20485 Seafarers: Life Afloat and Ashore, 1800-1914
Gorski
David Starkey & Richard
Full catalogue entries can be found at www.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/catalogue
Shipping Companies
 Earle's Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd. (1845-1932): [U DEA; U MIC 234]
Including plans of land, estimates of cost of named vessels, balance sheets and annual
reports, abstracts of title deeds, and particulars of vessels built, 1853-1931
 Ellerman’s Wilson Line (est. 1825): [U DEW]
Including personnel records (mainly of masters and officers); notebooks and log books,
especially by Capt. William Colbeck; records of vessels lost or damaged during the First
World War; company correspondence, minutes and accounts during the war;
corporate and share records, minutes, accounts, bills of sale and mortgages, agreements,
correspondence, subject files, instructions and regulations, log and note books, personnel
records, publications, records about vessels, specifications and contracts, branch and
subsidiary company records, papers of members of Wilson family, Oswald Sanderson, and
Hubert Stanley Holden, 1825-1974
 Hellyer Brothers, Trawler Owners (1887-1979): [C DBHB]
Includes records for a number of fishing companies, including Devon Fishing Company Ltd
(later Hellyer Brothers), Caledonian Fishing Company Ltd, West Dock Steam Fishing
Company Ltd, and Pickering & Haldane's Steam Trawling Company Ltd, etc. Records
include staff records, insurance policies, correspondence, minute books, settlement books,
and navigation charts.
 John Good & Sons (est. 1833): [U DGO]
Shipping company: Including diaries of John Good, seafarer and shipowner, minutes of
directors and shareholders, private ledgers and journals, records of agency vessels,
registers of shipping maintained by Finnish consulate in Hull, samples of company
advertising, diaries of John and Joseph Good
 Thomas Hamling and Co. LTD. Trawler Owners (1894-1983): [C DBTH]
Company records including minutes, correspondence and individual vessel records. Covers
many different shipping companies based in Hull.
Individuals
 Admiral Sir Henry Hotham (1777-1833): [U DDHO/7]
Official correspondence, orders, journals and diaries, accounts and other papers, mainly
relating to his naval service as Rear Admiral and second in command on the America station
in 1814 (during the American War of 1812-1815), and as Commander-in-Chief of the
Mediterranean fleet in 1815 (during the Napoleonic Wars) and the early 1830s.
 Christian Agerskow (fl.1928-1955): [U DX/117]
Trawler skipper: Including fish notes and details of landings, settling sheets (with financial
details of about 100 voyages), some log books, and accounts of fish landed at Hull between
1931 and 1946 and settling sheets (financial accounts)
 William Philip Baines (d.1895): [U DDBH]
Letters about his experiences as an apprentice seafarer and death at sea in the wreck of the
Port Yarrock, 1890-95
Ship Records
 Hull vessels: [U DX/65]
Including certificates of survey and/or declarations of ownership for 11 named vessels, 18591878
 Fishing Vessel Crew Agreements (1884-1914): [C DPF]
Provides list of crew down to 4th Hand. Gives detailed information on the Captains in
particular
 Records from Customs & Excise (1804-1994): [C DPC]
Includes registers of shipping (1804-1893, 1897-1902); transaction books; declaration
books; fishing registers.
 Fishing Vessel records (1892-1907): [C DMX/82]
Photographs of fishing activities; a postcard of the Russian Outrage memorial; a ship's bible
 Bills of entry [Local Studies collection]
Includes lists of ships leaving foreign ports with quantities and ownerships of cargoes, and a
list of ships outwards giving destination ports of ships leaving Hull
Other Records
 Hull Trinity House (c. 1714 - 1906): [U DTR]
Wardens’ accounts and vouchers; committee minutes; muster rolls; reports, acts of
Parliament; proceedings, bylaws; miscellaneous papers
 Quarter Session records (1837-1898): [C CQB]
Coroner’s inquest papers recording deaths on ships
 Magistrates records: [C DPM]
Show sentences on seamen for petty crimes

General histories of fishing and ship building [Local Studies Section]
Information about archive resources across the UK
 National Register of Archives
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/
Summary digital version of long-established paper-based resource. More comprehensive,
but more summary information. You can only search by corporate name, personal or family
name, or place, not by subject or keyword
Simpler format - search results give standard, summary information about collections.
 A2A - Access to Archives
http://www.a2a.org.uk/
Catalogues relating to archives held in England. Can provide very detailed information, but
is not comprehensive. Complex results - including several levels of information. Search
results may be collection-level descriptions or entries to individual items. Read guide to
database first.
 Archives Hub
http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/
Database gateway to archives held in universities and colleges. Free text search. Clear
layout - split screen - lists of search results with links to summary or more detailed collectionlevel descriptions.
 Specialist databases
Providing information on sources within historical themes - eg Genesis (sources for women’s
history). Your tutor may be able to suggest sites within your area of interest.
A good list of thematic and specialist sites relating to archive resources can be found on the
History Online website – at http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Resources/Type/archive.html
 ARCHON
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon/
Contact details for record repositories in the United Kingdom and also for institutions
elsewhere in the world which have substantial collections of manuscripts.
Includes website addresses. It is always worth looking at the website of a record office you
are planning to visit, or even one which you think might have relevant material - many have
online catalogues or guides.
Things to think about:
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Are there resources which are in a record office that you can get to easily
Will there be any problems reading the records? - handwriting pre c. 1750 uses
some different letter forms, and some records will be in Latin. Some 19th century
handwriting (eg in private letters) is just illegible!
Have transcripts of the records been published?
Always ring or e-mail before visiting a record office - places may be limited, or
records stored at a distance from the reading room.
Bring pencils (or a laptop) rather than pens