Shipping registers relating to ships registered in Swansea and Port Talbot

Scope and Content

Shipping records mostly relating to the Port of Swansea, 1824-1994, including shipping registers, 1824-1988; transaction registers, 1855-1934; registers of fishing boats, 1903-1988; Port Talbot shipping records, 1905-1974.

Administrative / Biographical History

The Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen recorded merchant ships registered at the Port of Swansea and Port Talbot, Glamorgan. Crew lists note the tonnage, owner and master of each ship, destination of voyages, occasional details of cargoes and the names, age, place of birth and wages of each crewmember. The Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen was established by the Merchant Shipping Act 1872, when the Registrar General of Seamen took over responsibility for returns relating to the registration of ships from the Board of Customs' Chief Registrar of Shipping. Swansea developed from the early settlement of the eleventh century to a major port during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, exporting goods such as coal, iron tin-plate and copper. It was also the site of large fishing and ship building industries.

Arrangement

Arranged into the following: Port of Swansea; Port Talbot

Access Information

No restrictions

Acquisition Information

It is the policy of the West Glamorgan Archive Service to withhold the names of depositors.

Note

Compiled by Richard Burman for the ANW project. The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: West Glamorgan Archive Service, Records of the Registry of Shipping and Seamen, Cardiff, catalogue; Jones, W. H. History of the Port of Swansea, Facsimile edition, (West Glamorgan Archive Service, Swansea, 1995).

Other Finding Aids

A hard copy is available at the West Glamorgan Archive Service.

Conditions Governing Use

Usual copyright regulations apply.

Appraisal Information

All records deposited at West Glamorgan Archive Service have been retained.

Accruals

Accruals are possible

Related Material

Further shipping records are West Glamorgan Archive Service, ships' registration papers, D/D PRO/SR/S; crew agreements, D/D PRO/CA/S.

Geographical Names