Finding a “mariner” in your family tree, might sometimes lead you to discover that he was in fact a merchant seaman.  Other terms you might see are merchant mariner, officer in the merchant navy, merchant navy seaman, master mariner, etc.  These are more often than not, some of the hardest ancestors to research, due to the fact that very few records exist.  In fact, after 1858 you will not find anything until the First World War began in 1914, because … Continue reading