Recently the Great Britain, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927 have been made available to search on ancestry.com. This database contains master and mate certificates issued to merchant seamen by the British Board of Trade.
I was over the moon because I found both brothers, John & Magnus Linklater, and their various certificates, that gave me the final proof that they were both the brothers of my paternal great-grandfather James Linklater. Full birthdates and places of birth were given on their application forms although Magnus seemed to think he was one year (exactly) older than his birth/baptism suggests.
Captain John McKay Linklater was in Scotland to pick up a new ship to sail back to NZ at the time of his examination, he gives his mother’s address in Leith.
So now I can close the books on these two brothers, just one left to find, the second to youngest brother, Thomas born 1840 and disappeared after 1873, he was also a seaman but doesn’t seem to have applied to pass the Mate or Master Mariner examinations.
More on Thomas soon…..
