Seamen and shipping

These files contain the paperwork necessary to maintain the official register. 

They include reports of surveyors, certificates of ownership and correspondence with owners.

Sometimes these files contain information that does not find its way on to the official register.

If a person had bought a vessel, they had to pay for the register to be amended.

However, if the changes in ownership that had come before had not been registered, the new owner would have to prove a chain of evidence for these changes and pay for each new entry in the register.

In many cases (especially those relating to small, leisure craft), the new owner was unable or unwilling to do this and the official register was not changed.

If this was the case, the correspondence in the registration file may be the only evidence of these transactions.

The ships' registration files are arranged by port number, but the catalogue description also includes known names and the official number.

This means that these can be used as keywords when searching our online catalogue (opens new window).

Port of King's Lynn

• Ships' registration files, 1924-94 (174 files - P/SH/L/25-198)

Port of Great Yarmouth

• Ships' registration files, 1875-1994 (904 files - P/SH/Y/66-971)