Matthew Mitchell BRYANT

[georgec]

Hi to you all.

I now have come to one of my hard parts of my Bryant family history.
(part of the BRYANT family tree from Lelant)

My grandfather Richard Henry BRYANT m Grace Richards COCKING at Pz reg office 20 Jan 1917. lived St Ives

They had three children :

Richard BRYANT b 1920 d in late 1980s

Matthew Mitchell Bryant b 27 Jan 1926

Leo Bryant (my father) b 21 Aug 1929 d Aug 1996

I am trying to any where to get info on Matthew Mitchell BRYANT.
as my father and his brother Richard have died and cant ask them.

The only info l have is, Matthews birth cert and a school photo. and this info below from some one who went to St Ives Boys School with Matthew.

And l Quote
When Matthew was growing up he was a bit wild. He eventually ended up in a boys detention center (like a Borstal) so he may have done something wrong. He was made to work on a farm which he did not like and fell out with his father (Richard Henry BRYANT) for letting him be sent there.
After this he went into the Merchant Navy (at a early age)
He later in life came back to St Ives to visit his brother Richard and was said to have done very well in the Merchant navy he lived around Portsmouth. End Quote

Thats all the info I have, so now I am on the hunt for more.

Any ideas would be of a Great help to me.

Thank you George

[Cornish Terrier]

George - having been in the Merchant Navy I should think there will be some records about your Uncle.

Try these - unfortunately it appears all the information is in Card Indexes but it should provide you with some clues and some avenues to find out more about Matthew.

Merchant Seamen: Sea Service Records 1913-1972

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/rdleaflet.asp?sLeafletURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enationalarchives%2Egov%2Euk%2Fcatalogue%2Fleaflets%2Fri2197%2Ehtm&lBack=-1

Merchant Seamen: Officers' Service Records 1845-1965

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/rdleaflet.asp?sLeafletURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enationalarchives%2Egov%2Euk%2Fcatalogue%2Fleaflets%2Fri2200%2Ehtm&lBack=-1

Cornish Terrier

[georgec]

Up date on Matthew Mitchell BRYANT

Thanks to Jim Thompson who got in touch with me.

He found that Matthew was on a ships manifest on a ship called SAMOLAND as part of the crew age 19 on route to New York he shows up under immigrant lists even though he did not emigrate.

Any ideas how I go about finding more info on this.

Regards George

[Cornish Terrier]

George - if you have details of that particular voyage we might be able to find some more journeys of the Samoland and see if Matthew was on board for each one.

Let me know a little more and I will see if I can find something more for you.

CT

[georgec]

Hi
Sorry I have no other info other then Matthew was 19 at the so the Year of the voyager would be around 1939.

I know its not much but its the first clue I have had.

Regards George

[Cornish Terrier]

George - if you can remind me of your email adress I can send you a copy of that Manifest as well as a photo of the ship.

Or you can do a Google search for SS Samoland and you will find some information.

The ship was used as a Liberty ship in 1944 and was apparently sold in 1947.
It was wrecked at one point and then rebuilt (I think 1952) and then wrecked again and scrapped about 1968.

Have only found the one record for Matthew.

You might also try this site although you will probably have to become a member to get involved:-

merchant-navy.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2616

That link takes you direct to the forum with a query about the SS Samoland.

From there you might be able to find your way to some information about crew members.
CT

[georgec]

Hi I have sent you my e-mail add

Also I have been sent a little bit more info on Matthew

He was engaged as a member of the crew on the Samoland on the 27 Feb 1945 age 19 arrived in New York !9 Mar 1945.

Also he was on the ship BECKEHAM port of departure Barry, Wales. Arrived in New York 20 Jun 1945

So we have a bit more to the puzzle.

I just need to know how to find out info about the above.

George

[Cornish Terrier]

George - more on the way to you via email.

I searched again and found Matthew on the Beckenham.

But I believe I have also found him aboard the 'Loch Garth' which sailed from Vancouver to Seattle, Washington where it arrived 18th June 1948.

He is simply 'Matthew Bryant' on this one but he was English, age 22 and his height and weight were very similar.

CT

[georgec]

Thanks Ian

For all the work you have done on this one for me I will try at the weekend to find out more and will let you know what l come up with.

Regards George

[Cornish Terrier]

You are welcome George and it is appreciated that you are keeping me/us informed of your progress.

CT