Was there any sort of bond, surety, contract stipulations placed on a mariner's life when he sailed to the BWI or England for VA traders? Especially mariners who had families. The mariner may have perished when at sea or on an island since this occupation carried a certain amount of risk. If the entire ship went down I assume there was some sort of waiting period before any funds were paid to a family.
Researching 18th century shipping out of Norfolk, Portsmouth, etc.
Any references to read, suggestions appreciated.

I have no explicit references but I strongly doubt any such provisions were ever made unless the individual mariners themselves arranged for their own life insurance probably in London.

I also suspect very very few of mariners at that time even knew what life insurance was and even fewer had the means to purchase it or the knowledge to find a reputable company to handle it.

I would suggest looking into the history of life insurance in general EG Wikipedia and then based on what you find digging into specific company history. Lloyds of London seems an obvious candidate if they carried life insurance in those eras.

My ancestors in VA ca 1650 and beyond were mariners and tobacco related traders/growers. There is little history extant on these people at all certainly not to the level of any insurance policies info in my cases.

JD

Quick and possibly easy question: I'm researching an ancestor from the 1860s who was a ship's navigator. He lived near the Chesapeake & Albemarle Canal, near Norfolk. It's likely he sailed out of Norfolk or Portsmouth. I'd like to learn about his travels during the Civil War. Do you have any idea what records were kept about merchant ships' crews in the 1800s? Any ideas where I might find some prospects? Norfolk newspapers haven't helped much. Thanks! AWJ

Was researching pre RW so never got that far along into the 1800s. Sorry I cannot help.
About the only piece of information I learned that was helpful is there typically is a waiting period of about 7 years if a mariner was lost at sea and the declaration of his death. This was written into English law and seemed to match the will-probate dates I have found for my ancestor. Good luck.

I don't know about merchant ships, but my great-grandfather was an Ensign in the Yankee Navy and I sent for and received a copy of his record from the National Archives in D.C. The National Archives has records of any type of military related subjects.

Thanks so much! Good luck with your research, too. AWJ

Thanks for the help! AWJ