Personnel > Royal Navy

family mystery

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Elbow62:
Hi
I have attached a picture of a man who is my great grandfather. His name is Patrick Kelly, born in Drogheda, Ireland on 6th March 1883. From a documentary point of view he is last recorded on the birth record of his daughter, my grandmother om 30th Jan 1907. Between getting married 5 months earlier and the birth Patrick joined the Navy either to provide for his family or to get away. He does not seemed to have lived with his family ever again. Any naval records or merchant navy (the family myth is that he joined the Merchant Navy but thus uniform looks like RN) just have the name with no other identifiers. Is there anything I can do to find out more about this situation?

PhiloNauticus:
Although the uniform does look like that of a Sub-Lieutenant in the RN, I can find no trace of any Patrick Kelly in the Navy Lists of the period - and at the age of 23/24 he would have been rather old to become an Officer Cadet - at this time they would typically be in their teens.   
Presuming that he was a Merchant Navy officer, then this may help:
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/officers-merchant-navy/

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