Family Tree Frog

Y is for Yard Pay Books (Yellow Admirals, yardarm and Youth) Yard Pay Books for dockyard workers can be found in ADM 42.  They cover the years 1660-1857.   What's a Yellow Admiral you ask?  Well, apparently the British Fleet used to be divided up into squadrons - red, white and blue with red being the most senior and blue the most junior.  Bruno Pappalardo advises: in 1747 the Admiralty introduced a system whereby unsuitable and elderly captains were promoted to an 'unspecified squadron' popularly known as the 'yellow squadron'.  These officers - commonly known as 'yellow admirals' - were entitled to the half pay of a rear amiral but did not have any prospects of future employment or promotion. (p.12) Oh look!  Patrick O'Brian wrote a book called The Yellow Admiral.  Well waddya know? Here's another picture of a Yellow Admiral. Yardarm...I'm sure at one time or another you've heard or said the phrase ...

D is for Dockyards Simon Fowler,  in his book  Tracing your Naval Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians,   reminds us that:   "the Admiralty was the largest employer in Britain (in the 18th and 19th centuries) employing thousands of men at its dockyards." Some dockyards included:  Cadiz (or Mediterranean) Chatham Cork or Haulbowline Deptford Gibraltar Halifax Harwich Jamaica or Kingston Malta Minorca (or Port Mahon) Nelson's at Antigua Pembroke Penang (or Prince of Wales Island) Plymouth or Devonport Portsmouth Sheerness Woolwich York (or Lake Ontario) I've highlighted the dockyards that were Royal Naval dockyards.  The others were called outports as per this guide on the Royal Museums Greenwich site. My great-great grandfather   Edward Conner/Connor was a fitter in HM Dockyard (I am presuming Portsmouth as that is where he lived) per the register of St James hospital in 1897.  See this blog post here ...