excellent advise and tips. I will now take a look at all the records and sites you have suggested. That will keep me busy for a while. Lainey

Have you googled 'hms good hope' lots of info. Georgina.

you can print a certificate on the CWWG site

My Great Grandfather was killed aboard HMS Queen Mary in the battle of Jutland, 1916. The ship was blown up so there was no body. The only online record I could find of him is from the Portsmouth Naval Memorial site. There it shows the complete inscription, including name of widow and address. Thus I found out they lived at Manchester Road in Portsmouth. It's worth a look, and they even create a certificate for you. I don't know if it can be printed though. T x

After the First World War three naval memorials identical in form were erected at Portsmouth, Plymouth and Chatham. Later these memorials were extended to contain the names of those who died in the Second World War. The name of each sailor of the Royal Navy who died in either of the World Wars, and who has no known grave, is recorded on one and only one of these three memorials. The statistics are: Portsmouth 24,585 names; Plymouth 23,183 names; Chatham 18,615 names. The ratio of First to Second World War is roughly 40:60. The names from the Good Hope are on the Portsmouth memorial. However, check if your ancestor came from somewhere near Portsmouth because you need to know about Port divisions. Each ship in the Navy was based at one of three main ports: Portsmouth, Chatham and Devonport (a district of Plymouth). Thus there were 'Pompey' ships, 'Chats' ships and 'Guz' ships (the inhabitants of Plymouth were thought to guzzle Devonshire cream and Cornish pasties). Each individual sailor belonged throughout his career to one of these three 'port divisions'. A sailor who happened to live near one of the three ports would naturally be assigned to that port division. Each ship was normally manned entirely by men from her own port division. Normally - but not invariably. If necessary, particularly in the stress of war, vacancies in a ship's crew could be filled by men from one of the other two port divisions. The memorial on which a dead sailor's name is listed is that of his own port division. One consequence of this rule is that a man is not necessarily listed on the same memorial as all his shipmates. HMS Monmouth, for example, was a 'Guz' (ie Devonport-based) ship; most of her lost crew, being of the Devonport port division, are listed on the Plymouth memorial. But a minority of Monmouth's crew were men from the other two port divisions; their names are on the Portsmouth or Chatham memorials.

Have you checked the Commonwealth War Graves website?

Hi Robyne, Thank you, I was checking on National Archives and could find nothing. Having read your reply I tried again and typed in Naval records and found the exact record I was looking for. Thank you so much. Lorraine.

Have you checked the National Archives? They now have naval service records online so you might be able to find yours there

Hello, Can some kind person point me in the right direction. I am looking for WW1 records of a relative who was killed on board his ship the HMS Good Hope, in the 'battle of Coronel', in 1914. His records do not appear in the A2A archives, I can only find army records, but no naval records. does anyone know of any other websites I could try or where else I can access his war records. Thank you, Lorraine.