A 'How to' guide to aid researching within these topics.

Royal Naval service

The RN records of service can be downloaded from the National Archives for a small fee. They is not eay to find unless you have the Service Number of the RN Rating from a RootsSearch source.
They set out DoB, where born, and a detaied physical description, and the dates of servise, Followed by a detailed list of all vessels and shore establishments with dates for start annd end of those postings, and what rate during those postings. There are also records of begaviour and other relevant info.
There may only be records of one posting, or a dozen or more, including records of transfer to the Coastguard service.

HM Coastguards, 1822 to 1923

Sticker: {{Occupation|image=Images4G2G-37.png|text=served in HM Coastguard (Britain) from before nnnn to before nnnn.}}

HM Coastguard was established in 1822. The new Coast Guard inherited a number of shore stations and watch houses from its predecessor bodies as well as several coastal vessels, and these provided bases for its operations over the following years. In 1831, the Coast Guard took over duties from the Coast Blockade for the Suppression of Smuggling (which had been run by the Admiralty from a string of Martello Towers on the Kent and Sussex coast); this finally gave it authority over the whole of the UK coastline.
In the 1850s oversight of the Coast Guard was transferred from the Board of Customs to the Admiralty. In the decades that followed, the Coast Guard (or Coastguard, as it came to be called) began to function more like an auxiliary Naval service, a recruitment ground for future naval personnel.
By the start of the twentieth century, there was a growing sense of dissatisfaction with the service expressed both by the Board of Customs (concerned for revenue protection) and by the Board of Trade (responsible for safety at sea). I. In 1923 the Coastguard was re-established as a coastal safety and rescue service, overseen by the Board of Trade.
Circular No. 35.-N. Admiralty 5th August, 1875. Qualification for Entry of Men in Coast Guard. My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty having been pleased to reduce the period of Service required to qualify men for appointment to the Coast Guard to eight years. the following Regulations are to be substituted for those contained in their Lordships' Circular of the 7th July, 1869 (?) No. 38 (N).

Regulations

1. . Seamen of good character who have served in Her majesty's Navy 8 years with Man's rating (continuous service), provided their age does not emceed 37 years will be eligible for entry in the Coast Guard upon the recommendation of their Commanding Officer.
2. . There will be no restriction as to the number of Candidates to be recommended from any particular Ship: but the admissions will depend upon the number of vacancies.
3. . None but Trained Men and Seamen Gunners will be appointed, and all Candidates must be Badge Men.
4. . Seamen Gunners will not be allowed to retain their Gunnery Pay, except when actually doing as Instructors, but all Trained Men, including Seamen Gunners will be allowed their Gunnery Pay of One Penny a-day.
5. . All Coast Guard Men will be liable to be embarked in turn for such cruise as the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty may appoint, and if found unfit for active service vice at sea, they will be discharged with such pension or gratuity as they may be entitled to from their services.
6. . The age for absolute discharge from the Coast Guard. whether fit for service or not, will be for:-

• Boatmen - 50
• Commissioned Boatmen - 50
• Chief Boatmen - 50
• Chief Boatmen in charge - 55

Abbreviatioons used in the records

• chf officer = chief officer
• boatn = boatman
• chf btman = chief boatman
• permt extn = permanent extraman
• comd bn = commissioned boatman
• tempoy exn = temporary extraman

Identifying the location for the station at which the Boatmen served takes care, they can be found from

1. The RN records of service at the National Archives. This is not easy unless you have the Service Number of the CG Boatman from a RootsSearch source. The RN Records set out the names of the CG Stations and the coastal area. This may be the name of the Guard Ship, or a geograpical area e.g. Southern. Guard Ships were warships assigned to ports and major waterways as the Naval Headquarters, They had a reduced complement of a minimum of one quarter of their normal crew, which could be supplemented by coastguard boatmen from local stations for training cruises or other duties at sea.^[1]
   
2. Parish Registers of the birth of a child. The church may be a couple of miles inland from the CG Station.
3. Census records. If you can access an image of the original record you may be able to trace the enumerator’s route. Be aware that the Census district “location” may be several miles inland from the station, and the district may cover several stations.
4. GRO records of birth marriage and death. The Record District office may be 20 or more miles from any station.
5. A search of the OS survey maps, 6inch series held at https://maps.nls.uk/geo/find/#zoom=5.0&lat=56.00000&lon=-4.00000&layers=102&b=1&z=0&point=0,0 for the location of the nearest town and time frame.

Having located the station use the categorisation tool to add it to your profile. If it has not yet been created add the new one, using the correct format [[Category:HMCG Station name]] and save the profile You will receive an error message stating that the profilke does not exist, but allowing “save anyway” - save again. The new category will appear in red. Click on it and an empty shell will open. Paste in this text:

[[Category:HM Coastguard Stations|###]] (### represents the first few letters of the name, ensure that there are enough so that the station is listed alphabetically on the top level list)

This category groups profiles of persons associated with HMCG ####, a coastguard station on the ##### coast (with more detail as appropriate). See OS Survey on https://maps.nls.uk/view/nnnnn and/or any other online reference. Review the new text, then save. Then check that it appears correctly within the list of stations.

Pensioners of the Royal Hospital Greenwich

Just as Chelsea Hospital was built for soldiers who had been injured or grown old in the service of the crown, Greenwich Hospital was created for seamen in 1695. Those former sailors and marines who lived in the hospital were known as ‘in-pensioners’ and those who drew a pension but did not live on site were known as ‘out-pensioners’. Almost 3,000 sailors were living in the Hospital by 1815. According to recent research by the Greenwich Maritime Institute, the average pensioner entered at 56 but they ranged in age from 12 to 99. Younger pensioners had been injured at sea. Greenwich Geese
The ‘Greenwich Geese’ as locals referred to them were also referreed to as College Men in official records It was not uncommon for pensioners to leave and return (after a waiting period) to the Hospital. Families of pensioners were not allowed to live with them in the Hospital so many lived in the Greenwich area.
In 1869 the Hospital closed and the Royal Navy decided to pay pensions directly to former sailors.^[2]
Life at the Hospital followed a strict routine but for men used to living a regimented existence at sea this must have been familiar and comforting. Woken at 7am, the pensioners were expected to attend chapel daily. Each man received a small allowance and some supplemented this income by taking on official roles, including boatswain, cook’s mate and porter. The porters were responsible for winding the clock, watching the gates and giving tours of the Painted Hall to visitors.^[3]
Some in pensioners maintained a family outside the Hospital, and som persuid trades to supplement their pension.
Following the establishment of the Hospital in Greenwich, consideration was given to the provision of education to the children of seamen, especially orphans. The first Greenwich Hospital pupils were sent to Weston’s Academy in Greenwich in 1712, At this time the boys were accommodated in the attic of the Hospital buildings. Soon the number of Greenwich Hospital pupils grew to such an extent that it became economical to provide their own school and teachers. The school became a great success through its teaching of mathematics, navigation and nautical astronomy, providing its pupils with sufficient knowledge for them to become navigators and ships’ officers in the Royal and Merchant Navies where they joined directly as Masters’ Mates . The rules of the school stated: that no boy was to be admitted before the age of 14, nor retained after the age of 18,^[4]
The admission records of the pensioners yields autobiographical data including Age at admission, Place of birth and residence, Years in the RN, Ships serfed on, whether wounded. They are available from

• https://www.familysearch.org/.
• "in-Pensioner registers". Retrieved 17 March 2024 – via FindMyPast. Archive series ADM 73
• "out-Pensioner payment registers". Retrieved 17 March 2024 – via FindMyPast. Archive series ADM 27