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Besant Surname Ancestry Results

Our indexes 1000-1999 include entries for the spelling 'besant'. In the period you have requested, we have the following 123 records (displaying 41 to 50): 

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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 112/4

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British merchant seamen
 (1835-1840)
Dissolutions of Partnerships (1841)
Trade partnerships dissolved, or the removal of one partner from a partnership of several traders, in England and Wales

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Dissolutions of Partnerships
 (1841)
National ArchivesPersons of standing recommending London police recruits (1830-1842)
The Metropolitan Police Register of Joiners (MEPO 333/4) lists policemen joining the force through to 31 December 1842 (to warrant number 19892). The register is alphabetical, in so far as the recruits are listed chronologically grouped under first letter of surname. It is evidently a continuation of a similar earlier register, not closed until its alphabetical sections were filled: consequently, there are no entries in this register for the initial letters N, O, Q, U, V, X, Y or Z; and the sections of this register start at different dates - A 18 April 1840 (warrant number 16894); B 11 December 1830 (5570); C 7 September 1830 (4988); D 27 May 1833 (8445); E 15 December 1838 (14476); F 30 March 1832 (7372); G 1 December 1835 (11,184); H 25 April 1832 (7457); I and J 13 February 1837 (12449); K 2 January 1838 (13457); L 3 October 1834 (9905); M 15 November 1832 (7999); P 4 October 1831 (6869); R 4 September 1837 (13021); S 30 March 1835 (10366); T 6 April 1840 (16829); W 30 December 1833 (9096). The register gives Date of Appointment, Name, Number of Warrant, Cause of Removal from Force (resigned, dismissed, promoted or died), and Date of Removal. Those recruits not formerly in the police, the army, or some government department, were required to provide (normally) at least two letters of recommendation from persons of standing, and details of these are entered on the facing pages: the names in these are indexed here (the police recruits are indexed separately and not included here). Recruits transferred from other forces or rejoining the force did not normally need recommendations - in the latter case, former warrant numbers are given - but some recommendations are from police inspectors, even other constables. Recruits coming from the army sometimes have general military certificates of good conduct, but most often have a letter from their former commanding officer; recruits recommended by government departments (most often the Home Office) similarly have letters from the head of department. But the great majority of the names and addresses in these pages are of respectable citizens having some sort of personal acquaintance with the recruit. Where more than two recommendations were provided, the clerk would only record one or two, with the words 'and others'. Tradesmen are sometimes identified as such by their occupations; there are some gentry. Although the great bulk of these names are from London and the home counties, a scattering are from further afield throughout Britain and Ireland.

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Persons of standing recommending London police recruits
 (1830-1842)
Dissolutions of Partnerships (1843)
Trade partnerships dissolved, or the removal of one partner from a partnership of several traders, in England and Wales

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Dissolutions of Partnerships
 (1843)
Dissolutions of Partnerships (1848)
Trade partnerships dissolved, or the removal of one partner from a partnership of several traders, in England and Wales

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Dissolutions of Partnerships
 (1848)
Mathematics students at Cambridge University (1850)
Tripos lists or examination results for the year, arranged by class (Wranglers, Senior Optimes and Junior Optimes), and within each class in order of score in the examination (the names of candidates with equal scores are bracketed together, with the word 'AEq.'). Each student's surname and college is given: this list was printed in 1890, and was annotated with asterisks to show which students had subsequently become fellows of the university; and with footnotes showing those who became headmasters, &c., elsewhere. Winners of Dr Smith's Mathematical Prizes are marked (1) senior, (2) for junior. The Greek letter alpha is affixed to the names of those students who had gained first class results in the Classical Tripos; beta to those entered in the second class; and gamma to those entered in the third class. These lists are particularly useful in identifying for an individual the fellow-students who will have attended lectures with him; and, where from the college, are likely to have been even more closely associated by having been under the same supervisor. (The sample scan is from the start of the Mathematics Tripos list for 1770)

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Mathematics students at Cambridge University
 (1850)
National ArchivesResidents of Kensington Palace (1851)
In the 1851 census, Westminster superintendent registrar's district, St Margaret's registrar's district, enumeration district 29 comprised part of St Margaret's parish and All Saints Knightsbridge ecclesiastical district in the city of Westminster. HO 107/1480.

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Residents of Kensington Palace
 (1851)
Traders and professionals in London (1851)
The Post Office London Directory for 1851 includes this 'Commercial and Professional Directory', recording about 80,000 individuals.

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Traders and professionals in London
 (1851)
Masters of Merchantmen (1852-1853)
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping was issued annually, listing ships that had been surveyed preparatory to being insured. This is the register issued 1 July 1852 and then annotated as ships were re-surveyed through to 30 June 1853. The ships were numbered by the first letter of their name, and then by number alphabetically through the ships' names and within ships of the same name alphabetically by surname of the master. After the name of the ship there is the type of vessel (Bk, barque; Bg, brig; Bn, brigantine; Cr, cutter; Dr, dogger; G, galliott; H, hoy; K, ketch; Lr, lugger; Pol, polacre; S, ship; Sk, smack; Sp, sloop; Sr, schooner; St, schoot; Stm, steamer; Sw, snow; Yt, yacht), master's name (as at the time of the last survey); tonnage; place and year of build; owners; port belonging to; destined voyage; number of years first assigned; and character for hull and stores (e. g., A 1), with the year or month (e. g., 50 for 1850, or 2 for February 1852) of inspection. Underneath some entries details were given of construction and repair, with year - s., sheathed; d., doubled; C., coppered; I. B., iron bolts; c. f., copper fastened; M., sheathed with marine metal; Y. M., sheathed with yellow metal; G., sheathed with galvanised iron; Z., sheathed with zinc; F., felt; C. lm., coppered to light water or ballast mark; C. T., copper bolts substituted for treenails; Cl., clincher; len., lengthened; lrp., large repairs; trp., thorough repairs; Drp., damage repaired; ND., new deck; N TSds., new top-sides; W. C., wales cased; NW., new wales; NB., new bottom; NK., new keel; plk, Plank; N Klsn, new kelson; alm. rb., almost rebuilt; pt O. M., part old materials (timbers or plank); Srprs, some repairs - and, in italics, the timber of the ship is described - A, ash; B B, black birch; Bh, beech; C, cedar; E, elm; F, fir; G, gum; Ght, greenheart; Hk, hackmatack; Hm, hemlock; L, locust; Lh, larch; L O, live oak; M, mahogany; P, pine; P P, pitch pine; R P, red pine; Y P, yellow pine; S, spruce; T, teak; Tam, tamarac; W H, witch hazel; W O, white oak. The sample scan is from the main list. The third column, reserved for masters' names, is not particularly wide; with short surnames, an initial will be given; but longer surnames omit the initials, and even longer surnames are abbreviated. This is the index to masters in the main list. Often new masters had been appointed by the time of re-survey, and their names are added in slightly smaller type under the original master's names in the third column. These new masters are also included in this index. It should be borne in mind that the masters in the main list are those at the time of the respective previous survey for each ship, not necessarily as of 1 July 1852.

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Masters of Merchantmen
 (1852-1853)
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