How to use Customs registers
Where to find Customs registers: PRO
The majority of the transcript [definition] and
transaction [definition] forms from
1786 to 1955 have found their way to the Public Record Office.
Catalogues of these files are kept there and can also be viewed on
the PRO [address]
website. They are filed under the classes listed below. BT107 Transcripts and transactions received between 1786 and 1854.
This series is not complete for ports except London, because many
copies were destroyed in a fire in 1814. Class BT111 contains
indexes to the transcripts for this period. BT108 Transcripts for the period 1855 to 1889. These are bound by year
and by port of registry [definition], in
order of port number. BT109 Transactions for the period 1855 to 1889. These are filed
yearly, under the ship`s official number. The transactions are
numbered, the numbers being recorded on the transcripts in class
BT108. BT110 Transcripts and transactions for the period 1890 to 1955. For a
given ship, all registration documents from 1890 to 1955 are bound
together. Thus, the complete history of a British ship between
these dates can be traced by looking through just one file. BT111 Indexes for the transcripts received between 1786 and 1854. The papers are filed according to the date the register was
closed and the name of the ship at that time. To find a given
ship`s registration papers, it is vital to know when it left the
British register and its last British name. This has to be found by
searching through Lloyd`s Register of Ships [definition]
or Mercantile Navy List [definition]. CUST 130 The London Customs registers from 1818 to
1926.
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