Essential Information
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National Maritime Museum
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09 Aug 2010
Over 25,000 people visited Portsmouth Dockyard for the Navy Days event last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Attractions included 12 ships from the Victory of 1765 to HMS Daring of 2005, not to mention roving bands of eighteenth century sailors and other costumed re-enactors. Whilst the modern Navy and its ships received boarders of all ages, many people left their ice creams outside to turn to the serious matter of enquiring about their own naval and maritime ancestry at the Naval Historical Branch of the Admiralty Library.
Brought together under the banner of the Naval and Maritime Libraries and Archives Group, staff from several national libraries and archives specialising in maritime records combined to help the public with tracing their naval ancestors, interpreting photos and service records and advising on how to unearth the next tantalising piece of family history.
Represented were the Imperial War Museum, Gosport Discovery Centre, the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Admiralty Library and the Medals Office of the Ministry of Defence, together with staff from the Archive and Library at the NMM.
The day was a great success and produced some fascinating and wide ranging enquiries. Topics included Trafalgar veterans, medals from the Siege of Ladysmith and tales of struggling to Jamaica by life boat after being torpedoed mid Atlantic- and then not wanting to be repatriated!
Martin (Manuscripts cataloguer)