Catalogue description Registry of Shipping and Seamen: Index of Apprentices

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Details of BT 150
Reference: BT 150
Title: Registry of Shipping and Seamen: Index of Apprentices
Description:

This series comprises an index, compiled by the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen and its predecessor, of apprentices indentured in the merchant navy.

The index relates to the copy indentures in BT 151 and BT 152

Date: 1824-1953
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Creator:

General Register and Record Office of Seamen, 1835-1872

Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, 1872-1992

Physical description: 57 volume(s)
Access conditions: Open unless otherwise stated
Administrative / biographical background:

Under the Merchant Seamen, etc, Act 1823 (4 Geo IV c 25) Masters of British merchant ships of 80 tons and over were required to carry a given number of indentured apprentices. These had to be duly enrolled with the local Customs Officer. These provisions were extended by the Merchant Seamen Act 1835 (5 & 6 Wm IV c 19) which provided for the registration of these indentures. In London they were registered with the General Register and Record Office of Seamen and in other ports with the Customs officers who were required to submit quarterly lists to the Registrar General. In 1844 it was provided for copies of the indentures to be sent to the Registrar General, and although compulsory apprenticeship was abolished in 1849 the system of registration was maintained. Under the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict c 60) a parallel arrangement was introduced for apprentices on fishing boats.

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