The ‘People’ and Ratings
1690s to 1853
It should be hardly surprising that the ‘people’ at the bottom
of the societal heap should be worst served in relation to State records. As already
outlined in the ‘Structures of Ranks and Rates’ section on the main page of
this naval guide, the people who crewed the warships came from a wide variety
of sources, but that in the main, came from mercantile service. Certainly until
1853 when engagements of continuous service began to be introduced in a serious
way (but not for all ratings) the chances of tracing mariners on the
Royal Navy’s men-o-war are far from good.
Wills and certificates of service, from the Napoleonic Wars, can
allow for easy entry into men-o-war’s pay and muster books. It is far from
certain that individual people will be found in either the first mentioned
sources though. Other sources, such as those relating to Greenwich pensioners, Chatham
Chest and campaign medals can also be good starting points.
Ratings from 1853 until those
entered in 1923
Contrary to the accepted wisdom, the introduction of engagements
of continuous service for ratings in the Royal Navy was not swiftly done
in 1853. For a start, there had been an earlier experiment in 1835 relating to
the entry of some boys and seamen, but it would appear that no ‘service
registers’ as such were compiled in relation to this. Also, in this same year
the Royal Navy also began a series of experiments generally known as the ticketing
system. This apparently attempted to keep tabs on all Britons in
mercantile service, with the intention of forcing wanted classes of men into
the R.N. in times of war. (Also see my section on the press
especially
since my understanding of this is changing and further research will be carried
out on original policy documents if surviving.) Overwhelmingly this is seen in
isolation, but if taken in conjunction with the first experiment in encouraging
the people to sign on for set engagements, shows the Admiralty’s thinking to
have not been as reactionary as is often maintained. Having said that, I
suspect that there is a great deal more in archives that has been untouched and
may give deeper understandings. By the time the mercantile experiments were
discontinued in 1857, the Marine Department of the Board of Trade had taken
control of this. And, between 1845 and 1854 register tickets had been issued,
not only to merchant mariners, but also those on the monarch’s warships.
Anyway, the Act ‘... to make better Provision concerning the
Entry and Service of Seamen, and otherwise to amend the Laws concerning Her
Majesty’s Navy’, passed in 1853, certainly widened and deepened this, but only
affected boys and seamen then entering. It was not even until 1862 that
this was made mandatory for those joining the seaman branch. Others, such as
stokers, might, if seen as a benefit to the Service, be offered engagements of
continuous service. But, there was nothing definite in this.
And, what is more there were a considerable number of rates that
were specifically
forbidden the security of engagements of
continuous service. There was quite an assortment of these, from butchers and
bakers, literally, to lamp trimmers, musicians and many more.
As far as I can determine, from study up to now, this situation
remained relatively stable (for what became junior rates) until the latter part
of the decade. However, especially in 1868 where there a lot of work was put
in, from then on there was a gradual development of the system of continuous
service. This was not entirely straightforward however. In some cases, with
changes in technology for instance, there were brand new rates (such as signal
boys) and continuous service was mandatory. Circa 1870 there were two
recruiting systems operating for ratings some branches. Those under the ‘old
system’ were not on continuous service, but those on the ‘new’ were. And, there
were even more complications, such as in the case of stewards. In the 1860s it
is obvious that these ratings were actually writers, since there was a
requirement for new entries to read and write: unlike boy seamen who were not.
Writer rates were apparently introduced in the early 1870s, but were not
allowed continuous service. Within ten years, writers were on engagements. What
is more there were new steward rates coming in, in role of ‘plate layer’ (using
a modern lower-deck term), partially but not completely replacing the
traditional ‘domestics’. Some of these stewards’ rates were allowed continuous
service, others were not.
Sometime around the end of the century the rate of change
slowed, but this lasted well into the twentieth century. In fact, there were still non-continuous rates in the
R.N. post 1945.
With the historical background of this aspect outlined and the
weaknesses noted, for those on engagements of continuous service there were
service registers
as
of 1853. While the style of these changed, with more information being recorded
as of 1870, essentially this makes researching a larger percentage of naval
ratings a routine matter.
Unfortunately, partially through nineteenth century changes in
administration changing musters and pay books (although there were ships’
ledgers subsequently) and also Luftwaffe bombing destroying
documentation) it may be virtually impossible to trace most on
non-continuous service after 1885. Nevertheless, for those whose sea time was
not recorded in service registers, there is a chance that they may be found
within certificates of service, at least until 1894 when they were
discontinued.
The structure of rates also changed, with new layers introduced.
Initially limited to seamen as of 1862 the rate of leading seaman was
introduced, slotted between able seaman and petty officer. The petty officer
rate itself was split into first and second class petty officers. This same
decade chief petty officer rates also began to come into existence, above the
petty officers. And, in the new scheme heading up the lower deck were warrant
officers.
The old ‘inferior’ classes of warrant officer were also
integrated into the new order: variously in petty officer rates. While the old
boards that they had been responsible to had been subsumed into the Admiralty,
the requirement for professional certification remained.
Although engagements of continuous service brought about
pensionable time for ratings as of 1859 (paid after twenty years man’s time),
few of the records have been released. And, over the century Greenwich Hospital’s
role slowly withered.
There are also casualty reports, beginning with the
Anglo-Russian War 1854-56, as well as medal rolls for this and subsequent wars.
Ratings joining after 1923
The service records of all R.N. ratings, no matter what rate
they subsequently held, have not yet been released to the public properly. Nevertheless,
as with other classes of servicemen, applications for ratings’ service records
need to be made through the Ministry of Defence.
Go to tracing commissioned officers
Go to tracing warrant officers