Press cutting 12 November 1904 Liverpool Worthies Eq 429 vol 4 p.156 Journal of Commerce

Captain F M Sergeant, who is a lieutenant in the R.N.R., has succeeded his promoted chief to the position of chief examiner of masters and mates and secretary of the Local Marine Board. In this he has been most fortunate, for he is a young man, one of the youngest, if not the youngest we should say, who has ever occupied that important post in Liverpool. But he is none the worse for that fact, because he has now had seven years experience as an examiner, and prior to that he had an excellent sea service, including command in sailing ships and as an officer in important steamship lines, the last of which was the White Star line.

Captain Sergeant is eminently fitted to occupy his present position, having been a student all his life. At one time he commenced study for the medical profession, but not seeing a sufficient future in medicine he retuned to sea and applied himself to problems of navigation and nautical astronomy which were more in his line and in these he won distinction at the South Kensington Science and Art examinations. He is endowed with an amount of natural patience and forbearance, and no better testimony to this is to be found that the fact that during his seven years of examinership he has never we believe had his judgement or fairness challenged by an unsuccessful candidate, a manner which speaks volumes for the man, for in that period he must, in the very nature of things, have sent many hundreds of “ticket” seekers back to their studies or their ships. Altogether it may be safely said that Liverpool can still take great credit in having at the head of its Board of Trade examining staff a thoroughly capable, experienced and unprejudiced gentleman.