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Hello Willet.....

F.Y.I. Wilson's number is 186.261 ......

Maybe help track him down easier.....

Mike

Hello and welcome Gary,
You need to get down to TNA Kew, as his number is between 178000 and 240500, he was serving in the Seamen and Communications ratings branch of the Royal Navy.
He was serving after 1873 and before 1923 so you will find him in the Register of Seamens Services, in ADM188,they are listed in numerical order by their numbers, I think from memory an alphabetical name index is now in use too, you would need to check.
This will give you his service and the names of all the ships served on, you need to bare in mind that men actually changed ship during voyages in those days, moreover, they were often "lent" to other ships.
Once you have the names of his ships, including those ashore, you can look at their Muster books in ADM36-39 and ADM41,115 and 119.
You can also look at any applicable Log book which you will find in ADM53.
That is a very nice QSA and you should take this further, there is a switchboard at Kew and if I were you I would give them a quick phone call, William Spencer is the man to speak to, he will outline everything you need to know before your visit and will point you in the right direction to help you get started.
I wish you good luck, and I can tell you that the naval records are far better than the army ones in terms of completeness.
Let us know how you get on, very kind regards
Frank

Gary

No need to go to Kew - ADM188 - service records are available on line:

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/royal-naval-seamen.htm

Regards
Meurig

Not really a substitute for actually going to Kew if you want to see the full picture, moreover, ADM188 is only partially digitized and I sure that I would have have real issues with the quality of copies, as has so often been the case in the past.

SWB wrote: Gary

No need to go to Kew - ADM188 - service records are available on line:

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/royal-naval-seamen.htm

Regards
Meurig