AUSTRALIAN RECORDS OF MERCHANT SHIPPING & SEAMEN - COMMONWEALTH
 

Chris Mobbs
 
 

This is PART 1 of a series, as follows:

PART 1 – Commonwealth and Australia-wide records
PART 2 – New South Wales records
PART 3 – Northern Territory records
PART 4 – Queensland records
PART 5 – South Australia records
PART 6 – Tasmania records
PART 7 – Victoria records
PART 8 – Western Australia records.

A.  Commonwealth Government records
The relevant Commonwealth authority is the National Archives of Australia and their indexes are available on-line via their website. Note that the records themselves are not available on-line, and you usually need to be able to visit an Archives office to view the records, many of which have been microfilmed.  An e-mail inquiry service is available (refer to the website), which will be facilitated if you conduct a prior search of the records, via the on-line indexes.

These index databases can be searched if you choose the RecordSearch option, and login as directed.  You can look for what you want, or you can take a short-cut because the Archives have published all the important Control Numbers relating to shipping and seamen in their 1998 publication Finding Families – published by Hale and Iremonger ISBN 0 86806 648 6.

If you use these Control Numbers in the ‘Reference numbers’ entry field on the search screen you will find the formal description of the record, including its physical location.  There is sometimes additional information describing the circumstances of the information being collected.

The Archives holds a microfilmed general register of seamen engaged on Australian ships from 1926 to 1990 in its Canberra office.  Its Control Number is A8877. The records are arranged in four time series, 1922-26, 1926-1966, 1967-1983 and 1964-1990.
There is a series in Melbourne under Control Number MP978/1, which may be a duplicate of part of series A8877, or it could be for Melbourne registrations only.  It covers 1927 to June 1966 only.

There are other records of shipping and crew particular to each port/State under the following headings. The key Control Numbers for them are reproduced in PARTS 2 to 8 of this series as appropriate.

Shipping Registers

Before 1981 Australian ship registrations were approved under British legislation in the Register of British ships maintained at various Australian ports.  After 1981, the British registers became part of the Australian Register of Ships and the majority of British Registers (those with current entries) were transferred to the Australian Shipping Registration Office in Canberra.  These record the ship’s name, official number, port of registration, date, master, and details of building, ownership and title.  As long as the titles are active, and registration has not been closed, they are retained in that office where they can be inspected for a fee.  Registers date from 1834 for Sydney, 1856 for Brisbane, 1874 for Port Adelaide, 1887 for Hobart, 1855 for Melbourne, and 1853 for Fremantle (Perth).  For some ports transactions, ships’ papers/ships’ files and certificates and cancelled certificates are also held.

Inquiries about shipping registers can be made to:

Shipping Registration Office
Australian Maritime Safety Authority
GPO Box 2181
Canberra City ACT 2601

There is also a web site at http://www.amsa.gov.au (click on Shipping
Registration) which provides an e-mail service and a list of currently
registered Australian ships. "
 

Crew Lists

Crew lists had to be completed by the master of every Australian and foreign ship arriving at an Australian port from any place outside the country.  Before 1924, crew were included on passenger lists.  From 1906 to 1924, Form 23 recorded any crew members who were not of European race or descent, the master’s name, port arrived from, agent’s name, date of arrival, name of crew, number on Articles of Agreement, nationality and port of shipment.  From early 1924 to 1967, crew were separately listed on Form M&S 14 which shows the ship’s name, port of registry, port arrived from, date and place of commencement of voyage as well as agent’s name.  For the master, officers and crew, full names are given, reference numbers in the Articles of Agreement, nationality (place of birth), race, capacity in which engaged, place and date of engagement, and remarks.

Registers of Engagement and Articles of Agreement

Registers of Engagement
Entries usually state date, name of vessel, seaman’s name and signature, capacity in which engaged, where bound, place and date of last discharge, and master’s name.

Articles of Agreement

This is the seaman’s contract of employment with the master of a ship for a particular voyage.  Under the Navigation Act, Form M&S 3 was used which shows name and official number of ship, port of registry, tonnage, name of owner, date and port of commencement and termination of voyage, list of apprentices and others under eighteen years of age employed on board, signature of crew member, year of birth, nationality, port of engagement, home address, ship in which last served and date of discharge, date and place of agreement, capacity in which engaged, certificate number, monthly wages, particulars of discharge and release from agreement.

Discharges

There are four kinds of records referenced in the Archives lists, described as follows:

Register of Discharge

Entries commonly include date, name of seaman, description of ship in which last employed, discharge number, rating, signature of master and seaman, name of witness and wages due.

Certificates of Discharge

No seaman could be engaged unless he provided a discharge from his last ship or a permit to sign articles.   These records are generally the book butts of Form M&S 6, issued to each seaman under the Navigation Act 1912 in the port where his duties ceased according to his Articles of Agreement.  Each entry shows number of discharge, name of ship, port of registry, name of seaman, previous ship, date and place of engagement, date discharged, capacity in which engaged, efficiency, conduct, ability, and date of issue.  Occasionally the original certificate remains and may include the year and place of birth.

Release on Termination of Service

These records were a form of mutual release signed by master and seaman after discharge and settlement of wages and applied to all claims between the two parties in respect of the past engagement.  For ships registered in Australia Form M&S or M&S 10 was used, and for ships registered in Britain, Form M.  Details recorded include the seaman’s name and date and place of birth, the name and official number of the ship, names of master and owner, voyage details, date and place of agreement with seaman, date and number of discharge, balance of wages, conduct, efficiency and ability, and the seaman’s signature.

Return of Seamen Discharged, Died or Deserted

These forms, MS&D, with a one line entry per person, were held chronologically, and recorded name, year and place of birth, name of ship, trade, place and date engaged, capacity of employment, number and date of discharge certificate, conduct, character and qualifications, reason for discharge, and whether deserted.

Register of Deserters.

Desertion, including that by foreign seamen, constituted an offence under the Navigation Act, being described as the absence of a seaman or apprentice from his ship without lawful cause or excuse, with the intention of not returning.  It was also recorded in a ship’s official log, and sometimes on a ‘Return of seamen discharged’ (Form D).

Entries in the register of deserters are usually more detailed after 1924, and normally include name, year and place of birth, nationality, details of ship deserted from, capacity in which engaged, date of desertion and character report, remarks, and re-engagement where applicable.

B. Other government records

There is an on-line database of shipwrecks in Australian waters here:
http://dbase.mm.wa.gov.au/WEBFM/Shipwrecks/shipsearch.html
 

C. Non-government records

There are three volumes called Log of Logs: a catalogue of logs, journals, shipboard diaries, letters and all forms of voyage narratives, 1788 to 19XX for Australia and New Zealand, by Ian Nicholson, published by the Roebuck Society. They contain summarised descriptions of voyages from 1788 with references to original sources, and many pictures of ships.  They contain the captain’s name for each voyage, where known.

Volume 1 ( ISBN 0 7316 6534 1) was published in 1988. Volume 2 (ISBN 0 646 09182 4) was published in 1993, and adds to and expands upon many entries in Volume 1, so you need to check both volumes. Volume 3 was published in 1999.
 

Compiled by Chris Mobbs who invites the addition of other references of general interest.  The records are not confined to Australian ships or seamen.
 

20.04.02ef

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