Attached is an old photograph of the crew/some of the crew of the SS RUBIERA, later re named IONIC STAR, which sank 17 10 1939 near to the Bar Lightship.
The photo' was found amongst my late mothers belongings, and I have now been able to establish that my maternal G.Father served on this vessel when it was the RUBIERA, verified from his Merchant Service record. His name was Christopher SMITH B. 31 12 1894 and he died in 1925, drowned in Antwerp, Belgium whilst he was serving on a vessel, SS MELITA. I have been trying for some time to discover more of the circumstances surrounding his death, but there has been very little information from the various authorities, who I would expect might well have the information in the records / archives. From what little I know of him, it is quite possible that he is the one holding the lifebelt in this photo'. Other than this, there may well be someone else out there who had a relative on the RUBIERA and may possibly be able to recognise him from their own records. I apologise for the quality of the photo' but, as I say it must date from somewhere around the 1920s. Obviously I will continue to enquire into the circumstances surrounding his death and the location of his burial, in the meantime if anyone has any further info. then I would be a happy chap if they would please share it with me. Apologies now if the photo doesn't load/copy first time but I will ensure that it does ASAP
I notice you don't seem to have had any great success from Ships Nostalgia, its small comfort I know but neither did I ? And btw the ships official number would have been 142297 and not as Mr Griffiths suggested.
Our Education Officer,Hilary suggested on your previous post, https://www.liverpool-genealogy.org.uk/ ... 4&start=20,
that you probably need to check on microfiched newspapers of the time,(local and National) its very time consuming but sometimes helps,not everything can be 'keystroked' unfortunately.
Did you order the death cert as suggested by our dear,late Dickiesam ?
Good luck, and just keep hammering at the wall.
Last edited by VicMar1 on 30 Mar 2016 06:38, edited 1 time in total.
Interested in Ellison, Roberts, Riley, Raffells, Newman, Klosser, Butler, Carroll, Hough,Ruffe & McCallister.
Any census or bmd information within these posts is Crown Copyright belonging to National Archives
If you can track down the Crew List/Log Book for that voyage there should be a record of what happened. Some Crew Lists are at the National Archives and Newfoundland. Also there is a record of him with a picture on FMP.
I don't know if there might be anything at all on one of the links we have collected, but you prompted me to try to merge the posts into one to make it more helpful for any searchers. So you might like to browse through some https://www.liverpool-genealogy.org.uk/ ... 386#p76386
MaryA Our Facebook Page
Names - Lunt, Hall, Kent, Ayre, Forshaw, Parle, Lawrenson, Longford, Ennis, Bayley, Russell, Longworth, Baile
Any census info in this post is Crown Copyright, from National Archives
I have searched the crew list in Newfoundland for 136367 and they hold none. The National Archives have Crew lists for this ship for 1930 and no others. Get in touch with the National Maritime Museum in London to see if they can help. And as suggested from previous posts there maybe a report of his death in the Bootle Times at Crosby Library.
OK. Thanks to all for help and suggestions so far, as it stands I can answer some of the previously mentioned matters.
I have difficulty if researching local newspapers or visiting the libraries which matter etc, because I have lived in Southern England for many years now, unless there is a means by which I am able to research them on line, if there is such a means of research then I would be very happy to have be made aware of it.
Trying to locate a Death Cert. has been an absolute nightmare, he died in Belgium and the body was never repatriated, therefore I can only presume that he was buried in that country. I did pay to have some research carried out in Belgium, in an effort to locate relevant documents or media coverage but without success to date. The only Official Doc. which I have been able to have sight of, is a copy of the official notification from Belgium Authorities to their British counterparts requesting that my grandmother be informed of her husbands demise.
It would seem that because he died and was buried in Belgium, that any formal documentation would be held there, again I have managed to make contact with some very nice people who have tried to locate any reference to the matter but they have also ' hit the wall '. Surely there must be some papers to indicate the circumstances of his death and a time / place of burial.
I have a copy of the relevant Merch. Navy. Doc. which details the date and cause of a death abroad, but no further details.
I have tried numerous times to make contact with Canadian Pacific Archives ( Canadian Pacific were the owners of there MELITA at the relevant time ) but to date they have not replied to any of my requests or acknowledged receipt of any of the E Mails.
The relevant ships log should be held at GREENWICH for two reasons, 1 - because the log would detail the death of a British Citizen overseas and, as such, is apparently supposed to be held there, 2 - the relevant log book is in the series which is supposed to be held there anyway. I have personally been there and requested the log book, but it is apparently recorded as ' Not Available '. I intend to return and spend a lot more time either looking for myself or enquiring as to the location of this log book, because the archivists themselves say, it should be there.
Thanks for all the help and suggestions thus far. I truly do appreciate them all, and I will continue in my quest to solve the mystery of Grandad SMITH.
Watch this space ( I'll be back )
Chris McK
In deaths at sea it states that he was presumed drowned. They may not have recovered his body for burial so he may have no known grave but the sea.
This is the details from the GRO Marine death indexes for him
Marine Deaths for the year 1925
Smith, Christopher aged 30 Melita Page 69.
You can apply for this death certificate from the GRO in Southport. The death may record the Longitude and Latitude of where his death took place. Good luck.
Thanks Katie.
I shall put a few more things together and apply for the Death Cert. I wasn't aware that I would be able to make the application for it without sufficient information. You never know what might come from it. I'll keep you updated on that on. Thanks again
Chris McK.
