Tracing family tree

[markcw]

Hi to all.

We are a family with a 22 sports cuddy in the family, we have been tracing our family tree,

We have found out that i have a great great great great grandad John Pearce who worked all his live has a oyster dredger in tollesbury on a smack boat called the Dove registered around 1851 ck111 he fished all his life and died as a master mariner in his 70s we also found out that id was a oyster watchman come the end.

My question is this would it be right to rename my boat after his as a remembrance to him, secondly could any one give me some idea of the qualification he would need to become a master mariner as we are still trying to find paper work out,

We also understand that his wife Sarah Jane Stevenson her dad Allan Stevenson was a member of the coast guard born in 1805, work at great clacton and work in gold hanger. but also worked in Ryde, isle of wight as a boat man.



any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Poignard]

If he was a fisherman all his life he could not have become a 'master mariner' since to do so requires deep-sea experience in charge of ships (both sail and steam, in those days) and the passing of several examinations.

The staff in the Caird library at the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich are very helpful in tracing the carers of certificated officers.

You can give your boat just about any name you choose unless it is to be registered, when it must not be a name that is already in use. Naming it after your ancestor seems a nice way of showing respect for a hard-working man

 

[Litotes]

As far as the boat is concerned, the smack "Dove" is listed amongst those working out of Tollesbury in 1900 (CK111, owner J. Pearce)

http://www.smackdock.co.uk/tollsmack.htm

This is the Colne Smack Preservation Society and you may want to look at the "researching boats and crews" section as well. Quite a few of the old fishing families are still living in Tollesbury and memories are long. There is much personal and family history still remembered.

The Essex Records Office in Chelmsford is a magnificent resource and the staff are very helpful. Also, there is a lot of information available at the museums in Brightlingsea and West Mersea.

Perhaps a visit to the eastwards might be worthwhile.

Many of the smacksmen also worked on the great Victorian and Edwardian yachts, both as skippers and crews. The "Skipper's Club" was founded in Tollesbury and met in the King's Head Pub, which still flourishes. It is possible that Mr. Pearce also went "deep sea" in a big yacht and I assume these captains, who travelled the world, did acquire some specific qualifications for the work. As the yachting trade was very important to the area I imagine either the Records Office or the museums (and possibly the Preservation Society) would know about it. Google may also know.......

As Parsifal says, there is no restriction on the name you give to your boat unless you register it as a British Ship (Part 1) or on the Small Ships Register, in which case you can't register it with a name that is already taken. (I presume it's the same for the SSR. My own boat is Part 1 registered) However, in that situation you can always vary the name - "Dove of Bridgewater" for example.

Good luck with your researches.