On July 15th July 1870 Edward Weddall,  became a master mariner. At the age of twenty six and more than a decade at sea he had climbed up through the ranks was now a sea captain. To reach the top of his profession he would have had to reach a level of competency as outlined below.

Captain Weddall would spend the next twenty five years at sea, until he was forced into retirement after contracting a tropical disease.

A MASTER must have served one year as a Mate in the Foreign or Home Trade. In addition to the qualifications required for a mate, he must show that he is capable of navigating a ship along any coast, for which purpose he will be required to draw upon a chart produced by the Examiner the courses and distances he would run along shore from headland to headland, and to give in the writing courses and distances corrected for variation, and the bearings of the headlands and lights, and to show when the course should be altered either to clear any danger, or to adapt it to the coast. He must understand how to make his soundings according to the state of the tide. He will also be questioned as to his knowledge of the use and management of the mortar and rocket lines in the case of the stranding vessel, as explained in the Official Log Book…

Sources

Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/GenBosunMastersExam.html

Thanks to

House Museum Infante Dom Henrique, Porto, Portugal