I have found a National Archives record that may be useful to me but, before outlaying what could be considerable cost to get it copied, I would like to try and assess what it might contain.
Reference: ADM 51/3834
Description: Captains' logs, including:
FIRM (1759 Feb 15-1763 May 13).
FIRM (1763 Nov 15-1766 Oct 30)
Date: 1759-1766
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
From his 13 Jul 1764 marriage record I know that John Smyth was the Captain's Clerk aboard HMS Firm. I also suspect that the John Smyth who was baptised 7 May 1741 and attended Greenwich Hospital School may have been him and, if so, his graduation from there would be expected around the same time as the HMS Firm launched on 15 Jan 1759. The above record would appear to cover the period during which he served on HMS Firm.
Does anyone have experience of examining Captain's Logs from this era to advise whether they would be likely to record things like:
- the name of the Captain's Clerk,
- when a Captain's Clerk joined and left the ship, and
- whether the Captain's Clerk assisted the Captain to write his log?
Alternatively, maybe the Master's log:
Reference: ADM 52/853
Description: Firm
Date: 1759 Feb 24 - 1763 May 21
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Related to my questions: