Miscellaneous maritime articles

Not only have we never seen a ship's passport before; we cannot find any online reference to their ever having been issued in Jersey, save for a single reference in the website passport-collector.com, where we found this image. Apparently ships' passports became fairly common in the United States towards the end of the 18th century, but we have not been able to find any record of their being issued in the British Isles, other than this single example from Jersey. It was issued at Elizabeth Castle by Col William Deane, who was the Lieut-Governor in 1753, and the seal it bears is said to be his personal seal. It was issued to Louis Malouin, master of Le Conde for a voyage to Guernsey and back in August of that year, and was valid for the vessel and crew of four. William Deane became Governor of Upnor Castle in 1758 and rose to the rank of Major General in 1770. He is said to have had dinner on one occasion with Benjamin Franklin. Update: Further study suggests that this might not be classified as a ship's passport, but as a passport for its master and crew - nevertheless unusual and rare

Here are some links to miscellaneous maritime articles. We have had to remove links to some Jersey Heritage articles which have either been moved to new locations in their website or deleted ...

• Life at sea, a Société Jersiaise Annual Bulletin article on Jersey's 19th century merchant fleet
• Evening Star - a ship which carried emigrants to Australia direct from Jersey
• How a Parliamentary frigate was captured off Guernsey
• Capt Henry Pennison and the ''Satellite''
• The mahogany trade with Honduras
• Battle of Cherbourg
• A Chinese junk visits Jersey
• Hibernica, a Jersey-owned vessel which plied the Atlantic routes in the 19th century
• 18th century trade
• Jersey vessels 1786-87
• An interview with Harbourmaster Ron Taylor
• Accidents involving Post Packets
• Nicholas Le Messurier, master mariner
• A poorhouse boy who became a master mariner
• Thomas Pickstock, biography of a famous privateer
• Daniel Messervy, shipowner, and a Jurat who owned a fleet of privateers
• St Clement lighthouses
• The loss of HMS Determinee
• A Jersey ship which sailed up the Amazon
• An 1837 report on the Southampton-Channel Island services
• The Jersey flag, was the original design based on a blunder?
• Trade with Welsh ports
• Quayside rescue
• Weymouth, pictures of one of the main ports on the English south coast with passenger services to Jersey
• Narrow escape for garrison boat
• Harbour planned at Noirmont
• The Exact's direct voyage from Jersey to Australia in 1852 which ran into trouble on its first leg
• Matilda Wattenbach
• Alberta: The worst crossing
• Societe Bienfaisance
• The ''Vivid'' and Jersey cutters

... and other websites with a maritime theme

• Jersey's Maritime Museum website
• Jersey Merchant Seamen's Benefit Society

Newspaper records

• A busy day in St Helier Harbour in 1848
• Cutter seized in St Malo in 1848
• Two captains swept off their ships in 1848

• 
  In January 1866 the Chronique de Jersey reported the loss of two crew members of the barque Obey off Montevideo on 24 November the previous year. C W Godfray and Philippe Baudains drowned after going ashore in the vessel's dinghy, which suddenly capsized. The same edition of the newspaper reported the loss of Captain M Le Brun from the vessel Medina. He was swept overboard by a wave during a voyage from London to Japan, but nobody on board knew when this happened
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  The brigantine Petrel was lost in March 1866 after taking on water in a storm off Yarmouth while en route to Jersey from Hartleypool. The seven-man crew were rescued and returned to Jersey. The vessel was owned by E P Gaudin and assured by Jersey Mutual
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  In March 1866 the steamer Normandy was en route to Jersey from Southampton when, at 1.30 am a passenger jumped off the stern. The ship was stopped and a boat put down, but there was no sign of the man, a merchant from London, who was accompanied by his brother-in-law. The Chronique de Jersey reported that the deceased had been involved in unsuccessful speculations. He left a widow and three children
• 
  When the Jersey-registered Tickler docked at Hull in March 1866 it was learned that Charles de Gruchy (1844- ) of St Martin and John Bailhache (1848- ) of St Ouen had been lost overboard in the Strait of Gibraltar