Railway Station 1860 - as used by John Ker in his travel to his ship

Train crew London and North Western Railway 1860's

William Powell Frith The Railway Station 1862

1841 Census and Hawick map

1841 Census for Hawick shows Gideon Ker and his wife Ann and children at the grocer's shop in Fore Row, Hawick

Name	Age	Sex	Occupation	County of Birth
Gideon Ker	63	M	Grocer and Sp dealer	England
Ann Ker	39	F		Roxburghshire
Agness Ker	7	F		Roxburghshire
John Ker	5	M		Roxburghshire
Robert Ker	2	M		Roxburghshire
Elizabeth Richardson	19	F	F S.	Roxburghshire

John Ker certificate of passing to Assistant Engineer 2nd class

John Ker served 3 years on HMS Edinburgh, joining on 11th November 1857.  This certificate is dated 22nd November 1860, when he was 25, and certifies that he is able to keep accounts and make rough working sketches of Engines and Boilers.  He understands the general principle of the Engine and is acquainted with the names of the various parts and their uses.

Admiralty response to John Ker's application for service

Admiralty
26th October 1857

Sir
With reference to your application of the instant to enter Her Majesty's Service as a Naval Engineer, I am directed  by the Surveyor of the Navy to request you will inform him whether you consider you possess the qualifications set forth on the other side hereof and can present yourself at Woolwich for examination within 14 days from this date, in which case the necessary orders will be sent to the Dock Yard.

I am further directed to inform you that you must proceed to Woolwich at your own expense, and present yourself to the Commodore Superintendent of that Yard, with all the certificates that you possess, and that if you pass the necessary examinations and are approved, you will be engaged as an acting Assistant Engineer of the Third Class on probation, allowed Three Month's advance of pay, and confirmed at the expiration of Twelve Months if your conduct and qualifications are satisfactory and your services are then required.

I am, Sir,
Your humble servant

Draft letter from John Ker to the Admiralty, regarding his pension, after leaving the Navy

 9 Fore Row, Hawick
6th March 1863


My Lord
I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 27th alt acquainting me that the Lords commissioners of the Admiralty had been pleased to award me a superannuation allowance of £14 per annum.

By referring to my certificates, copies of which have been sent, your Lordship will observe that I have served, with good character, 3 years and 4 months as 2nd class Assistant Engineer, and 1 year 8 months 16 days as 1st class Assistant, besides 2 1/2 months harbour service, and the "Queens Regulations and Admiralty Instructions" page 23 lead me to infer that I should receive a pension of nearly £19 per annum.

Since being wrecked in HMS "Driver" off the Bahamas in 1861 and the cold and privations consequent thereon, I have lost my hearing to a great extent, and this in itself is sufficient to preclude me from engaging in business. My general health is also completely shattered. I have no means of my own and my widowed mother is unable to support me.

I feel averse to trouble your Lordship and it is only because these circumstances make the matter important to me that I humbly request you will again submit my case to their Lordships for their favourable consideration.

I am your obedient humble servant

signed John Ker

Asst Engineer RN

The Secretary of the Admiralty

Image of the original letters from John Ker to his family

A selection of the originals of the letters from John Ker to his family

Images of John Ker's sea trunk

three views of the sea trunk used by John Ker in his naval service.  Now in the possession of GKE (Gail), having been taken from Hawick to Canada in the early 20th Century by her great grandfather.