UK, Royal Navy Medical Journals
Records: 40,744
Complete: 100%The journals in this database were kept by ships’ medical officers, who were required to keep a record of patients, treatments, and outcomes during a voyage. This collection includes 671 volumes, each from a single ship and covering a particular time period. The majority are convict ships bound for Australia or Van Diemen’s Land.
The journals list names, ages, “quality” (the patient’s rank or status aboard), diseases, duration dates, and notes on symptoms and treatment. They often include daily sick lists extracted from the journal pages as well. Researchers should not forget their female ancestors. Some convict ships sailing to Australia were designated for female convicts; other women emigrated voluntarily.
Source Information
Fold3, UK, Royal Navy Medical Journals ( : accessed February 6, 2023), database and images,
- Publication Title
- UK, Royal Navy Medical Journals
- Total Records
- 40,744 Complete: 100%
- Content Source
The National Archives of the UK
- Published on Fold3
- 15 Jun 2016
- Last Updated
- 15 Jun 2016
- Description
- Contains indexed images of medical journals from 19th-century British ships, including names of patients, other passengers and crew.