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Bowcombe Surname Ancestry Results

Our indexes 1000-1999 include entries for the spelling 'bowcombe'. In the period you have requested, we have the following 3 records (displaying 1 to 3): 

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National ArchivesBritish merchant seamen (1835-1836)
At this period, the foreign trade of ships plying to and from the British isles involved about 150,000 men on 15,000 ships; and the coasting trade about a quarter as many more. A large proportion of the seamen on these ships were British subjects, and so liable to be pressed for service in the Royal Navy; but there was no general register by which to identify them, so in 1835 parliament passed a Merchant Seamen's Registration Bill. Under this act this large register of British seamen was compiled, based on ships' crew lists gathered in British and Irish ports, and passed up to the registry in London. Each seaman was assigned a number, and the names were arranged in the register by first two letters of the surname (our sample scan shows one of the pages for 'Sm'); in addition, an attempt was made to separate out namesakes by giving the first instance of a name (a), the second (b), and so on. But no effective method was devised to prevent the same man being registered twice as he appeared in a second crew list; moreover, the original crew lists were clearly difficult for the registry clerks to copy, and some of the surname spellings appear to be corrupted. A parliamentary committee decided that the system devised did not answer the original problem, and this register was abandoned after less than two years: but it is an apparently comprehensive source for British merchant seamen in 1835 to 1836. The register records the number assigned to each man; his name; age; birthplace; quality (master, captain, mate, 2nd mate, mariner, seaman, fisherman, cook, carpenter, boy &c.); and the name and home port of his ship, with the date of the crew list (usually at the end of a voyage). Most of the men recorded were born in the British Isles, but not all (for instance, Charleston and Stockholm appear in the sample scan). The final column 'How disposed of' is rarely used, and indicates those instances where a man died, was discharged, or deserted his ship during the voyage.

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British merchant seamen
 (1835-1836)
National ArchivesBritish merchant seamen (1835-1840)
At this period, the foreign trade of ships plying to and from the British isles involved about 150,000 men on 15,000 ships; and the coasting trade about a quarter as many more. A large proportion of the seamen on these ships were British subjects, and so liable to be pressed for service in the Royal Navy; but there was no general register by which to identify them, so in 1835 parliament passed a Merchant Seamen's Registration Bill. Under this act a large register of British seamen was compiled, based on ships' crew lists gathered in British and Irish ports, and passed up to the registry in London. A parliamentary committee decided that the system devised did not answer the original problem, and the original register was abandoned after less than two years: the system was then restarted in this form, with a systematic attempt to attribute the seamen's (ticket) numbers, and to record successive voyages. The register records the number assigned to each man; his name; age; birthplace; quality (S = seaman, &c.); and the name and official number of his ship, with the date of the crew list (usually at the end of a voyage). Most of the men recorded were born in the British Isles, but not all. The system was still very cumbersome, because the names were amassed merely under the first two letters of surname; an attempt was made to separate out namesakes by giving the first instance of a name (a), the second (b), and so on. During 1840 this series of ledgers was abandoned, and a new set started with names grouped together by surname. BT 112/7

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British merchant seamen
 (1835-1840)
National ArchivesSailors and marines on H. M. S. Hannibal in the Crimean War (1854-1856)
Sebastopol in the Crimea was the great Russian naval arsenal on the Black Sea. A combined assault by British, French and Turkish troops resulted in the reduction of Sebastopol and led to the Treaty of Paris of 27 April 1856, guaranteeing the independence of the Ottoman Empire. By Admiralty Order the Crimea Medal was awarded to sailors and marines present during the campaign, between 17 September 1854 (the first landing at Eupatoria) and 9 September 1855 (when the allies secured Sebastopol). The sailors' medals were mostly delivered to them on board ship in the course of 1856; the marines' medals were sent to their respective headquarters for distribution. The remarks as to distribution in this medal roll therefore give more specific information as to the whereabouts of the sailor recipients in 1856 than about the marines. Her Majesty's Ship Hannibal, a 90-gun screw steamer, took part in the assault. Four clasps to this medal were awarded to the men present in the actions at Sebastopol itself, Inkerman, Balaklave (Balaclava) and (the sea of) Azoff, but the recipients of these clasps are recorded on separate rolls, not part of this index, but indexed on this site. This index also covers Mortar Boat No. 13, the Hannibal's tender.

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Sailors and marines on H. M. S. Hannibal in the Crimean War
 (1854-1856)

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