British Army records

Here is a database of 40,000 men who fought with the Imperial Yeomanry, Lovat Scouts and Scottish Horse during the Boer War of 1899 to 1902.

The database is searchable alphabetically by surname and gives the names, ranks, numbers and units.

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/KevinAsplin/home.html

There are also links to -

#Army Death Indexes 1901-1905
#Index of Attestation papers of Colonial Soldiers who served in the Boer War (1899-1902). Partial index of the WO 126 files at the National Archives.. Ashburners Light Horse, Bechuanaland Rifles, Bethune's Mounted Infantry, Border Horse, Border Scouts, Brabant's Horse, Bushmanland Borderers, Canadian Scouts
#Medal Rolls of the China War of 1856-60
#Roll of the Indian Mutiny (British Forces)

and more

hi fran there wouldnt be a listing anywhere of the english or merchant navy up until 1947 would there as cant find one at all

I'll have a look for you when I get a minute - get back to you - it's amazing what you can stumble on. I found a list of all the crew and captains of ships in Australian/NZ waters once - can't remember if I bookmarked it but probably wouldn't be able to find it again unless I did

Just a quick look brought this up - may not be what you want but thought I'd post before it was lost among all my other bookmarks - will have to do a cull soon

A visual data page adjunct to the British Light Infantry's Guestbook Pages to assist anyone searching for former British Army, Merchant Marine, Royal Navy, RAF and ADF personnel. The List originates from details supplied by old mates, friends and relatives and refers back in history from the current era to before The Boer War. Retired servicemen, some in their '80's, are contributing.

http://hmtships.googlepages.com/britisharmy%27smostwantedlist

Lorraine - http://www.southampton.gov.uk/leisure/archives/ - some of the records though are not there - destroyed or lost.

The following information comes from the Liverpool museum org uk

1860 - 1938

After 1860, the volume of these documents was so great that the National Archives felt unable to justify preserving them all, and in 1970 the crew agreements were divided between a number of repositories:

* The National Archives holds a series of crew lists of "celebrated vessels" from 1861 (BT 100). The Maritime Archives & Library has a copy of the list of vessels.
* The National Archives has also retained a random 10% sample of crew lists, 1860-1938, 1951-1977 (BT 99). A similar sample for fishing vessels under 80 tons is preserved for 1884-1919 (BT 144).
* The Maritime History Archive at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, holds approximately 70% of crew lists from 1863-1938 and 80% for 1951-1976. It holds none for the years 1939-1950 (see section below). The Archive will provide copies of documents and undertake research for a fee.
* The National Maritime Museum, London, holds the remaining 90% of the crew lists for the years, 1861, 1862, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935, 1955, 1965 and 1975. Anyone wishing to consult them should give at least two weeks advance notice, stating the name and official number of the vessel, and year voyage ended.
* Various Record Offices throughout Britain hold a selection of crew lists of vessels registered in ports in their area. The Maritime Archives & Library has a few such lists for this period and a list of those held by the Liverpool Record Office (in the Central Library, William Brown Street, Liverpool) which has a larger number from this period. The CLIP project has recently completed a database of all crew lists, 1863-1913, held in local repositories, a copy of which will be available at the Record Offices.

1939 - 1950

All crew agreements are held by the General Register and Record Office of Shipping and Seamen, Cardiff.

Here is another site that tells you how to trace them - heaps of links
http://www.angelfire.com/de/BobSanders/Site.html

Let us know how you go - if you come to a dead end sing out and I will have another go for you

thanks fran the prob is I have a name but but dont know if it was the english navy or merchant navy
as the fellas cap only had R.N on it I believe, but he had an accent so could have been 'french"??
so yep looking for a needle in a haystack methinks

findmypast.com have a lot of shipping records, That's how I found my uncle who came here in 1934.

thanks blossom I have done a bit of research and know this bloke hadnt came back to aussie at all , might have even been killed on the way home to wherever ,would just be nice to know what happened