Genealogy Chat

ok you guys are good , so heres another bit more difficult as got no dates on this one , my aunt done the tree but she died taking most of what she learned with her , ive managed to crack some of the bits she did tell me but heres another im stuck on ,the 3rd gt grandad was a captain /poss or of officer rank in the navy in nelsons time his surname was either WILLSON OR WILSON , ANYTHING ON THIS SUBJECT WILL BE GREAT!!

The National Archives made all the Trafalgar records free to view for the 250th anniversary! Can't remember the site address but you should be able to Gogle it. Anne

cheers ann, i found a few possibles myself one was a midshipman on hms collosus ,and another midshipman on hms britania at the battle ,but if either these fells survived i wonder if they went up a rank or two as i was told he was a captain , dave

You probably need a visit to Kew for this, but if he was a captain, he would have had to have taken a lieutenant's examination. The passing certificates survive, and are easy to find. In the 1840s, naval men were asked to submit details of their careers. These are also easy to find and list the ships they served on. If I've read this correctly, though, you have an ancestor who served at Trafalgar, but are not sure of his name? Rank would be shown on census entries, marriage or death/burial records, even prior to civil registration. You would need to make that link before you can start looking for anyone. Lots of records survive from the Trafalgar period, so you are likely to be able to find out ships served, where they went, a feel for life on board from the ship's log, the man's age and birthplace. (Oh, and to prove how old they were when they passed their exams, there is a copy of baptism certificate bound in). Also how much they were paid, deductions etc. Enough to keep you going for two or three visits.

thanks for that mate, ,i not sure of his first name , he should be a WILLSON,BUT SPELLING MISTAKES COULD BE LISTED WILSON From what my late aunt told me the chances are he was on officer before the battle ,now she had written evidence of this in form of letters from Nelson to him, but i dont knowe who she pased these onto ,one of the familly ,and they keeping mum about it ,but she did show me them when i was on leave from raf. Now it is poss that he was not at the battle itself , he may of been else where , as far as im aware he was prob a captain of a sloop , this was a small fast vessel that could nip in under the trajectory of the main battleship, and put holes in the larger vesels hull , they were quick moving and not an easy target to hit. dave

Type trafalgarancestors in your search engine and you will be able to search the lists. Good luck Joan

Try this site www.pbenyon(.)plus(.)com/Navy_List_1805/ Remove ( ) It has the Navy list for 1805 with Officers listed. Keith

The site Keith has given you is fantastic. If you go to the home page and work round to the naval section, there are all sorts of useful goodies. I found ships my ancestor had sailed on, a biography of his captain and an account of a skirmish in which he had taken part.

Keith, I keep getting page cannot be displayed. And before you ask Yes I removed the brackets.

I was about to recommend the site when I saw Keith had done so already... http://www.pbenyon1.plus.*com/Nbd/Index.html remove* Christine

cheers every one ill take a look at these sites dave