BT 99 is the name for the series of crew list documents held at The National Archives, covering the period from 1861 to 1938.
 
This CLIP project is making the first transcription from these records.
 
The result will be a major new facility for everyone researching the records of seafarers of the 19th century.
 
On this page, we explain:

• The backround to the crew lists and BT 99, and CLIP's track record.
• The project objectives.
• How the project works.
• What the document images and transcription forms look like.
• How you can get involved.

 
 

Crew lists and agreements are the most important record of seafarers on British registered ships for the period 1861 to 1913, showing details of the crew for each voyage or each half-year.
 
Most of the records have survived and a random 10% of those were retained at The National Archives (TNA), in the records series BT 99. Our rough estimate is that there are well over 300,000 documents with more than 3 million entries for seafarer's names.
 
For more details about crew lists and where the other documents are held, please see the main CLIP site and TNA's information leaflet on crew lists and agreements.
 

 
 
 
 
 

CLIP is a private not-for profit project which works with volunteers to improve access to the historical records of seafarers, concentrating on crew lists of British registered vessels for the period 1861 to 1913.
 
CLIP was set up in 1998 and has made the largest database of transcripts from crew lists with over 260,000 entries, which was published in 2002.
 
Since then we have undertaken a number of projects, working with a variety of agencies and archives and with the help of volunteer transcribers around the world. We've set clear targets with realistic time frames and consistently delivered results to a high quality. Our major transcription projects have included:

• Transfering data from paper files, particularly the complete index to the documents in BT 99, (1861 to 1923) at The National Archives.
• Setting up database systems for transcription from shipping registers using digital images as the source, and using this with the shipping registers held at Manx National Heritage Library, IOM.
• Making digital images of the Appropriation Books held by the Registry of Shipping and Seamen at Cardiff and from this compiling the first complete index of British registered ships for the period 1855 to the 1950s - a major resource for all who are interested in maritime research.

We aim to make the data from our projects easily available, by maintaining a web site which includes a series of finding aids.
 
We are delighted to be able to return to crew list transcription in collaboration with TNA, making use of all the technical advances which have become available since we first started - with pencil and paper - just ten years ago.
 

 
 
 
 
 

The aim of the project is to make transcription of the crew lists held in BT 99 at The National Archives.
 
The initial objectives were to make digital images for the crew lists for one year (1881) and to set up an on-line transcription system.
 
Both of these have been completed, the first by TNA and the second by CLIP. TNA has made the images available to our transcribers on-line, and CLIP transcribers have completed the first 40,000 entries.
 
Our next objective is to complete the transcription of the lists for 1881, by the end of June 2009.
 
This will mean transcribing and checking over 60,000 entries and, to do that, we need the help of as many transcribers as possible.
 

 
 
 
 
 

All the project is on-line and no special software is needed. Ordinary Web browsers such as Internet Explorer or Firefox are fine for the data entry and the images are in Adobe Acrobat pdf files. To read these, you use the standard Adobe Reader which is freely available on-line. As the image files are large, you will need to have a broadband connection to be able to download them reasonably quickly. The quality is excellent - see below.
 
The transcription is onto a purpose-built CLIP web site, which gives full facilities to add and edit data, with clear instructions and lots of support available by email or over the phone (in the UK) or via Skype. The systems have lots of internal checks to help you to get accurate transcription, and all entries are checked by another transcriber.
 
Once the data for one box of records is complete, TNA will take it into their catalogue, so that it can be made available to researchers via the TNA web site. We will also be publishing the data on our web site.
 

 
 
 
 
 

Here's an example of the document images, showing a list for a fishing vessel.
Click on the image to see a larger version (it may take a second or two to download).
 

 

There are main two forms - one to record the details for the ship (from the top part of the image above), and one to record the details of the crew (from the lower half of the image).
 
Here's a screen shot of the details form for the document shown above:
 

 
This is a screen shot of the crew form:
 

 
We also use other similar forms, for example to record the list of documents in the batch and to help you keep track of progress.
 

 
 
 
 
 

The project relies entirely on volunteer transcribers and checkers, so if you are interested in helping, do please get in touch with us. Don't worry if you have little or no experience of transcribing - we're only too happy to support all our transcribers. There's no set time committment - you do as little or as much as you want, when you want. All we ask is that if you are going to stop for a while, you let us know so that we can re-allocate the batch to other transcribers.
 
We're also keen to set up local groups of transcribers who can be of support to each other. If you know of a group of people who might be interested, let us know. Within the UK, we'd be happy to come along and help you to get started.
 
If there are any other ways in which you feel you can support the project, we'd be delighted to hear from you.
 
For details of how to contact us, please click here.