REGISTERS
FOR STUDYING AUSTRALIAN AND
Revised 10 November
2003
R J Lowe
Introduction
The Register of Australian and
New Zealand Shipping commenced as an annual publication in 1874 by the
Merchant Shipping and Underwriters Assn Ltd based in Melbourne, is the primary
printed record of Australian and New Zealand shipping of its type. However,
there were a few other earlier local registers that are also partly documented
in this manuscript.
Lloyd’s Register cannot fulfil this function at least until well
into the 20th century as the great majority of
Australasian-registered ships never appear in it. By 1876 the Register of
Australian and New Zealand Shipping provides almost as much information
about ships as does Lloyd’s Register, the most important difference
being details of the machinery of steam ships.
A long period before the
commencement of the Register of Australian and New Zealand Shipping can
be covered using additional register series although it is necessary to access
a number of libraries to do so.
The Register of Australian and
New Zealand Shipping series is preceded by two issues of an earlier
equivalent titled the Mercantile Navy List of Australia and New Zealand
(no direct connection with the British publication of similar name) and another
publication limited to ships registered in Victoria. There are also other some
early local listings included in local trade directories.
The Mercantile Navy List
published by the British Registrar-General of Seamen and Shipping, covers a
much longer period and includes every
British (including Australian and New Zealand) ship issued an official number.
It is invaluable for its comprehensiveness and early coverage even though it
provides only scanty information about individual ships until the early 1870's
(refer menu item C3).
The following notes document these
series and how they can be used in conjunction, with emphasis on the period up to
the 1880's.
Familiarity with M. N. Watt’s Index
to the NZ Section of the Register of All British Ships is assumed and it is
not documented here. Watt’s Index is an excellent alphabetical reference to all
ships ever registered in NZ up to the mid 20th century that will
provide more complete ship biographies than can be constructed from the
registers alone, but in its present form it is not a means for readily
identifying and analysing ships existing at a particular time.
The Australian counterpart of Watt’s
Index (refer Australian National Maritime Museum Pathfinder No. 7 at www.anmm.gov.au/LIB/ausnz.htm ) takes a quite different
form providing a more conventional index of limited information in one-line
entry format to the microfilm of original register records held by Archives
Australia. The only copies I have traced are held by the Australian National
Maritime Museum and Archives Australia for use as an index to their microfilms.
The Mercantile Navy List of
Australia and New Zealand 1871
This publication predates the Register
of Australian and New Zealand Shipping. 1871 is the 2nd edition
revised to 1 January 1871. The only copies traced in either
The 1871 volume was compiled by F.
C. Jarrett and published by George Loxton and Co., Sydney using information
supplied by the local Registrars of Shipping.
As far as content is concerned, it constitutes an earlier edition of the
Register of Australian and New Zealand Shipping series as it is almost
identical in content and form to the earliest issues of the RANZS. However, it
was compiled and published independently with a different title and will
therefore be listed separately in library catalogues.
The 1871 edition contains 1,732
entries. The introduction refers to the previous edition two years earlier
since when 349 ships have been struck off, 355 added and 80 transferred between
ports. It includes a table of number and tonnage of ships at each port.
Details provided are rig, tonnage,
official number, owner, place and year built and registration port, year and
number. Steam ships are differentiated from sail within the “rig” column. It
does not include dimensions of ships other than tonnage. It does not list
captains (which the Register of Australian and New Zealand Shipping does
do for a period). Almost all ships included have official numbers but a few do
not.
It is not immune from typographical
errors. For example, the Goolwa was not a 21 ton barque with an official
number of 4,521 but is revealed by the 1874 register to have been a 21ton barge
with an official number of 40,521. The NZ-built ketch Angelina appears
in the 1871 register as #26,577 rather than its correct number of 36,577 as
indicated by Watt’s Index and the 1864 Mercantile Navy List.
Cross-matching against other records compiled independently should reveal such
errors although once a series becomes annual, errors could be perpetuated
through successive volumes if the type was not completely reset from primary
records for the following issue.
The Mercantile Navy List of Victoria
A Mercantile Navy List of
Victoria published in Melbourne in 1868 and 1870 was compiled by William
Collins Rees (Secretary for Harbours and Navigation) by direction of the Steam
Navigation Board under the authority of the Commissioner of Trade and Customs
by Mason, Firth & Co., printers, of Melbourne. Its range of content is much
more limited than the Mercantile Navy List of Australian and New Zealand
Shipping of 1871 and the Register of Australian and New Zealand Shipping
commenced in 1874, being very similar to its British. However, it does
include the names of owners of both steam and sailing ships in the 1868 edition
and of steamships in the 1870 edition. While the information concerning
individual ships is limited, the document is of considerable interest for its
contemporary ancillary nautical information and indications of the developing
colonial shipping control systems (contents are listed at the end of this
page).
Copies of the 1868 and 1870 volumes
of the MNLV (and possibly also an 1876 volume though this reference is probably
a cataloguing error) are held in the National Library of Australia. None has
been traced in New Zealand or elsewhere in Australia. Photocopies can be
obtained from the Document Supply Service of the National Library of Australia
(contact details are available on the Library’s internet site).
The Register of Australian and New
Zealand Shipping
This is
the primary published register of Australian and New Zealand shipping. It was compiled annually from 1874 to 1934 and then less frequently to
1949.
It was issued as soon as possible
after 30 June each year. Information was supplied by the local Registrars of
Shipping. Early issues list only rig, tonnage, official number, owner, place
and year built and registration port, year and number. Almost all ships have
official numbers indicated but a few do not. Early issues also list Captains
and Captain’s certificate number. It also indicates survey details and
indicates which of six international insurance classification registers a ship
is listed on - most are listed on none; a few are listed on as many as three;
very few are listed with Lloyd’s. A limitation is that the number of masts of
schooners is not indicated and that topsail and fore-and-aft schooners are not
differentiated.
The 1874 and 1875-76 issues do not
include dimensions other than tonnage for most ships. However, a small separate
section covers those ships on the Melbourne [Insurance] Classification
Register. These are mostly river craft not in the main section but some are
also in the earlier section. This section also names builders.
From 1876-77 the main table also
includes the length, beam and depth of each ship, separate gross and net
tonnage figures, international signal codes and engine horse-power. From this
time on the information is nearly comparable with that provided in Lloyd’s
Register. Detail of the engines of steamships is the most important
difference to the amount of detail. Names of Captains were dropped some time
between 1881and 1895.
The 1874 volume also contains a list
of 252 ships lost between 1871and 1874 although the list does not include any
ships both registered and lost between January 1871and June 1874. This list
covers only those wrecked, scrapped, posted missing etc. A few sold outside
Australia and NZ are indicated but it appears that those sold abroad during the
period must be deduced by identifying 1871ships not included in the following
volume and not listed as lost or taken out of service.
The listing of ships lost or taken
out of service is a major feature of the series. Later volumes repeat and
update the table of ships lost over an earlier period, typically covering about
seven years or so after 1880.
By 1914 the total number of ships
covered had increased to 3,463 - nearly double the number in 1874. More than
half were still sail and other non-powered vessels, although the steam tonnage
was nearly three times that of sail.
Library holdings of the Register of
Australian and New Zealand Shipping
The Alexander Turnbull Library
(Wellington) holds 1874 (shelf), 1879-80 (stack), 1895-96 (stack), 1914-15
(shelf) and 1949 (shelf).
The NZ National Maritime Museum has 1875-76,
1876-77 and then a long fairly complete annual sequence from 1880. The Auckland
Public Library has from 1877-78 through to 1922 (exact intermediate years
subject to confirmation). The Auckland War Memorial Museum library appears to
have a fairly complete set from 1875 (subject to confirmation). Auckland
University Library has 1909, 1919 and 1924 (subject to confirmation).
The Museum of Wellington City and
Sea holds 1879-80, a photocopy of 1880-81and thereafter tends to have volumes
at about seven year intervals.
The Parliamentary Library
(Wellington) has a long sequence covering most years from 1875-76 to 1914-15
(but with a major gap in the 1880's), plus 1932-33, 1941, 1946 and 1949.
The Australian National Maritime
Museum library holdings of the Register of Australian and New Zealand
Shipping only date from the 1920's. The National Library of Australia has
1879-1883 and then a series commencing in 1904. The State Library of NSW has a
long series from 1874. The State Library of Victoria holds most volumes from
1874 to 1883 and from 1899 to 1946.A fairly complete set is also held by the
Launceston branch of the State Library of Tasmania.
The Mercantile Navy List (later the Mercantile Navy List
and Maritime Gazette)
refer menu item C3
This publication dates at least back to 1857.
Even though it includes only a few details about each ship it is valuable for
its comprehensive coverage. Preliminary comparison with the RANZS shows that
only about half the Australian and New Zealand ships listed in it at the
beginning of the 1860’s were still registered in the early 1870’s.
A note on tonnage measurement in the
registers
The systematic measurement of the
tonnage of British ships on a measured cubic volume basis dates from 1855 but initially
the system provided for exemptions and deductions from the total (gross)
tonnage to produce a single figure (net or register tonnage). Only
later, were gross and net tonnage figures published in their now familiar form
although the system of deriving the register tonnage of steamships meant that
gross and net figures were available from the outset for steamships. Lloyd’s
Register for 1874 (1874-75) is the first to give both gross and net tonnage
for ships for which the information was available. The Register of
Australian and New Zealand Shipping adopted the change a couple of years
later. Gross and net tonnage figures are thereafter included for new ships and
progressively introduced for older ships, presumably as they were re-surveyed
in the normal course of events although for many years only a single tonnage
figure is provided for many ships. (For
a general account of changes in the tonnage measurement system refer Appendix
1of David R. MacGregor, Fast Sailing Ships 1775-1875, Nautical Publishing
Co., 1973.)
The earlier register tonnage and
later net tonnage figures are the most nearly comparable. However, the method
of deriving net from gross tonnage changed through time so changes in the
recorded tonnage of a particular ship may represent the more or less belated
application of a change in the rules rather than necessarily an addition to or
subtraction from its actual physical structure. The system was exploited in
order to keep net tonnage below critical thresholds for the payment of port dues
and liability to carry a certificated officer. The opportunities to do so would
have increased as the system became more complex.
The early Australasian shipping
registers therefore span the introductory period of a significant change in the
publication of tonnage statistics. In should be kept in mind that for an
extended period they inevitably include tonnage measurements compiled in
slightly different ways at different times that are presented as if exactly
equivalent. The same consideration applies to Lloyd’s Register which
appears to contain “fossil” tonnage measurements well into the 20th
century (sailing ships listed with the same gross and net tonnage being a prime
giveaway).
Contents of The Mercantile Navy List
of
Compiled by W. Collins Rees,
Secretary for Harbours and Navigation, by Direction of the Steam Navigation
Board under authority of Commissioner of Trade and Customs, Published by Mason,
Firth & Co. [statement dated 3 April 1868] Photocopies can be obtained from
the Australian National Library.
Part I, Page
1 members of Steam Navigation Board
2 Contents
3 Masters, Mates and Engineers who
have passed their Examinations and obtained Certificates of Competency [with certificate
date; dates from July 1865 to March 1868]
7 Certificates of Service [with
certificate date from July 1865to February 1868]
13 List of Registered Officers on
Steamships who have registered their Certificates at the Office of the Steam
Navigation Board [mostly issued in London from as early as 1848 but also one
from NZ, one from SA and one from Bombay]
15 Home Trade Certificates
16 Certificates applicable to
Steamships trading on the Murray and its tributaries only
19 Names, Tonnage etc of Steamships
trading between Melbourne and other ports [gives only Name, Tonnage,
horsepower, how propelled and whether under Board’s control or Exempt (on
account of carrying mails)]
21 Alphabetical List of Registered
Vessels belonging to the Colony of Victoria [gives official number, name,
commercial code signal, tonnage, horsepower of steamers, registered owners;
mostly Melbourne but 10 listed as registered at Geelong and one each at
Warrnambool, Port Albert and Port Fairy]
29 List of Officers appointed by the Governor
in Council to carry out the Passengers, Harbours, and Navigation Statute
30 Extracts from the Passengers,
Harbours, and Navigation Statute 1865 [clauses of the Amendment Statute No 212
relating to Navigation together with clauses of the Imperial Merchant Ship Act
of 1852 and Amendment Act 1862]
35-36 Questions to be answered at Masters’ and
Mates’ Examination in Steam
Part II, Page
4 Regulations for preventing
collisions at sea [as revised 1866, as issued 1863 by the Queen in Council and
adopted by 20 or so foreign countries on specified dates in 1863 and 1864]
7 Diagrams illustrating the use of
lights carried by vessels at sea
9 Regulations respecting the
Examination of Masters, Mates, and Engineers of Steam Vessels for Certificates
of Competency
19 Fees payable under Passengers,
Harbours and Navigation Statute
20 Shipping Regulations
22 Regulations for the Adjustment of
Compasses
23 advertisements (8 pages) that are
interesting in themselves (including one for Adelaide Marine and Fire Assurance
Company, Thomas Parson, Jun. Secretary and one for Norton, Graham & Co,
Steam Tug Proprietors, Lightermen, Coal Merchants & Commission Agents, of
Melbourne with a nice engraving of their tugs Resolute, Sophia and Hercules
with a full-rigged ship)
Contents of The
Mercantile Navy List of
Compiled by W. Collins Rees, Secretary for
Harbours and Navigation, by Direction of the Steam Navigation Board under
authority of Commissioner of Trade and Customs, Published by Mason, Firth &
Co. Photocopies can be obtained from the Australian National Library.
Part I, Page
Contents
Members of Steam
Navigation Board
List of Officers appointed by
the Governor in Council to carry out the Passengers, Harbours, and
Navigation Statute
1 Masters, Mates and Engineers who
have passed their Examinations and obtained Certificates of Competency
[alphabetical order]
5-9 Alphabetical List of Registered
Vessels belonging to the Colony of Victoria [gives official number, name,
commercial code signal, tonnage, horsepower of steamers, registered owners;
mostly Melbourne but 11 listed as registered at Geelong and one each at Port
Albert and four at Port Fairy]
10 Extracts from the Passengers,
Harbours, and Navigation Statute 1865 [clauses of the Amendment Statute No 212
relating to Navigation together with clauses of the Imperial Merchant Ship Act
of 1852 and Amendment Act 1862]
16 List of Registered Officers on
Steamships who have registered their Certificates at the Office of the Steam
Navigation Board
17 Examination of Masters, Mates,
Engineers dealing with the Merchant Shipping (Colonial) Act 1869 conferring
upon the authorities of any colony the privilege of recognition by the Board of
Trade of the examinations conducted under their authority. Lists Victorian
regulations of November 1869 that replace those of 1866.
30 Shipping Regulations
31 Fees etc
32 Regulations for the Adjustment of
Compasses
32 Examination of Masters and Mates
with reference to the Commercial Code of Signals
36 Details of Commercial Code of
Signals
38 Distance Signals
40 Boat Signals
41 Semaphores
43 Examination of Candidates concerning
signals
45-53 Light and Fog Signals
Part II
55-68 Sailing Directions for Port Phillip
68-71 Directions for Geelong
72 Tides in Port Phillip Bay
73 Notice respecting wrecks, casualties
and vessels in distress
77 Extracts from Acts of Council for
the guidance of Masters of Vessels and others frequenting the Port
79 Sailing Directions for the New
Channel into Corio Bay and Geelong Harbour
84 Bass’s Straits
88 General arrangement of buoys in the
Victorian harbours
89 Buoys at the entrance to Port Albert
91 List of lights on the coasts and
within the harbours of Australia (all colonies)
96 Magnetic bearings and distances
between the various headlands from Cape Leeuwin to Lady Elliott Island
99 Table of positions of the principal
headlands on the southern and eastern coasts of New Holland
101 Regulations for preventing collisions
at sea
107 Rates of Pilotage for Port Phillip
108 Signals in use in all ports of
Victoria
109 advertisements (3 pages) including
expanded version of Norton, Graham advert now listing five tugs, 16 lighters by
name and three coal hulks “The Resolute maintains her reputation of being the
most powerful tug in Port Phillip, and is prepared on the shortest notice to
proceed to any part of the Victorian Coast, and in any kind of weather. She is
stationed at Ann-street Pier, Williamstown, every night.”
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