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Chain Surname Ancestry Results

Our indexes 1000-1999 include entries for the spelling 'chain'. In the period you have requested, we have the following 8 records (displaying 1 to 8): 

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National ArchivesApprentices registered in Scotland (1758)
Apprenticeship indentures and clerks' articles were subject to a 6d or 12d per pound stamp duty: the registers of the payments usually give the master's trade, address, and occupation, and the apprentice's name, as well as details of the date and length of the apprenticeship. There are central registers for collections of the stamp duty in London, as well as returns from collectors in the provinces. These collectors generally received duty just from their own county, but sometimes from further afield. The indentures themselves can date from a year or two earlier than this return. (The sample entry shown on this scan is taken from a Bristol return. Each entry has two scans, the other being the facing page with the details of the indenture, length of service, and payment of duty.) IR 1/53

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Apprentices registered in Scotland
 (1758)
Owners of Merchantmen (1804)
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; 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), or copper fastened (c f) or copper bolted (c b), sometimes with a date, such as (17)88. 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 1804, 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 repairs; len. lengthened; lrp. large repairs; N. (new) B. bottom, D. deck, Kl. keel, Sds. sides or UW. upper-works; rb. rebuilt; rsd. raised; S. rprs. some repairs; or trp. thorough Repair. In italics, the timber of the ship is described - B. B., black birch; C., cedar; H., hazel; J., juniper; L. O., live oak; M., mahogany; P., pine; P. P., pitch pine; S., spruce; W. H., witch hazel. Where the vessel was armed, the number of guns is given, and occasionally a remark such as 'captured' will appear. 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 United States property. The sixth column gives the year of the ship's age; some 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; La., Lancaster; Lh, Leith; Li., Liverpool; Lo., London; Ly., Lynn; Po., Poole; Ph, Portsmouth; Sc., Star-Cross; Tn., Teignmouth; Tp., Topsham; Wa., Waterford; Wn, Whitehaven; 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; I., third - O and U for fourth and fifth are never used) and its stores (1, first; 2, second; 3, third) and the year of survey, e. g. 00 for 1800, or, if surveyed during 1803, 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 owners in the main list and the supplement.

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Owners of Merchantmen
 (1804)
Deaths, Marriages, News and Promotions (1814)
Death notices and obituaries, marriage and birth notices, civil and military promotions, clerical preferments and domestic occurrences, as reported in the Gentleman's Magazine. Mostly from England and Wales, but items from Ireland, Scotland and abroad.

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Deaths, Marriages, News and Promotions
 (1814)
Merchant Seamen (1835-1844)
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 a 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. A parliamentary committee decided that the system devised did not answer the original problem, and the register was abandoned after less than two years: the system was then restarted in this form, with a systematic attempt to attribute the seamen's (ticket) numbers, and to record successive voyages. The register records the number assigned to each man; his name; age; birthplace; quality (S = seaman, &c.); and the name and official number 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. The system was still very cumbersome, because the names were amassed merely under the first two letters of surname; an attempt was made to separate out namesakes by giving the first instance of a name (a), the second (b), and so on. In this volume the register is restarted from 1840 onwards, with the mariner's previous number (if any) being entered in the column after his birthplace. In the event of it becoming known that a man had died during the course of a voyage, that information is written across the remaining empty columns. This volume (BT 112/12) covers mariners whose surnames start with Ce (and McCe), Ch (and McCh) and a handful with Ci.

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Merchant Seamen (1835-1844)
Inhabitants of Rathfriland in county Down (1886)
George Henry Bassett's County Down Guide and Directory aimed to be 'A book for Manufacturers, Merchants, Traders, Land-Owners, Farmers, Tourists, Anglers, and Sportsmen generally.' It is a good general directory, listing gentry, tradesmen and farmers. (The sample scan is from the introduction).

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Inhabitants of Rathfriland in county Down
 (1886)
Medical practitioners qualified in Britain or Ireland but living abroad (1926)
The Medical Directory was split into several sections. The Practitioners Resident Abroad section covered all medical practitioners who, having qualified in Britain or Ireland or otherwise registered under the medical Acts of Great Britain and Ireland, were living abroad. Each year a schedule was sent to each doctor to be returned to the publishers, so as to keep the directory up to date. In the directory the doctor's name is given first, in bold, surname first, in capitals; then current address. Next are the qualifications; the italic abbreviations in parentheses following the qualifications indicate the medical school at which they were gained. Then there is a list of posts and honours within the profession, starting with those then current; previous posts are preceded by the word 'late'. Finally, brief details are given of any publications.

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Medical practitioners qualified in Britain or Ireland but living abroad
 (1926)
Members of Cambridge University (1935)
The Cambridge University Calendar for 1935-1936 includes this list of all living members of the university, i. e. not only undergraduates and members of staff, but also all surviving graduates from earlier generations. The names are arranged alphabetically by surname, then by college in order of foundation, and under the particular colleges by order of seniority of the B. A. degree. Surnames are given, initials, name of college, and then the years of graduating B. A. and M. A. Where a change of name had occurred since matriculation, the original name is inserted in brackets. For undergraduates the term of matriculation is given in square brackets with an M for Michaelmas, L for Lent or E for Easter. An asterisk before a surname indicates a member of the Senate. Names which appeared on the roll of the Regent House promulgated in November 1934 are marked with a dagger. Further degrees, such as PHD, MB, BCHIR, MD, &c. are listed in smaller capitals with the year conferred.

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Members of Cambridge University
 (1935)
Doctors trained in Britain or Ireland but living abroad (1948)
The Medical Directory was split into several sections. The Practitioners Resident Abroad section covered all medical practitioners who, having qualified in Britain or Ireland, were living abroad. Each year a schedule was sent to each doctor to be returned to the publishers, so as to keep the directory up to date. In the directory the doctor's name is given first, in bold, surname first, in capitals; then current address. Next are the qualifications; the italic abbreviations in parentheses following the qualifications indicate the medical school at which they were gained. Then there is a list of posts and honours within the profession, starting with those then current; previous posts are preceded by the word 'late'. Finally, brief details are given of any publications. Inclusion of names in the list did not imply a right to practise in the country of residence.

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Doctors trained in Britain or Ireland but living abroad
 (1948)

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