Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1673-1809 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
346ft: 105m
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The lieutenants' logs were kept by the lieutenants of a ship in commission, recording details of weather, navigation and the routine of the ship, as well as incidents that occurred during the commission. Printed formats appeared from about 1799, different printed forms being sold by various printers in Portsea and in Plymouth. A standard form was laid down by the Admiralty in October 1805 when the practice of starting the day's log at noon was altered to coincide with the civil calendar, by beginning the log at midnight. At the completion of each year a lieutenant's log was required to be deposited in the Admiralty Office, accompanied by a certificate stating that the officer had complied with the printed instructions and not been absent from his ship. At the Admiralty the chief clerk abstracted details of the voyage and, in return for a fee, sent the log to the Navy Office where a clerk in the office of the Clerk of the Acts made out a certificate entitling the lieutenant to be paid. At the Navy Office individual logs were bound into volumes. It was the practice to bind them according to the name of the ship, not that of their keeper, but during a period in the mid-eighteenth century logs were collected by year, as well as by name of ship, and logs for four or five ships, beginning with the same letter, were bound in one volume.
Repository
Archival history
GB 0064 ADM/L 1673-1809 Subfonds 346ft: 105m Navy Board
The lieutenants' logs were kept by the lieutenants of a ship in commission, recording details of weather, navigation and the routine of the ship, as well as incidents that occurred during the commission. Printed formats appeared from about 1799, different printed forms being sold by various printers in Portsea and in Plymouth. A standard form was laid down by the Admiralty in October 1805 when the practice of starting the day's log at noon was altered to coincide with the civil calendar, by beginning the log at midnight. At the completion of each year a lieutenant's log was required to be deposited in the Admiralty Office, accompanied by a certificate stating that the officer had complied with the printed instructions and not been absent from his ship. At the Admiralty the chief clerk abstracted details of the voyage and, in return for a fee, sent the log to the Navy Office where a clerk in the office of the Clerk of the Acts made out a certificate entitling the lieutenant to be paid. At the Navy Office individual logs were bound into volumes. It was the practice to bind them according to the name of the ship, not that of their keeper, but during a period in the mid-eighteenth century logs were collected by year, as well as by name of ship, and logs for four or five ships, beginning with the same letter, were bound in one volume.
The records were transferred to the Museum by arrangement with the Admiralty in 1938.
Navy Board, Lieutenants' logs, consisting of 5,205 volumes, 1673 to 1809. In some cases captains' logs have been bound with those of lieutenants, but they are usually duplicates of those at the Public Record Office, which holds the series of captains' and masters' logs for this period and ships' logs from 1799. Some expense accounts for paper and ticket books are also bound in with the logs.
Please contact the Archive for further information.
Please contact the Archive for further information.
English
Detailed catalogue online at the: National Maritime Museum website .
Although this is a very full series of records it is not always certain that a log will exist for a particular commission; a detailed index of the logs by ship is kept in the Manuscripts Section.
Edited by Sarah Drewery, Jul 2011.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
2010-08-26 Admiralty Information sources Documents Primary documents Ships logs Transport Vehicles Ships Navy Board Royal Navy
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The records were transferred to the Museum by arrangement with the Admiralty in 1938.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Navy Board, Lieutenants' logs, consisting of 5,205 volumes, 1673 to 1809. In some cases captains' logs have been bound with those of lieutenants, but they are usually duplicates of those at the Public Record Office, which holds the series of captains' and masters' logs for this period and ships' logs from 1799. Some expense accounts for paper and ticket books are also bound in with the logs.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Please contact the Archive for further information.
Conditions governing reproduction
Please contact the Archive for further information.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Detailed catalogue online at the: National Maritime Museum website .
Although this is a very full series of records it is not always certain that a log will exist for a particular commission; a detailed index of the logs by ship is kept in the Manuscripts Section.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English