Information is provided here about the sources, authentication methods, database fields, and news about developments.
On this page: Sources | Authenticity of Data | Explanation of Data Fields | Abbreviations | News
Sources
Data are drawn from original contemporary records, archive lists, published literature, and original logs.
Sources include:
- National Archives, Kew, London
- Whitby Museum
- Hull City Library
- New Bedford Whaling Museum Published Inventory of Logs
- Voyage Logs
Authenticity of data
Each original source of information is ranked according to it authenticity relative to primary data. There are nine level or positions i.e. 999999999.
The positions are as follows:
- Logbooks: 1 900,000,000
- Muster roll 2 090,000,000
- Customs records 3 009,000,000
- Port Records: Whitby 4 000,900,000
- Port Records: Hull 5 000,090,000
- Bedford Museum Log of logs 6 000,009,000
- Reference by other ship 7 000,000,900
- Lloyds Lists 8 000,000,090
- Contemporary literature 9 000,000,009
Each of these positions are ranked according to the validity of the actual data e.g. 1-9. Voyage details taken from an original log where the data is unambiguous would be scored 900,000,000. If the same voyage details were seen in, say, the Customs & Excise lists found in the National Archives the combined voyage records would be scored 909,000,000.
If the same record were also seen in say, the Lloyds Lists, but some details were ambiguous the score may be 909,000,070. If the Lloyds details were considerably different from the log details or some other source with a higher level the score might be 909,000,050.
This gives the user the opportunity to select voyage data according to a perceived reliability and authenticity.
Explanation of Data Fields
Voyage information for the various sources is merged to produce a composite record. Some additional administrative fields have been added such as "Authentication", "Corroboration", and "Voyref" to provide alternative methods of selection.
| Field |
Explanation |
| Year |
Year of voyage. |
| Voyref |
Unique Voyage reference. |
| Ship |
Name of ship. |
| Burthen |
Displacement tonnage of ship. |
| Burthenpart |
Written as 94ths of displacement tonnage. |
| Fittedout |
The port from which the ship departed for the Arctic. |
| Discharged |
The port to which the ship returned from the Arctic. |
| Whales |
Number of whales caught. Sometimes there is a decimal part of a whale recorded probably due to a combined effort or even a dispute between two ships. |
| Small whales |
Occasionally the number of small whales was recorded but it is not clear if they were a different species or just young whales. |
| Seals |
When whales were not present the whalers turned to seals. |
| Tonsblub/Partblub |
Some sources recorded the blubber rather than the number of whales caught. |
| Master |
The skipper or captain was called the Master, usually recorded by their surname only but occasionally the first name is included. |
| Grounds |
The destination fishing grounds. Sometimes Spitzbergen was cited
but this was later termed Greenland. All Spitzbergen grounds have been changed to Greenland for consistency. |
| Whendeparted |
Date of departure from home port. |
| Whenarrived |
Date of return to port. |
| Oiltons/Oilcwt/Oilgall |
Oil was sometimes recorded rather than blubber or whales (tons/cubicweight/gallons). |
| Fins/Bone |
Fins and whalebone became valuable commodities and were recorded occasionally. |
| Country |
Both English and Scottish ports are included. |
| Fromsouce |
The original sources are noted here with the abbreviation of the Archive and the archive reference. See Abbreviations list. |
| Link |
If appropriate there may be a hyperlink to an the first transcript. |
| Authentication |
The levels or authenticity and validity are recorded here. See Authentication information. |
| Log Available |
If a log has been is known to exist this filed shows Y. |
| Corroborated |
This shows the number of times the existence of the voyage has been corroborated by different sources. The actual sources can be seen by the placements in the Autentication field or in the FromSouce field |
Abbreviations
Documents are typically referenced numerically, but include abbreviated indicators of the archive source, e.g. document NA:T64/276A/294 refers to a document reproduced with the kind permission of the National Archives, Kew. The following list of abbreviations for archives and documents in the Databank applies:
| Abbreviation |
Reference |
| NA |
National Archives, Kew |
| HCL |
Hull Central Library |
| BL |
New Bedford Museum published inventory of logs |
| WM |
Whitby Museum |
News
The databank will continue to be expanded until it encompasses at least the period 1750-1850. More information and updates on developments will appear here from time to time.
