Discussions of records relating to British merchant seamen tend to focus on those created after the Merchant Seamen Act of 1835. Yet there is a wealth of information regarding mariners in pre-1835 newspapers, shipping registers, borough records and other primary sources. This presentation will describe how I found information about two of my ancestors who were merchant sea captains in King’s Lynn and Whitby respectively during the eighteenth century and reconstructed their careers within the United Kingdom and overseas. It will also offer practical advice about tracing maritime ancestors throughout Britain before and after 1835 using a variety of online and archival sources.