A CHANCE find in a dusty old attic has helped shed new llight on the lives of seamen from the 18th and early 19th centuries.

And after painstaking conservation work by North Yorkshire’s County Records Office the story of those Whitby sailors has now become available for all to see.

Their story came to light after bundles of long-lost muster rolls were found in the attic of the old Seamen’s Hospital in Church Street, Whitby. The hospital, founded in 1676, provided accommodation and support for the widows and children of local seamen.

The historic crew lists - contained in 8,000 dirty and mould-damaged muster rolls discovered in 1980 - are undergoing conservation by the Records Office with the help of volunteers.

And they are beginning to reveal more about that era, telling tales of wars and trade, national events and personal tragedies.

A new exhbition at Whitby Museum is currently celebrating the midway point in its two-year collaboration with the Records Office to conserve and preserve the rolls.

Once conserved, the muster rolls are being digitised at the Records Office in Northallerton to allow safe access to the information they contain.

When the process is complete, in September this year, the information will be transcribed into a database accessible eventually via the internet.

Historians will be able to research the many men listed as crew, often with their occupation, age and place of birth or abode, sometimes with causes of death whilst at sea.

The county’s executive member for library and information services, Coun Chris Metcalfe, said: "This is a fascinating project which will be of huge benefit to historical researchers thanks to this effective collaboration.”

*Sailors’ Sixpence: The Lives of Whitby Seamen Revealed Through the Muster Rolls runs until May at Whitby Museum, Pannett Park, Whitby.