Examination of Second Class Boys on Entering the Navy
CIRCULAR No. 34.-N.
Admiralty, 4th August 1875.
My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty are please to issue the following Regulations as to the entry of Second Class Boys for Her Majesty’s Navy :
1.. Second Class Boys are only to be finally entered in the United Kingdom and by the following Officers, viz.:-
1.. Commanding Officers of Training Ships.
2.. Captains of District Ships.
3.. Commanders of Drill Ships.
4.. Captains of the Flag Ships at Sheerness and Queenstown.
5.. Commanding Officers of the “Fisgard” at Greenwich
6.. And of the “Nankin” at Pembroke.
2.. Boys may be provisionally entered by Officers of the Coast Guard, the Recruiting Officers of Marines, and any other Officers specially authorised by their Lordship sending them to the nearest District or Training Ship to be there finally entered.
3.. Every Boy previous to being entered must satisfy the Examining Officers:-
1.. That he is of robust frame intelligent, of perfectly sound and healthy constitution, free from any physical defects or malformation, and not subject to fits.
2.. That he is able to read and write. The lower test by which a Boy should be entered is to be able to read a passage of two ordinary lines of one syllable, and sign his name legibly.
3.. That he is between the ages of 15 and 16½ years,
4.. That his height and measure are sufficient, the rules being as follows:-
Height (without shoes). Measurement round the Chest
Boys between 15 and 15½ 4 ft. 10½ ins. 29 ins.
Boys between 15½ and 16 4 ft. 11½ ins. 29½ ins.
Boys between 16 and 16½ 5 ft. 1 ins. 30 ins.
Boys, however, who do not quite reach the standard of height and measurement may, if in all other respects desirable, be entered, with the special permission of their Lordships.
4.. Every Boy must bring with him a Certificate of Birth, or a Declaration made by his Parents or Guardians before a Magistrate to show that he is of the proper age ; and also the consent in writing of his Parents or Guardians or nearest relatives if he be an Orphan, to his entering the Navy and engaging to serve until he shall have completed 10 years Continuous Service from the age of 18.
5.. Boys are not to be received from Reformatories or Prisons.
6.. The Examining Officers on board a District Ship will be the Captain or Commander, a Lieutenant or Navigating Lieutenant, and a Medical Officer ; on board a Training Ship, the Commander (or in his absence an Officer of that rank to be appointed by the Commander-in-Chief) a Lieutenant or Navigating Lieutenant, and a Medical Officer ; when, however, a Boy has been already passed by a Naval Medical Officer, he is not to be medically examined a second time, unless the Commanding Officer of the Training Ship to which he is sent shall think it necessary, and in such case the Boy is to be examined be a Board of three Medical Officers. The Medical Examination is, in all cases, to be conducted as laid down in Article 410 of the Addenda.
7.. If the Examining Officers are of opinion that the Boy is in every respect fit for the Service, the engagement, to serve continuously in Her Majesty’s Navy until he has completed 10 Years’ Service from the age of 18 is to be read and explained to him and if he voluntarily agrees to its terms, he is then, in the presence of a witness, to sign his engagement, and to be entered on the books of the Ship.
8.. The Examining Officers will also fill up the Form and Certificate attached to the engagement, and sign the same, and will transmit the document to the Accountant-General of the Navy.
9.. Articles 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Chapter IX of the Queen’s Regulations and Articles 93 and 94 of the Addenda are hereby cancelled.
10.. Circular No. 30-N, of the 30th April, 1873, is hereby cancelled.
By Command of their Lordships,
Robert Hall.
To the Commanders-in-Chief Flag Officers &c.
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Circular No. 72.-N.
Admiralty, 7th November 1874.
BOYS
(Allowances in Aid of Clothing.)
My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, being desirous of improving the condition of Boys who enter the Navy, as it appears that they are generally in debt for Clothes when they leave the Training Ships, owing to their inability to pay for their outfit on entry, – are pleased to grant the following allowances towards their Kits, to take effect from the 1st October, 1874:-
£ s. d.
1st and 2nd Class Boys (except Native Boys: entered on Foreign on entry Stations) Ships’ Stewards’ Boys, Band Boys, and Boy-Writers. 5 0 0
Boys Serving on the 1st October, 1874
2nd Class Boys 2 10 0
1st Class Boys waiting draft to seagoing ships, and who have not served at Sea 2 10 0
1st Class Boys in seagoing ships, Coast-Guard District Ships and other Home Ships, Ships’ Stewards Boys, Band Boys and Boy-Writers 1 0 0
1.. 2nd Class Boys will be entitled to the further gratuity £2 10s. on being rated 1st Class Boys as heretofore, under Circular No. 53 of the 21st September 1872.
2.. These allowances are not to be paid to the Boys, but are to be placed to their credit on the Ship’s Books, as usual in such cases.
By Command of their Lordships,
Robert Hall.
To all Commanders-in-Chief, &c.
Comment - As regards Para 5…This must have been abolished in the 1920/30′s because My Learned Judges were frequently giving “Bad Boys” the ”option” of going into the Navy or much worse still of going to Borstal.
Thanks Jim B for the history lesson.
