Changes

[[CategoryImage:OccupationsPilotsPass.jpg|thumb|300px|Pilot's Pass c.1890s]] The '''Bengal Pilot Service''' was responsible for guiding shipping along the Hooghly River between [[Calcutta]] and the Bay of Bengal and was part of '''Bengal Marine''' In 1877 the Bombay Marine and the Bengal Marine were combined to form [[Indian Navy|HM Indian Marine]], which became the Royal Indian Marine in 1892 and the Royal Indian Navy in 1935.

  According to Massey ,<ref>[1http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12617 ''Recollections of Calcutta for over Half a Century''],by Montague Massey</ref> <blockquote>

Was formerly styled the Bengal Military Club, the members of which were limited to the I.C.S. and military services. As time, however, moved on and things changed they found that this particular form of exclusiveness was rather an expensive luxury, and very wisely threw open wide the heavenly portals and admitted within their celestial and sacred precincts members of other government services, save and except those of the Bengal pilots. Why the club ever made this invidious distinction, of course I cannot say, but at a later period, recognising possibly the injustice of their action, they rescinded their prohibition, and now the pilots sit in the seats of the mighty amongst the members of the other services. "</blockquote>

Brice and Labey [4] <ref name=Brice> Labey, Capt G.T. and Brice, Capt R.K.H. (1970), ''The Bengal Pilot Service''. National Maritime Museum, Ref. THS/12/1-9. Some chapters are available online, see Historical books online, above. </ref> give a date of 1651 for the foundation of the service, but according to James Prinsep's Chronological Tables ,<ref>Prinsep, James (1836). [3http://books.google.com/books?id=BTYGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA160 ''Useful Tables, Forming an Appendix to The Journal Of The Asiatic Society. Part the Second. Chronological and Genealogical Tables''], page 160. Google Books</ref> the service dates back to 1669:

[1669 ...] This year also were received orders from home, to institute a pilot establishment at Hoogly, to build a pinnace to be manned with intelligent seamen from the Indiamen, to take charge of the shipping up and down. Thus originated the Bengal Pilot Service.

The Bengal == Composition of the Pilot Service was abolished on ==This table shows the number of pilots of each rank in the 15th May, 1948service in 1853. [4]{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"|Senior Branch Pilot||1|-|Branch Pilot||11|-|Senior Master||23|-|Master||7|-|Mate||30|-|Senior 2d Mate||12|-The following comprises extracts from my unpublished manuscript of records for Genealogists interested in India|Junior 2d Mate||12|-|Volunteer||46|-|Total Complement||142|}(Source: IOR/L/MAR/8/9)

==Records===== National Maritime Museum (Greenwich) == =

a. '''THS 12 ‘The ''The History of the Bengal Pilot Service’ Service'' by Brice & Labey.'''

This is a unique unpublished history of the Bengal Pilot Service in the Historical Manuscripts Collection of the [[National Maritime Museum]]. It covers a wide range of aspects to do with the service and its employee's e.g. Appendix G ‘Obituaries’ comprises information from various sources for men of the Pilot service and their families. Some chapters of text, but no Appendices are available online.<ref name=Brice/>

b. [['''The Percy-Smith Collection]] (MS 88/006) Item (18) Bengal Marine ‘Particulars of certificates granted by the Government of Calcutta up to December 1902 to Masters, Mates and Engineers in Mercantile Marine’. These records are of particular interest to persons looking for River Pilots who were born in India who were in service in the 1890’s and at the turn of the twentieth century. The entries inlcude the person’s name, date and place of birth , class of certificate, certificate number and its date of granting. '''

These records divide intoThe Percy-Smith Collection is not held in the main [http://www.nmm.ac.uk/researchers/library/ Caird Library] of the Museum - access to the items must be requested a week or so in advance of a visit.

Colonial Certificates of competency; Local *Item (Foreign Trade18) Certificates - Bengal Marine ‘Particulars of certificates granted by the Government of Calcutta up to December 1902 to Masters, Mates and Engineers in Mercantile Marine’. These records are of competency; Local (Home Trade) Certificates particular interest to persons looking for River Pilots who were born in India who were in service in the 1890’s and at the turn of competency; Local Certificates the twentieth century. The entries include the person’s name, date and place of Service; Local (Inland) Certificates birth , class of Service; Local (Inland) Certificates certificate, certificate number and its date of Competency granting.

Item :These records divide into::Colonial Certificates of competency; Local (29Foreign Trade) Index Cards : Bengal Medical Certificates of competency; Local (1740-1914, surnames A-H onlyHome Trade)Certificates of competency; Local Certificates of Service; Bengal Orphans Local (1780-1840Inland)Certificates of Service; Bengal Marine and Bengal Pilots Local (1700-1914Inland) Certificates of Competency

*Item (29) - Index Cards : Bengal Medical (1740-1914, surnames A-H only); Bengal Orphans (1780-1840)<ref> The [[index is arranged alphabetically by name of orphan, with details such as date of birth, baptised, name of father and occasionally more details such as where apprenticed, etc. A cross reference card at the front of the index reads 'see also Alipore schools', which may possibly refer to further material in one of the Percy-Smith Collectioncollections held in other institutions . "Four Orphan Schools in Calcutta and the Lawrence Military Asylum, Sanawar, Part II" [[FIBIS Journals|''FIBIS Journal'']] is not held in No 23, Spring 2010, by Maureen Evers, page 14</ref>; Bengal Marine and Bengal Pilots (1700-1914). This link, from Len Barnett’s page Bengal Marine. (see below) shows the main Caird Library information available on one of the Museum you need to request access to Bengal Marine [http://www.barnettmaritime.co.uk/bengalsmith.htm index cards]. Note that there are index cards about other topics in the Percy Smith collection at the items a week or so in advance [[Society of your vist.Genealogists]]

== Asia, Pacific & Africa Collection, British Library Records marked (India Office#) ==should appear on [[FamilySearch]]/LDS microfilms: 2028922 - 25; 2029155. [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog Search the FamilySearch Catalog] and see [[FamilySearch Centres]] for viewing access.

{| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"!Shelf Mark!!Dates!!Description|-|L/AG/20 & 21 ||1814 - Post 1947|| Includes records of leave and service pensions|-|L/AG/21/9/151-157||1920-1968||Bengal Pilot Fund pensions paid in UK|-|L/E/6-7 ||1880-1924|| Pilot service recruitment information for this period contained within these papers.|-|L/MAR/8/1-20||1793-1880||Various lists of employees and volunteers in the Bengal Marine and Pilot Service |-|L/MAR/C/689||1794-1830||Appointments to Bengal Pilot Service |-|L/MAR/C/704 #||1858-61||Indian Navy, Bengal pilots|-|L/MAR/C/755-756 #||1848-60||Europeans in the service of the Bengal marine|-|L/MAR/C/760-761 #||1824-64||Bengal marine civil and marine casualties |-|L/MAR/C/762-763||||Bengal Marine records of service|-|L/MAR/C/855 #||1821||Seamen in the Bengal marine who have claims on the company for wages, see L/E/6-7 for later recruitment’s|-|V/12||1896-1926||Covenanted pilots are included in the Bengal Histories of Service.|}

Most of these records have been microfilmed. The originals are fragile and slowly detoriating so viewing of the microfilms is recommended both for ease of use (especially making printed copies) and for conservation. Note that the hard copy microfilm index file on display at the British Library uses the old L/AGMAR/20 & 21 1814 -Post 1947 Includes C numbering for these records and a translation has to be made using the concordance tables at the back of leave the L/MAR index file. For example, L/MAR/8/3 used to be L/MAR/C/768 and service pensions the microfilm index tells us that L/EMAR/C/6-7 1880-1924 Pilot service recruitment information 768 is on IOR NEG 35431. The new numbering is in a different order to the original. Some records are split across two films, for this period contained within these papersexample L/MAR/8/2 is on IOR NEG 35430 and 35431. The following table provides a direct lookup of the film numbers.

L/MAR/8/1-20 1793-1880 Various lists of employees and 3 provide the most detailed information about volunteers in (new recruits). Note that where films are available they are not on the Bengal Marine open shelves and Pilot Service have to be ordered using the online system.

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"|-!width="40%"|Description!!Date!!IOR Shelf Mark!!IOR Film Ref.!!LDS Film Ref.|-|Appointment, baptismal and other certificates of volunteers||1818-1844||L/MAR/C8/689 17941||IOR NEG 35410||FHL BRITISH Film 2028926 Item 2|-|Certificates of volunteers||1844-1830 Appointments to Bengal Pilot Service1858||L/MAR/8/2||IOR NEG 35430/1||VAULT BRITISH Film 2028996 |-|Certificates of volunteers||1858-1861||L/MAR/C8/704# 3||IOR NEG 35431||VAULT BRITISH Film 2028997|-|Nominations||1858-61 Indian Navy1861||L/MAR/8/4|||||-|List of ranks of volunteers||1838-1861||L/MAR/8/5|||||-|Lists of pilots giving dates of promotion etc., Bengal A-M||1796-1858||L/MAR/8/6?||IOR NEG 35408||FHL BRITISH Film 2028925 Items 7-8|-|List of pilots, N-Z||1796-1858||L/MAR/8/7?||IOR NEG 35408||FHL BRITISH Film 2028926 Item 1|-|Certificates and lists of European employees||1793-1852||||||FHL BRITISH Film 2028998|-|European employees||1852-1869||||||FHL BRITISH Film 2028999|-|European employees||1869-1880||||||FHL BRITISH Film 2029000 Item 1|-|Quarterly Returns of Europeans in their Order of Station in the Pilot Establishment||1836-1853||L/MAR/8/8||IOR NEG 35432/3|||-|Quarterly Returns||1853-1862||L/MAR/8/9||IOR NEG 35433|||-|Quarterly Returns||1862-1880||L/MAR/8/10||IOR NEG 35433|||-|Quarterly Returns||1793-1833||L/MAR/8/11||IOR NEG 35432|||-|||||L/MAR/8/12||IOR NEG 35405|||-|||||L/MAR/8/13||IOR NEG 35456|||-|||||L/MAR/8/14||IOR NEG 35405|||-|||||L/MAR/8/15||IOR NEG 35405|||-|||||L/MAR/8/16||IOR NEG 35408|||-|||||L/MAR/8/17||IOR NEG 35408|||-|||||L/MAR/8/18||IOR NEG 35408|||-|||||L/MAR/8/19||IOR NEG 35406/7|||-|||||L/MAR/8/20||IOR NEG 35406/7|||-|Printed rules & Regulations||1827||L/MAR/8/21|||||-|||||L/MAR/8/22|||||-|||||L/MAR/8/23|||||}

L/MAR/C/755-756# 1848-60 Europeans in === Society of Genealogists ===Information available at the service [[Society of the Bengal marineGenealogists]]:

L/MAR/C/760Bullock’s ''Directory of Non Official Europeans in India (1780-761# 18241820) – lists of Europeans and Anglo-64 Indians not in the King’s Service''. The information extracted from the East India Register and similar publications for Bengal marine civil .. Includes a number of Free Mariners/ Country Traders/ Free Merchants, Indigo Planters and marine casualties L/MAR/C/762-763 Bengal Marine records of serviceRiver Pilots. However persons in many other professions are included, also some women and children.

V*[http:/12 1896-1926 Covenanted pilots /fibis.ourarchives.online/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_dataset&id=86&s_id=189 Appendices From M.H. Beattie] are included on FIBIS Search (see details below)* Index to L/MAR/8/1 (in preparation)* Pilots and pilot vessels contained in the Marine lists in civil publications such as theBengal Histories East India Register, see the list of Service[http://wiki.fibis.org/index.php?title=Directories_online Directories]

Bullock’s ‘Directory of Non Official Europeans ==External links==*[http://www.barnettmaritime.co.uk/index.htm British Maritime History - Realistic genealogical guides to surviving records and more], Len Barnett’s site, has a section on [http://www.barnettmaritime.co.uk/mainbengal.htm Bengal Marine].*[http://map-india.org/artwork/shipping-in India (1780-1820) – lists the-hooghly-calcutta-kolkata/ Photograph: Shipping in the Hooghly, Calcutta] by Samuel Bourne c 1860. Numbered 1726. MAP Museum of Europeans Art and AngloPhotography, Bangalore.*Photographs from the National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Learning Lab website.**[https://learninglab.si.edu/resources/view/90091 Sailing ships and other boats docked along river in Calcutta], undated, by Bourne & Shepherd. Photograph titled ”Shipping in the Hooghly. 2582”. Same image [http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/s/019pho0000015s1u00085000.html British Library] dated 1890s.**[https://learninglab.si.edu/resources/view/90145 Sailing ships and other boats docked along river in Calcutta], undated, by Bourne & Shepherd. Photograph titled ”Shipping on the Hooghly. 2583”. Same image [http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/s/019pho0000015s1u00087000.html British Library] dated 1890s.**[https://learninglab.si.edu/resources/view/90093 Strand Road with Indians with bullock carts and horse-Indians not drawn carriages and sailing ships and other boats on river in Calcutta], undated, by Bourne & Shepherd. Photograph titled ”Strand Rd & The Hooghly. Calcutta. 2599”.*[http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/48726/francis-frith-the King’s Service’-strand-calcutta-english-about-1865-1875/ Photograph: The Strand: Calcutta] c 1865–1875 by Francis Frith. The J Paul Getty Museum.*[http://www.hmsconway.org/Sea%20Career%20Calcutta.pdf "Old Conways & India – Part II: Calcutta & The Hooghly v11"] by Alfie Windsor 2017. hmsconway.org. The Bengal Pilot Service and accounts by Old Conways, old boys from the British training school ship HMS Conway. ===Individuals===*[https://www.quivis.uk/dum/index_dum.html Arthur David Linklater, Master Mariner] - Duncan Linklater's excellent site contains information extracted from on shipping and navigation in the early twentieth century, including details of Linklater's employment by the East India Register Calcutta Port Commission. Originally with scans and similar publications transcripts of many original documents, exploring the site is recommended, but pages of particular general interest include::*[https://www.quivis.uk/dum/images/portrait/675x900/pilot.jpg Scan of pilot's certificate] for Bengalpilotage of the Hooghly.:*[https://www.quivis.uk/dum/hooghly/index_hooghly.html Introduction To Hooghly River Pilotage]:*[https://www.quivis.uk/dum/hooghly/hooghly-pilotage1.html Hooghly Pilotage ca. 1910-16]:*[https://www.quivis.uk/dum/dana/index_dana. Includes a number html Dictionary of Free MarinersSea Terms 1841/ Country Traders51] Adapted from ''The Seaman's Friend...'' by R. H. Dana 1st ed. 1841, 6th edition 1851.*[http://sayeedsjournal.wordpress.com/chapter-23-on-the-river-hooghly/ Free Merchants, Indigo Planters and On the River PilotsHooghly] by Khwaja Sayeed Shahabuddin (born 1923). However persons He was a Leadsmen Apprentice with the Bengal Pilot Service for one year in many other professions are included1946-1947, until he needed to wear glasses, also some women and childrenwhich was not allowed.

{{#widget:Google PlusOne|size=small|count= Published Works ==true}}

Appendix B comprises a list of men joining the Service as Licensed Pilot or Covenanted Pilots (1858-1876) and men who joined the service as recruits from the training ships Worcester and Conway (1877-1893) [[Category:Occupations]]  Appendix C comprises a list of men joining the Service (1893-1916)  == References == # [http[Category://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12617 Recollections of Calcutta for over Half a CenturyBengal Presidency]] by Montague Massey# On The Hooghly. Malcolm H Beattie, Philip Allan & Co. Ltd. (1935)# Prinsep, James (1836). Useful Tables, Forming an Appendix to The Journal Of The Asiatic Society. Part the Second. Chronological [[Category:Naval and Genealogical Tables, page 160.# Labey, Capt G.T. and Brice, Capt R.K.H. (1970), ''The Bengal Pilot Service''. (National Maritime Museum Ref: THS/12/1-9)]]