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Lost at Sea
Lost at Sea Register
We have compiled a list of fishermen lost at sea and other drownings based on the work done by Roberta Sheedy for the Memorial Plaques at the Fisherman’s Statue on the Boulevard at Gloucester Harbor. This list has been expanded and updated, and no longer is restricted only to fishermen from Gloucester or on a Gloucester boat. It now includes not only those Gloucester people lost at sea while fishing, but any death by drowning, whether at sea, in the Harbor, or rivers or lakes, and also deaths of fishermen on shore if their death was caused at sea. Therefore, while there were no women on the original list, there are some on this list. There are also children and vacationers, engineers and dockworkers – anyone who we felt should be included. A cross-hatch (#) after the name indicates that the person had no connection at all with a death by fishing or drowning in the sea.
This list is unavoidably incomplete – we will probably never recover the names of all the Gloucester people who have been lost at sea. Any additions or questions should be sent to the Archives Committee.
Abbreviations for Lost at Sea List
/ | either/or, between dates, names, places or events |
1850 deaths | [GlouArchives] |
ae | age |
B | Babson, John James, History of Gloucester |
b. | born |
BBMD/BVR | Beverly vital records to 1850 |
BCR | Babson Church Records [GlouArchives] |
bd. | boards at |
Bentley | Diaries of William Bentley |
b-i-l/o | brother in law of |
BN&A | Babson’s Notes and Additions, 1 & 2 |
BosGlo | Boston Globe |
bur. | buried |
CAAD | Cape Ann Advertiser |
CAB | Cape Ann Breeze |
CAHA | Cape Ann Historical Association, now CAM |
CAM | Cape Ann Museum |
CAN | Canada |
CAWA | Cape Ann Weekly Advertiser |
CB | Cape Breton |
CC143 | lists of fishermen lost [GlouArchives] |
CC169 | Gloucester Police Record [GlouArchives] |
CC208 | List of vessels lost [GlouArchives] |
CG | Coast Guard |
cou/o | cousin of |
d/o | daughter of |
DAS | Deaths at Sea – early list |
Dolliver | cemetery inscriptions [GlouArchives] |
Ell.Ho.Pprs | Ellery House Papers [CAM] |
Elwell. | papers on Elwell family by Levi Henry Elwell [GlouArchives] |
EP | Eastern Point |
Essex Co. Probate | Essex County Probate Records, Salem, MA |
F&A | Fast and Able, Gordon Thomas |
f-i-l/o | father-in-law of |
FMR | Fisherman’s Memorial Record Book, ProcterBros, 1873 |
GDT | Gloucester Daily Times |
GFI | Gloucester Fisherman’s Institute |
Glou | Gloucester |
GT | Gloucester Telegraph |
h/o | husband of |
HSGA? | lost reference, but has to do with Argyle, NS |
I.C. | Indentured children, apprenticeship papers [GlouArchives] |
L @ S | lost at sea, old list |
Lafata | Gaspar Lafata |
LoV | List of Vessels, Procter Brothers [CAM, SFL and GlouArchives] |
MV | Martha’s Vineyard |
NA | National Archives Waltham |
NA/W | wreck reports at National Archives |
NA-C or NA-H | crew or hospital lists at National Archives |
Nat. | Naturalization papers [GlouArchives] |
NB | New Brunswick |
NEHGR | New England Historical & Genealogical Register |
neph/o | nephew of |
newfloss | Newfoundland Lost at Sea website |
NFD | Newfoundland |
NS | Nova Scotia |
O | Fisherman’s Own Book, Procter Bros., 1882 |
P | newspaper at Sawyer Free Library |
PEI | Prince Edward Island |
PIG | Pigeon Cove, Early Settlers, by Allen Chamberlain, 1940 |
Pool/PP | Pool Papers at Rockport Public Library |
PR | Pringle, History of Gloucester, 1892 |
Prybot | Peter Prybot, White-Tipped Orange Masts |
pvtr. | privateer |
res. | resident of |
Rpt | Rockport |
s/o | son of |
sch. | schooner |
SCJ | Journal of Samuel Chandler (in BN&A2) |
SFL | Sawyer Free Library |
SR | Selectman’s Records [GlouArchives] |
SSCW | Soldiers and Sailors of the Civil War [GlouArchives] |
SSR | Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution [GlouArchives] |
st. | stone in a cemetery |
St.J’s Daily Tel | St. John’s Daily Telegraph |
stmsp | steamship |
Story | Dana Story, The Shipbuilders of Essex |
str. | steamer |
Swan | Marshall Swan, Town on Sandy Bay |
u-i-l/o | uncle-in-law of |
VR | Vital Records |
w/ | with |
w/o | wife of |
WI | Western Islands, Azores |
WWI | World War I veteran |
WWII | World War II veteran |