Lloyds Register and Emigration

Continuing the theme of last month’s article on the docks in Swansea, this month’s topics will include the Lloyds Register and ship’s passenger’s lists. Lloyds Register was first published in 1764-66, 1786-71 and then annually since 1775. Vessels, self-propelled merchant ships of 100 gross tonnes or heavier, are listed alphabetically by their current name. The register charts their service history, and they remain on the register until the vessel is either, sunk, wrecked, broken up or hulked (the term used when a ship is given a change of use), for example a prison ship. There are two ways in which way to obtain the information from the register. The first is by visiting the Research Room, Lloyds Headquarters, 71 Fenchurch Street, London, or secondly searching for the particular ship using the Lloyd’s Register of Ships Online. This online register does not have every year covered.

MV San Emiliano entry in Lloyds Register circa 1939 

The extract that is being used (above) is from the 1939 register, for the newly constructed MV San Emiliano, a motor tanker owned by Eagle Oil & Shipping Co. Ltd. 

MV San Emiliano

MV San Emiliano left Swansea in April 1942, joining the convoy E7 on a route from Curacao - Trinidad - Table Bay and Suez. German U boat (submarine) U-155 in 9^th August 1942 off the coast of Trinidad fired a torpedo and sunk MV San Emiliano. From a crew of 48, there was a loss of 40, 3 of whom were Swansea men, Storekeeper Jack Bastow, Steward John Charles Caplin and Able Seaman Ernest Woollard. The 40 crew members of the MV San Emiliano are commemorated on panel 92.  The sinking of the MV San Emiliano was to feature on the 1969, The World at War TV series. 

There are two Merchant Navy memorial situated at Tower Hill, London.  This site is infamous for the executions carried out there from the first execution of Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1381 to the last execution in 1747 of Simon Fraser, 11^th Lord Lovat.  Today, the memorial commemorate 12,190 First World War seamen and 23,885 Second World War seamen who lost their lives.  The sea is their only grave.

Whilst researching ones family history, it is interesting to discover why some family members have started new lives in different countries. We have to look at questions such as why do people set out on emigration, and what type of emigration there was at the time?

Emigrating from Wales started as early as the 1600s to one of the following destinations: United States/South America, Canada, India, Australia and New Zealand. Movement around the United Kingdom at this time didn’t require any documentation for people to settle down. Records were needed for the United States from 1776; Canada before 1865; Australia, New Zealand and South Africa during the 20th Century.

The different types of emigration are:

1. Free Emigrants – During the 1660s times were turbulent, King Charles I lost his head! An act of Parliament, The Act of Uniformity, 1662 was passed, allowing the Church of England to follow the rites and ceremonies prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer. One of those ministers who didn’t obey, was John Myles, from Ilston, Gower. He took the Ilston Book – the earliest record of Welsh Baptists – with him when he emigrated to North America with his congregation. Myles founded the town of Swansea, Massachusetts and establish-ed the First Baptist Church there. The church still holds records of those people to settle there. Other religious groups could include the Quakers, who also hold extensive records.
2. Assisted Emigrants – During the period of 1815 – 1914, Pax Britannica (British Peace), a period when the British Empire rule was at its strongest. During this time, British merchants, shippers and bankers had overwhelming control over much of the British colonies over-seas. During the 1840s the Australian and the New Zealand governments offered money or land to skilled workers as an incentive to settle there. Those who have ancestors who emigrated can obtain ship’s passengers lists. The lists of those passengers leaving the UK from 1890-1960 are on Find My Past website, www.findmypast.co.uk. For those who had ancestors who immigrated to the UK dated from 1890-1960, these lists can be found on the Ancestry website, www.ancestry.co.uk. Confusing? Yes!
3. Transported prisoners – Before 1775, more than 50,000 prisoners were transported primarily to Virginia and Maryland, America. During the period from 1788 to 1869, 160,000 prisoners were sent to Australia – out of this figure 2,500 prisoners were from Wales. From 1805 The Cambrian reported a series of cases of local Swansea people who had been transported, including John Pugh, footman and David Jones, groom who were convicted of stealing porter and transported for 7 years. I wonder what became of them afterwards. A story dating from 1867, suggested turning Lundy Island into a convict settlement. That would have been too close to home and the puffins would not have been too happy! Depending on which court the person was tried at will dictate whether the records have survived or not.

A final note – during the 1860s Swansea was ‘home’ to an influx of migrants from Ireland during the potato famine, who settled in the Greenhill area, known as the Little Ireland. Also people came from Devon to work in the Swansea Docks. A large number of people did emigrate from Wales, but they didn’t quite make it overseas, just to the North of England!

Copyright – The Bay Magazine – April 2016