The Scarrow's of Cumberland include in their number four Master Mariners and one Chief Engineer in the Merchant Navy. The master mariners were all in command of sailing vessels between the years 1815 and 1871. The engineer worked on steamers between 1905 and 1940. They were all born in Harrington, though operated out of numerous other ports including Whitehaven, Workington, Liverpool, Glasgow and London.

The merchant shipping records between 1840 and 1860 are very comprehensive, with the majority of crew lists, agreements and logs available for a good proportion available to view at the PRO. The National Maritime Museum's Caird Library also holds copies of mariners certificates and applications for this period and later. Lloyds annual registers of ships, together with the Lloyds List provide futher information.

Prior to 1840, some crew lists survive, and regional newspapers often listed movements of shipping in and out of local ports. For the ports of the west coast of Cumberland, the Cumberland Pacquet provides much of the early accumulated data.