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Lloyd's Register staffing and employment records

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About the staffing and employment records

Most of the records on Lloyd’s Register staff can be found in the “Staffing” series (LR/4) within the Lloyd’s Register archive (LR). For anyone researching family history, or wanting to find out more information on staff and Committee Members, this is the most useful set of records. It is separated into several sub-series containing list of staff, office diaries, personal notebooks and journals, pension papers, photographs and records relating to social clubs.

Records from 1833

Not all staff member scan be found in the lists of officers, these were primarily focused on British Surveying staff, some other information was recorded on the various other Clerks, assistants and “office boys” including the young messenger staff who operated during the Victorian era. In the series of staff journals is a memoir of Jabez Barrett, a long-standing head messenger who worked with Lloyd’s Register for over 40 years.

Lloyd’s Register had several active social clubs and the Cricket Club was an especially important social club and we hold many records of its activity. The Lloyd’s Register Cricket Club pavilion still stands in the ground at Dulwich. These records include photographs of team members spanning 1880s-1980s, match cards, dinner menus and annual celebration reports, minutes from meetings and building plans for the pavilion at Dulwich. 

Among the historic pension papers (LR/4/8) are over 100 bundles of records relating to pension applications, correspondence and payments, these are some of the only records in our archive of some of the staff who worked for Lloyd’s Register and they can often show an extremely personal insight into the lives of the workers. This includes the lift operator at 71 Fenchurch Street, Printing department staff and records relating to staff families and grants given for education or support.  

Historical black and white photograph of a cricket team posing outside a pavilion, wearing traditional white uniforms and boater hats.
Lloyd's Register cricket team, 1897c,  LR/4/12/1/3/2

Key collections

  • Lists of officers and particulars, early volumes were also known as “Staff bibles” (LR/4/1 ) include information on staff covering 1847-1980
  • Letterbooks/notebooks, handwritten notebooks and letterbooks compiled by staff LR/4/2 - 25 volumes covering 1829-1991
  • Pensions and salary papers (LR/4/8) covering 1834-2000, including staff wage books, salary reports and pension correspondence
  • Social societies, clubs (LR/4/12), the Cricket Club records (LR/4/12/1)
Handwritten letter dated May 1849, with elegant cursive script on aged paper, appears to be formal correspondence.
Letter book of John Barr Cumming , 1838-1840, LR/4/2/2

Key search terms and people

  • Social clubs
  • Cricket
  • Sports
  • Greenock
  • Leith
  • Surveyor
  • Marine Engineering
  • Shipbuilding

Other resources

  • The Lloyd's Register of Shipping books also contains a list of committee members and officers printed in the front of each volume from 1834 onwards.
  • The Lists of Surveyors (1834-1972) contains the names of Lloyd's Register surveyors and the ports to which they were appointed.
  • Lloyd's Register produced internal staff magazines for a number of years, more information on events and staff experiences can be found in these. Search for 100A1, Maltese Cross or Society Magazine in our publication's series.
  • There are also paintings of prominent Committee members and Secretaries dating from 1830’s onwards in our collections, see the LR People research guide for more information. 

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