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[[Image:PilotsPass.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. Amongst other contributions, this article contains extracts from FIBIS member [[User:Sage|Sage's]] unpublished manuscript of records for Genealogists interested in India. == Introduction ==According to Massey ,<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12617 ''Recollections of Calcutta for over Half a Century''] by Montague Massey</ref><blockquote>"'''THE UNITED SERVICE CLUB'''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distinction, of course I cannot say, but at a later period, recognising possibly the injustice of their action, they rescinded their prohibition, and now the pilots sit in the seats of the mighty amongst the members of the other services."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> == History of the Bengal Pilot Service == Brice and Labey<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). [http://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:<blockquote>[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.</blockquote> The Bengal Pilot Service was abolished on the 15th May, 1948.<ref name=Brice/> == Composition of the Pilot Service ==This table shows the number of pilots of each rank in the service in 1853. {| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"|Senior Branch Pilot||1|-|Branch Pilot||11|-|Senior Master||23|-|Master||7|-|Mate||30|-|Senior 2d Mate||12|-|Junior 2d Mate||12|-|Volunteer||46|-|Total Complement||142|}(Source: IOR/L/MAR/8/9) ==Records===== National Maritime Museum (Greenwich) === '''THS 12 ''The History of the Bengal Pilot 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/>

"'''THE UNITED SERVICE CLUBThe Percy-Smith Collection (MS 88/006)'''Was formerly styled The 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. *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 include the person’s name, date and place of birth , class of certificate, certificate number and its date of granting.  :These records divide into::Colonial Certificates of competency; Local (Foreign Trade) Certificates of competency; Local (Home Trade) Certificates of competency; Local Certificates of Service; Local (Inland) Certificates of Service; Local (Inland) Certificates of Competency  *Item (29) - Index Cards : Bengal Medical (1740-1914, surnames A-H only); Bengal Military ClubOrphans (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 members front of the index reads 'see also Alipore schools', which were limited may possibly refer to further material in one of the IPercy- Smith collections held in other institutions .C "Four Orphan Schools in Calcutta and the Lawrence Military Asylum, Sanawar, Part II" [[FIBIS Journals|''FIBIS Journal'']] 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 information available on one of the Bengal Marine [http://www.barnettmaritime.co.Suk/bengalsmith. and military serviceshtm index cards]. As time Note that there are index cards about other topics in the Percy Smith collection at the [[Society of Genealogists]] === Asia, howeverPacific & Africa Collection, moved British Library (India Office) ===There are many records of the India Office at the [[British Library]] that pertain to the Bengal Marine and Bengal Pilot Service.  Records marked (#) should appear on [[FamilySearch]]/LDS microfilms: 2028922 - 25; 2029155. [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog Search the FamilySearch Catalog] and things changed they found that 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 particular form period contained within these papers.|-|L/MAR/8/1-20||1793-1880||Various lists of exclusiveness was rather an expensive luxury, employees and very wisely threw open wide volunteers in the heavenly portals Bengal Marine and admitted within their celestial 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 sacred precincts members marine casualties |-|L/MAR/C/762-763||||Bengal Marine records of other government servicesservice|-|L/MAR/C/855 #||1821||Seamen in the Bengal marine who have claims on the company for wages, save see L/E/6-7 for later recruitment’s|-|V/12||1896-1926||Covenanted pilots are included in the Bengal Histories of Service.|} ==== L/MAR/8 Series ==== Most of these records have been microfilmed. The originals are fragile and except those slowly detoriating so viewing of the Bengal pilotsmicrofilms is recommended both for ease of use (especially making printed copies) and for conservation. Why Note that the club ever hard copy microfilm index file on display at the British Library uses the old L/MAR/C numbering for these records and a translation has to be made this invidious distinction, using the concordance tables at the back of course I cannot saythe L/MAR index file. For example, but at L/MAR/8/3 used to be L/MAR/C/768 and the microfilm index tells us that L/MAR/C/768 is on IOR NEG 35431. The new numbering is in a later perioddifferent order to the original. Some records are split across two films, recognising possibly for example L/MAR/8/2 is on IOR NEG 35430 and 35431. The following table provides a direct lookup of the film numbers. L/MAR/8/1-3 provide the most detailed information about volunteers (new recruits). Note that where films are available they are not on the open shelves and have to be ordered using the injustice 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/8/1||IOR NEG 35410||FHL BRITISH Film 2028926 Item 2|-|Certificates of volunteers||1844-1858||L/MAR/8/2||IOR NEG 35430/1||VAULT BRITISH Film 2028996|-|Certificates of volunteers||1858-1861||L/MAR/8/3||IOR NEG 35431||VAULT BRITISH Film 2028997|-|Nominations||1858-1861||L/MAR/8/4|||||-|List of ranks of volunteers||1838-1861||L/MAR/8/5|||||-|Lists of pilots giving dates of their actionpromotion etc., they rescinded their prohibitionA-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 now 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 pilots sit 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|||||} === Society of Genealogists ===Information available at the [[Society of Genealogists]]: Bullock’s ''Directory of Non Official Europeans in the seats India (1780-1820) – lists of Europeans and Anglo-Indians not in the mighty amongst King’s Service''. The information extracted from the members East India Register and similar publications for Bengal.. Includes a number of the Free Mariners/ Country Traders/ Free Merchants, Indigo Planters and River Pilots. However persons in many other servicesprofessions are included, also some women and children. "

The following comprises extracts are from my own unpublished manuscript == Index of records for Genealgists interested in IndiaPilots ==

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

1b. ''On The Percy-Smith Collection Hooghly'' by Malcolm H Beattie (MS 88/0061935)Item (18) Bengal Marine ‘Particulars is a personal account of certificates granted by the Government of Calcutta up to December 1902 to MastersHooghly Pilot Service, Mates and Engineers in Mercantile Marine’which the author served 1878-1913. These records are of Of particular interest to persons looking for River Pilots who were born in India who were in service in family Historians are 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. appendices: These records divide into:Colonial Certificates Appendix A comprises a list of competency; Local serving Branch Pilots (Foreign Trade1847-1888) Certificates :Appendix B comprises a list of competency; Local men joining the Service as Licensed Pilot or Covenanted Pilots (Home Trade1858-1876) Certificates of competency; Local Certificates of Service; Local and men who joined the service as recruits from the training ships Worcester and Conway (Inland1877-1893) Certificates :Appendix C comprises a list of men joining the Service; Local (Inland1893-1916) Certificates of Competency

Item (29) Index Cards : Bengal Medical (1740-1914This book is available online, surnames A-H only); Bengal Orphans (1780-1840); Bengal Marine and Bengal Pilots (1700-1914) refer below.

==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-the-hooghly-calcutta-kolkata/ Photograph: Shipping in the Hooghly, Calcutta] by Samuel Bourne c 1860. Numbered 1726. MAP Museum of Art and Photography, 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-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-strand-calcutta-english-about-1865-1875/ Photograph: The PercyStrand: 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] -Smith Collection Duncan Linklater's excellent site contains information on shipping and navigation in the early twentieth century, including details of Linklater's employment by the Calcutta Port Commission. Originally with scans and transcripts of many original documents, exploring the site is not held in recommended, but pages of particular general interest include::*[https://www.quivis.uk/dum/images/portrait/675x900/pilot.jpg Scan of pilot's certificate] for pilotage of the main Caird Library 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.html Dictionary of Sea Terms 1841/51] Adapted from ''The Seaman's Friend...'' by R. H. Dana 1st ed. 1841, 6th edition 1851.*[http://sayeedsjournal.wordpress.com/chapter-23-on-the Museum you need to request access to -river-hooghly/ On the items River Hooghly] by Khwaja Sayeed Shahabuddin (born 1923). He was a week or so Leadsmen Apprentice with the Bengal Pilot Service for one year in advance of your vist1946-1947, until he needed to wear glasses, which was not allowed.

2. Pacific & Asian Collections British Library (India Office)===Historical books online===Bengal Marine and * ''History of the Bengal Pilot Service Records marked '' complied by Captain G. T. Labey and compiled and edited by Captain R. K. H. Brice 1963. National Maritime Museum, Ref. THS/12/1-9, which includes Appendices. [http://remistry.wordpress.com Chapters] (scroll down) are available online (#remistry.wordpress.com) should appear on LDS microfilmsas follows, but there are no Appendices online:**[https: 2028922 - 25; 2029155//remistry.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/preface/ "Preface"]L**[https://remistry.wordpress.com/2009/AG01/20 & 21 1814 14/introduction-geographical-Post 1947 Includes records of leave and service pensions historical/ "Introduction : Historical"]L**[https:/E/6remistry.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/1-the-7 1880early-1924 Pilot service recruitment information for this period contained within these papersmerchant-adventurers-and-the-hooghly-1534-–-1696/ "Chapter 1.The Early Merchant Adventurers And The Hooghly (1534 – 1696)"] L**[https://remistry.wordpress.com/2009/MAR01/812/12-years-of-expansion-1700-20 1793–-1880 Various lists 1800/ "Chapter 2. Years Of Expansion 1700 – 1800"]. At the end of this chapter is some further text under "Chapter 5. Years Of Consolidation 1800 – 1900".*''On The Hooghly'' by M H Beattie 1935. employees and volunteers [https://archive.org/details/in .ernet.dli.2015.77306 Archive.org mirror version], from Digital Library of India.*Read about the Bengal Marine and Pilot Service Lin September 1800, Pilot Mr Parry, the perils of shifting sand in the river, with numerous sharks and alligators [http://books.google.com/books?id=mKgIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA41 Part 10], page 41 from ''Cursory Remarks, on board the ship Friendship'' by Mary Anne Reid, continues [http:/MAR/Cbooks.google.com/689 1794-1830 Appointments to books?id=mKgIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA249 part 11] Google Books *The Bengal Pilot Servicein 1859. LThe author was aboard HMS Retribution [http://MARwww.archive.org/Cstream/704cu31924026424196# 1858-61 Indian Navy, Bengal pilots, Lpage/MARn171/Cmode/755-756# 1848-60 Europeans in the service 2up ''Memories of the Bengal marineSea'', page 151] by Admiral Penrose Fitzgerald 1913 Archive.orgL*[https://MARarchive.org/Cdetails/760-761# 1824-64 Bengal marine civil and marine casualties Lin.ernet.dli.2015.225565/page/n61/mode/2up ''An Unqualified Pilot''] page 57 ''Land And Sea Tales For Scouts And Guides'' by Rudyard Kipling 1923. Archive.org. [http:/MAR/Cwww.telelib.com/762-763 Bengal Marine records of serviceLwords/MARauthors/CK/855# 1821 Seamen in the Bengal marine who have claims on the company for wages, see LKiplingRudyard/Eprose/6-7 for later recruitment’sVLandandSea/12 1896-1926 Covenanted pilots unqualifiedpilot.html Transcribed version]. are included in :An interesting and informative short story for younger readers depicting the Bengal Histories work of a pilot on the Hooghly. The story was first published in 1895 Serviceand set in a time 'a good many years ago'. Notes from the [http://www.kipling.org.uk/rg_unqualified1.htm Kipling Society].

# [http[Category://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12617 Recollections of Calcutta for over Half a CenturyOccupations]] by Montague Massey# On The Hooghly. Malcolm H Beattie, Philip Allan & Co. Ltd. (1935)[[Category:Bengal Presidency]][[Category:Naval and Maritime]]