Families rush to trace seafaring ancestors

Maritime Connections, Ancestors at Sea is being staged at the Maritime Museum, in Queen Victoria Square, and is a partnership between Hull History Centre and the Carnegie Heritage Centre.

One of those hoping to find out more yesterday was Amber Cansdale, 11, who is researching the history of her great-grandfather, Nils Nilsen, a Norwegian whale fisherman who met her great-grandmother on a visit to the Hull Seaman's Mission.

Another family history contained in the records is centred around the 1904 'Russian Outrage', when the Russian Navy fired on a Hull fishing fleet with devastating consequences. Items from the museum help illustrate each case.

Assistant curator Tom Goulder said: 'After visiting our displays many people want to research their own family's links with the sea. This exhibition shows the abundance of information available at the History Centre and the knowledge of volunteers at the Carnegie Heritage Centre.'

The exhibition is in the Court Room at the museum and runs until September 7.

Picture: Terry Carrott.