TOPIC:

Can anyone help me please. I have just found out my grandfather who was in the Royal Navy from 1897 until 1908, during that time he had a break from his naval service, at his request from July 1900 to April 1906.

I have a legal statement that he has signed aying he went to the Boer War, and I have to assume it was in this time frame.

Can anyone advise where I might look for his record, I have no way of knowing which service if any he served with, but he did go back to the Navy until 1908 when he was demobbed in St Johns Newfoundland. He does state he was a cook in the navy. He enlisted as Walter William Cousins and stated his birth date as 26 July 1878 when in fact it was 1880.

Many thanks
Jean

Okay Jean,
The records of the Royal Navy will be found at TNA Kew London, they also hold the records of all the government departments that administered the Royal Navy from its very begining.
The National Maritime Museum also in London and the Royal Naval Museum at Portsmouth may also be of interest.
From the dates you give, 1897-1908, the 75 year rule of confidentiality does not apply, so you should be okay.
The Royal Navy was reorgananised in 1853 and each new recruit was issued with a unique continuous service number.
From 1894-1923 this changed and they issued numbers in groups for each of differant branches.
They are as follows;
Seamen and communications ratings JI-J110000
Engine room artificers and Artisans M1-M38000
Stokers K1-K63500
Stewards, Cooks boy's etc L1-L15000
Short Service Seamen from 1903 had the Prefix SS1
Short Service Stokers from 1903 had the prefix SS100001
So you will find his name in the Register of Seamens Service's in ADM188,
you may also find (if he served at sea!) a look in the Ships muster books up to 1923 would prove worth while, these are in ADM36-ADM39 and ADM41,115,119.
Hope this helps
Frank.

Thank you Frank, I have Williams Naval record, (From documents on line)thats how I know about the gap in his record. In a statement made in the 1920's William says he went to the Boer War, but I don't know under which guise.

I will have a good look around the sites you mention and see what I find.

Thank you for your prompt reply
Astro