The Incredible Hulk

geneageek — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 16:52:00 +0000

Success – hulk similar to where George was imprisoned. (No photographs of the Ganymede appear to exist)

After a bit of a break I ventured onto the Ancestry site and noticed that they had ‘new’ prison hulk registers and letter books. I found that my ol’ pal, George WHITE was held on the Ganymede while awaiting trial and/or transportation to Van Diemen’s Land in 1834.

UK, Prison Hulk Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849 for Geo White – Ganymede – 1818-1836

The Ganymede was originally the French frigate, Hébé which was captured in 1809. She was converted to a prison hulk in 1819 and broken up in 1838 (source: Wikipedia) (AND the Index of 19th Century Naval Vessels). Hulks were not nice places to be and it seems George was ‘lucky’ enough to stay in one for under a year.
The Intolerable Hulks by Charles F. Campbell seems like a good read.

UPDATE:
In response to a couple of comments below (always welcome) about the fate of the prison hulk Ganymede, I feel I should mention the possibility there are OTHER ships/hulks also named the Ganymede. The ship I refer to was formerly:

The French L’HEBE taken by Capt. SCHOMBERG in LOIRE in the Atlantic on 5 January 1809. Broken up in 1838 (source: Michael Phillips’ Ships of the Old Navy – http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=0998)

I have found reference to ANOTHER Ganymede – an iron clipper-barque built in 1868 which was hulked in 1912 (source).

Although I don’t claim superior naval knowledge, it is more likely that the Ganymede my commenters refer to as being used as a convict vessel in 1839, is a DIFFERENT ship to either of these as ship names were often REUSED.

I feel I should also add here that wikipedia was not my only source. The Index of 19th Century Naval Vessels also contained this information and I have updated my source in the post to include this link.

However, if you feel you have evidence that proves these ships are in fact the same vessel I would be really interested to hear about it.

Rage Against the Thrashing Machine

Murder Most Foul

Neighbouring Families - Part 3

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Member DISconnect

geneageek — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:18:00 +0000

When I log on to ancestry.co.uk nowadays, it shows me ‘Recent Member Connect Activity’. Amongst other things, this means I’m notified when people attach records to their trees that I have also attached to mine. I think that’s actually quite a cool feature. I can now connect with people who are more likely to be family members .

The idea seems to be to make connections with possible family members, however I think it may have another useful purpose – identifying those who are NOT connected to your tree.

For example, I can see that one particular user has added two of my ALLEN census records to their own tree. One record is for William H Allen but this user has added it to a William G Allen in their tree. The same user has added an 1861 certificate to another person who I do not recognise as a member of this branch.

It is possible that this user has added these records to their tree in error – probably misreading the handwriting (Who hasn’t done that?). With this feature, we can make contact quickly and establish whether a mistake has been made so the user does not have to waste any further time, money and energy.

I must confess that I’ve let my ancestry membership lapse so I can’t actually check these tree ‘connections’. They may very well be true connections or it is possible that I am the one who is incorrect. Nevertheless, I think it is extremely helpful to find out sooner rather than later that you are barking up ‘the wrong tree’.

Dating Photographs

Mystery Grandson Solved

Marriage Entries vs Marriage Certificates II

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