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Coffay Surname Ancestry Results

Our indexes 1000-1999 include entries for the spelling 'coffay'. In the period you have requested, we have the following 3 records (displaying 1 to 3): 

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Masters of Merchantmen (1822)
The Society for the Registry of Shipping was instituted in 1760, and published an annual register and supplement. The annual register consisted of an alphabetical list of ships surveyed for insurance in Britain and Ireland, together with an alphabetical supplement. The society maintained a Registry Office at which alterations and additions were notified, and members delivering their registers when called for had them updated and returned on the following or the ensuing day. Each ship was given a number within each letter of the alphabet: ships' names were not unique, so within each name a ship was identified by the name of the captain or master at the time of the last survey. Then abbreviations indicate the type of vessel (Bg, brig; Bk, barque; Cr, cutter; Dr, dogger; G, galliott; H, hoy; K, ketch; S, ship; Sk, smack; Sp, sloop; Sr, schooner; St, schoot; Sw, snow), and whether sheathed (s) and/or doubled (d) with copper (C) and iron bolts (I B) or over boards (W & C), patent felt (P F), copper fastened (c f), copper bolted (c b), or copper repaired (C rp) sometimes with a date, such as (18)18. The third column, reserved for masters' names, is not particularly wide; with short surnames, an initial will be given; but longer surnames omit the initials, and even longer surnames are abbreviated. It will be borne in mind that these are the names of the masters not (necessarily) in 1822, but at the time of the last survey. Often new masters had been appointed by the time of re-survey, and their names are added in slightly smaller type under the original master's names in the third column. In the fourth column is the tonnage: where there is a blank under the number this indicates that the ship had two decks; more often the letters S D (B) for single deck (with beams); D W for deep waist; S D W single deck with deep waist; B D W single deck with beams and deep waist. Underneath the entry may run references to recent repairs: Cl. clincher built; Drp. damages repaired; grp. good repair; len. lengthened; lrp. large repair; N. (new) B. bottom, D. deck, Kl. keel, Sds. sides or UW. upper-works; rb. rebuilt; rsd. raised; Srprs. some repairs; or trp. thorough repair. In italics, the timber of the ship is described - B. B., black birch; C., cedar; H., hazel; Hk., hackmetack; J., juniper; L. O., live oak; M., mahogany; P., pine; P. P., pitch pine; S., spruce; W. H., witch hazel; W. O., white oak. The fifth column gives the place that the ship was built. For foreign ships this may be as vague as 'Dutch' or 'French'; but nothing in this record specifically indicates the nationality of ship, master or owners, except that an A. under the owner's name indicates that the vessel was American property. The sixth column gives the year of the ship's age; a few were still sailing after 30 or 40 years. The seventh column gives the owner's name, abbreviated in the same way as the master's name. Where the master was the owner, the word Capt. will appear. With vessels owned abroad, the name in this column is sometimes that of the port of origin, not the surname of the owner. Where there has been a change of owner by the time of re-survey, the new name is put underneath in smaller type. The printer sought to avoid confusion by aligning names of ports to the left and surnames to the right, but that leaves longer names doubtful. The eighth column gives the feet of the draught of water when loaded. The ninth column shows the destined voyage for which the survey took place, with the port of survey abbreviated (Be., Belfast; Br., Bristol; Co., Cork; Cs, Cowes; Da., Dartmouth; Du., Dublin; Eh, Exmouth; Ex., Exeter; Fa., Falmouth; Gr., Greenock; Hl, Hull; Hn, Harrington; La., Lancaster; Lh, Leith; Li., Liverpool; Lo., London; Ly., Lynn; Mt., Maryport; Po., Poole; Ph, Portsmouth; Pl., Plymouth; Sc., Star-Cross; Tn., Teignmouth; Tp., Topsham; Wa., Waterford; Wn, Whitehaven; Wo., Workington; Ya., Yarmouth), and the letter C where the vessel was a constant trader between the two ports. The tenth column gives the classification of the vessel (A, first; E, second) and its stores (1, first; 2, second) and the year of survey, e. g. 09 for 1809, or, if surveyed during 1821, the month, e. g. 3 for March. Where the vessel has been re-surveyed, the classification letter and number will be repeated or revised in the final column. The sample scan is from the main list. This is the index to masters in the main list and the supplement.

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Masters of Merchantmen
 (1822)
National ArchivesBritish merchant seamen (1835-1836)
At this period, the foreign trade of ships plying to and from the British isles involved about 150,000 men on 15,000 ships; and the coasting trade about a quarter as many more. A large proportion of the seamen on these ships were British subjects, and so liable to be pressed for service in the Royal Navy; but there was no general register by which to identify them, so in 1835 parliament passed a Merchant Seamen's Registration Bill. Under this act this large register of British seamen was compiled, based on ships' crew lists gathered in British and Irish ports, and passed up to the registry in London. Each seaman was assigned a number, and the names were arranged in the register by first two letters of the surname (our sample scan shows one of the pages for 'Sm'); in addition, an attempt was made to separate out namesakes by giving the first instance of a name (a), the second (b), and so on. But no effective method was devised to prevent the same man being registered twice as he appeared in a second crew list; moreover, the original crew lists were clearly difficult for the registry clerks to copy, and some of the surname spellings appear to be corrupted. A parliamentary committee decided that the system devised did not answer the original problem, and this register was abandoned after less than two years: but it is an apparently comprehensive source for British merchant seamen in 1835 to 1836. The register records the number assigned to each man; his name; age; birthplace; quality (master, captain, mate, 2nd mate, mariner, seaman, fisherman, cook, carpenter, boy &c.); and the name and home port of his ship, with the date of the crew list (usually at the end of a voyage). Most of the men recorded were born in the British Isles, but not all (for instance, Charleston and Stockholm appear in the sample scan). The final column 'How disposed of' is rarely used, and indicates those instances where a man died, was discharged, or deserted his ship during the voyage.

COFFAY. Cost: £8.00. Add to basket

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British merchant seamen
 (1835-1836)
National ArchivesSailors and marines on H. M. S. St Jean D'Acre in the Crimean War (1854-1856)
Sebastopol in the Crimea was the great Russian naval arsenal on the Black Sea. A combined assault by British, French and Turkish troops resulted in the reduction of Sebastopol and led to the Treaty of Paris of 27 April 1856, guaranteeing the independence of the Ottoman Empire. By Admiralty Order the Crimea Medal was awarded to sailors and marines present during the campaign, between 17 September 1854 (the first landing at Eupatoria) and 9 September 1855 (when the allies secured Sebastopol). The sailors' medals were mostly delivered to them on board ship in the course of 1856; the marines' medals were sent to their respective headquarters for distribution. The remarks as to distribution in this medal roll therefore give more specific information as to the whereabouts of the sailor recipients in 1856 than about the marines. Her Majesty's Ship St Jean D'Acre, a 101-gun screw steamer, took part in the assault. Four clasps to this medal were awarded to the men present in the actions at Sebastopol itself, Inkerman, Balaklave (Balaclava) and (the sea of) Azoff, but the recipients of these clasps are recorded on separate rolls, not part of this index, but indexed on this site.

COFFAY. Cost: £8.00. Add to basket

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Sailors and marines on H. M. S. St Jean D'Acre in the Crimean War
 (1854-1856)

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