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 | '''[[Germanna Foundation]]''' maintains a visitor's center with genealogical library. They work to promote historic preservation as well as family history information and research.  |  | '''[[Germanna Foundation]]''' maintains a visitor's center with genealogical library. They work to promote historic preservation as well as family history information and research.  | 
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 | === Colonial Ships  ===
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 | Though they do not include names of passengers, records kept by the Board of Trade and stored at [[England The National Archives|The National Archives]] (Kew, England), document ships' arrivals and departures from Virginia ports between 1698 and 1774. FamilySearch microfilmed these records. They are useful for learning about the history of ships entering the colony: 
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 | *Naval Office Shippings Lists for Virginia, 1698-1774 in the Public Record Office, London. {{FHL|301374|item|disp=FHL Films 972825-972828}}.
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 | For maritime court proceedings, see: 
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 | *Reese, George, ed. ''Proceedings of the Court of Vice-Admiralty of Virginia, 1698-1775.'' Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1983. {{FHL|478569|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 P2p}}.
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 | Ports and eastern seaboard towns were divided into customs districts. In 1770, there were six: 
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 | Accomack District {{·}} James River Lower District {{·}} James River Upper District {{·}} South Potomac District {{·}} Rappahannock District {{·}} York River District<ref>Lester J. Cappon, Barbara Bartz Petchenik, and John H. Long, ''Atlas of Early American History: The Revolutionary Era, 1760-1790'' (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1976), Plate 40. {{FHL|90443|item|disp=FHL Book 973 E7ae}}.</ref> 
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 | Ships mentioned in the ''Virginia Gazette'' between 1736 and 1780 have been identified in the free online index produced by [http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary/VirginiaGazette/VGPPIndex.cfm?firstltr=S Colonial Williamsburg]. The index links to scanned newspaper images. 
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 | Information about ships can also be gleaned from colonial county court order books and [[Virginia Public Records#Calendar_of_State_Papers_Colonial.2C_America_and_West_Indies|English State Papers Colonial, American and West Indies]]. 
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 | If you believe your ancestor served on the '''crew '''of an English vessel that docked in Virginia, Rediker's book ''Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant Seamen, Pirates, and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750'' ({{FHL|630553|item|disp=FHL Book 942 U3re}})<ref>Marcus Rediker, ''Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant Seamen, Pirates, and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750'' (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987). {{FHL|630553|item|disp=FHL Book 942 U3re}}.</ref> provides an excellent description of what your ancestor's life at sea would have been like. Records about these people are stored in England at facilities such as the [[England The National Archives|British National Archives]]. Their website offers research guides, such as [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/merchant-seamen-registers-1835-1857.htm Merchant seamen serving up to 1857: further research]. 
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 | If you believe your ancestor's ship was '''shipwrecked''', Shomette compiled a "Chronological Index to Documented Vessel Losses in the Chesapeake Tidewater (1608-1978)" as an appendix to ''Shipwrecks on the Chesapeake'' ({{FHL|487703|item|disp=FHL Book 975 U3s}}) that can lead you to further information.<ref>Donald G. Shomette, ''Shipwrecks on the Chesapeake: Maritime Disasters on Chesapeake Bay and Its Tributaries, 1608-1978'' (Centreville, Md.: Tidewater Publishers, 1982), 242-287. {{FHL|487703|item|disp=FHL Book 975 U3s}}.</ref> Shomette also wrote a book titled ''Pirates on the Chesapeake: Being a True History of Pirates, Picaroons, and Raiders on Chesapeake Bay, 1610-1807'' (1988) for those who believe they may have '''pirates''' in their family tree. 
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 | ==== English Voyages  ====  |  | ==== English Voyages  ====  |