VPRS 946 Registers of Deserters and Discharged Seamen (Refer to Microfilm Copy VPRS 2144)

Full description

This series comprises an accumulation of volumes belonging to three or four natural series. The series are identified and described below.

Register of Deserters, Port of Geelong 1857 to 1925 (Unit 1)

The series commenced 31 August 1857, however, a note on the first page indicates that earlier entries for January 1852 to July 1853 and for January 1856 are at the back of the volume.

The register records the date of desertion, the name of the ship and its origin, the name of the seaman and his place of birth, age, height and the colour of his eyes and hair. Additional details were sometimes recorded.

A card index to this register is available in the Laverton Search Room.

Registers of Deserters 1878 to 1924 (Units 2 to 8)

The volumes extant appear to have come from two series which are incomplete.

Units 3 to 7 appear to comprise a register of deserters from ships conducting trade with the United Kingdom. The volumes were mostly marked with a volume number and the initials U.K. Unit 2 seems to belong to the same series, based on the numbers marked on the volumes, although it includes deserters from ships conducting trade with British and foreign ports.

Unit 8 comprises a single volume relating to deserters from ships conducting intercolonial and foreign trade. It is marked Volume 2.

The registers are arranged chronologically by the date of the report of desertion and record the name of the ship and its official number, the name of the deserter and his age, place of birth and rating, the last ship on which he served, and the date of the report. Various references and remarks are usually included such as the name and date of any re-shipment and extracts from the police gazettes relating to the desertion. Each volume contains an index to ships from which the seamen have deserted.

Seamen Discharged before the Shipping Master, Geelong 1856 to 1888 (Unit 9)

This volume comprises a chronological record of seamen discharged at the Port of Geelong which records the date of discharge, name of the ship and its master, name of the seaman, capacity in which the seaman served, area of trade of the ship, the last vessel on which the seaman served and his character, and the net wages paid to the seaman. Ages and places of birth of the seamen are included in later entries.

The record commenced in August 1857 and ended in June 1888. For the same period, a record of Seamen Engaged before the Shipping Master at Geelong can be consulted (see VPRS 22/P Unit 21) which records more or less the same information about the engagement of seamen.

For records relating to the discharge of seamen in Victoria see also VPRS 558, VPRS 566 and VPRS 945.