The Ships List - Emigrants from Great Britain & Ireland to Australia: 1825-1832 This information has been extracted from the British Parliamentary Papers (1833, XXVI, 279). It is arranged by colony and lists name, trade, number of persons in each family and amount (£) given to each. The ship of arrival is not listed.
Ozships: Australian Shipping 1788-1968 This site by Peter Larson lists shipping arrivals and departures. It also includes 92,000+ passenger list entries which can be browsed alphabetically. These are linked to transcripts of the passenger lists.
Highlands and Islands Emigration Society Passenger Lists (1852-1857) These lists are on the Scottish Archive Network's digital archive. The Society, set up by private subscription, promoted and assisted the emigration of destitute Highlanders to Australia. The lists are organised by ship and by family and record name, age, residence and sometimes notes on health and situation.
Highland and Island Emigration Society This site, by William Clarke, includes a list of ships that carried the emigrants from Scotland to Australian ports plus names and other details for these emigrants.
Immigrants Recruited by the Launceston Immigration Aid Society 1855-1862. This book, by Kevin Green, is available online. Includes a bibliography and index of the 850 immigrants recruited. Descendants of the immigrants can add their details so contact can be made with other researchers.
Invisible Australians - Living under the White Australia Policy This emerging site is assembling biographical information about the Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Afghans, Syrians and Malays who faced discriminatory laws and policies designed to deny them their place as Australians. Over 7,200 photographs from series ST84/1, Certificates of Domicile and Certificates of Exemption from Dictation Test, held by the National Archives of Australia are online.
Irish Famine Memorial, Sydney This site commemorates over 4,000 single young women, most of whom were orphans who arrived under a special emigration scheme (the Earl Grey Scheme) designed to resettle destitute girls from the workhouses of Ireland during the Great Famine. Online Resources include the Famine Orphan Girl database, a ships database which includes shipping lists for the 20 ships that brought orphan girls to Australia (Sydney, Adelaide and Port Phillip) 1848-1850. There is also a list of the 400+ names on the monument.
First Female Emigration Scheme between Great Britain and the Australian Colonies A site by Elizabeth Rushen. The fourteen ships that brought 2,700 female emigrants to Sydney, Hobart and Launceston (1833-1837) are listed plus an alphabetical list of the women.
Emigrants An online aid for those seeking emigrant passenger lists. It allows family history researchers to link with others searching for emigrant passenger lists.
New South Wales
State Records New South Wales - Indexes Online - Immigration include:
•Assisted Immigrants to Port Phillip (Vic) 1839-1851, Sydney and Newcastle 1844-1859, Moreton Bay (Brisbane) 1848-1859, Sydney 1860-1879 and 1880-1896. This index lists names, age, ship’s name, arrival year, port of arrival, remarks and references (microfilm reel number) for access to the passenger lists. You can search these indexes separately or do a combined search.
•Miscellaneous Immigrants 1828-1843 index lists 9000+ names of passengers who paid their own fare and some assisted immigrants. Details given include ship, names, age, date of arrival, references (microfilm reel, page and item numbers), remarks and records series (NRS) number. It does not cover all arrivals for this period.
•Unassisted Immigrants 1842-1855 index lists 136,000+ passengers who paid their own way. It also includes ships' crew and interstate or colonial arrivals. A search returns names, age, ship, status (passenger, crew or master), arrival date, origin port, reference/reel and remarks.
State Records offer a copying service of some indexes for a fee but check below to see if the film reel is available as a free online digitised microfilm. Alternatively many of the original records are available at $$ Ancestry.com.
State Records New South Wales - Online microfilm of Shipping Lists. Use the online indexes listed above to locate the reel number and then use the free online reel to scroll through the digital copies of the passenger lists, ship by ship, just as you would if using microfilm. Reels for these records series (NRS) are currently available:
• List of Irish passengers arrived on the ship Sir Joseph Banks, Oct 1828, NRS 5309
• Persons on early migrant ships, 1828-1832, NRS 5310
• Persons on early migrant ships, May 1832-Jan 1833, NRS 5311
• Women on the ship Red Rover and other early migrant ships, 1832, NRS 5312
• Persons on government ships, Aug 1837-1840, NRS 5313
• Persons on bounty ships (Agent's Immigrant Lists), 1838-1896, NRS 5316, reels 2134-2145
• Persons on bounty ships arriving at Port Phillip, 1839-1851, NRS 5318
• Germans on bounty ships, 1849-1852, NRS 5320
• Members of the Family Colonization Loan Society, 1854-1857, NRS 5322
• Passenger lists of the Family Colonization Loan Society, 1854-1855, NRS 5323.
Note: More reels will be added as they become available.
Ancestry.com - New South Wales Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists 1828-1896 and Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists 1826-1922 There is a free name search with subscription, or pay to view, options available to access the digitised records. This database covers the following records held by State Records New South Wales:
• Returns of convicts applications for wives and families to be brought to New South Wales at Government expense. (NRS 1190, reel 699)
• Persons on bounty ships (Agent’s Immigrant Lists). (NRS 5316, reels 2134-2143)
Donegal Relief Fund Passenger Lists Includes the following ships to Sydney: Queen of England, Sapphire, Lady Elma Bruce, Caribou, Nile, Abyssinian, Montrose, Sandringham and Queen of the East.
Indexes mostly relating to Immigration by Pastkeys. These indexes available for sale on CD-ROM.
Migration Heritage Centre New South Wales This Centre is a virtual immigration museum and identifies, records, preserves and interprets the heritage of migration and settlement 1788 to the present day. Use this gateway to learn about the State's migration heritage through community collections, family belongings, people's memories and special places. The publications link lists a wealth of resources - books, CDs and DVDs.
State Records New South Wales - Immigration from Many Lands This resource page includes information on the Chinese on the Goldfields, Italian arrivals on the Saint Ludwina, Lebanese hawkers, Russian migration and settlement in NSW plus much more.
Queensland
State Records New South Wales - Indexes Online The Immigration indexes include Assisted Immigrants includes those arriving at Moreton Bay (Brisbane) 1848-1859. Note: Passenger list images are available on Ancestry.com.au. A fee ($) applies. They are also available through SRNSW free online microfilm reels.
Queensland State Archives - Immigration Indexes
Immigration indexes online at QSA include:
• Assistant Immigration Agent Maryborough 1875-1884
• Assistant Immigration Agent Maryborough 1884-1907
• Assisted Immigration 1848-1912 - This index provides free direct access to digital copies of the original passenger lists. New
• Card index to nominated immigrants 1908-1922
• Immigration 1922-1940
• Land orders 1861-1874
• Oronsay immigration 1925-1972 New
• Passage Certificates 1887-1906
• Passport Register 1926-1939
• Register of immigrants 1864-1878
• Registers of immigrants, Brisbane 1885-1917
Once you have an index reference copies of the original documents can be ordered from QSA for a small fee.
Ancestry.com - Queensland Immigration Indexes There is a free name search with subscription, or pay to view, options available to access further information. Indexes available include:
• Index to Registers of Passengers on Immigrant Ships arriving in Queensland 1848-1912 from ports in the UK and Europe. These registers do not include passengers from New Zealand, the Americas or other non-European ports. Details given vary but may include name, age, date and place of arrival in Queensland, ship name, date and port of departure. This database covers records held by Queensland State Archives, Series ID 13086, Registers of Immigrant Ships' Arrivals, Reels M471, M473, M1075, M1696–1710.
• Maryborough Queensland Australia Immigrants from the British Isles & Germany 1861-1891. This index, by Janet Reakes, is from original data held by the Queensland State Archives. The index lists name, age, ship and year of arrival.
South Australia
State Records of South Australia Offers online searching of Official Assisted Passage Passenger Lists 1845-1886. Click on Access Collection Catalogue then choose Searching from the left menu. A search of this index returns surname or ship name, year, first name/list number, notes and volume. Use the following sites to access transcripts of the passenger lists.
Family History South Australia - South Australian Passenger Lists - Shipping arrivals and immigration 1803 to 1854+ This ongoing project currently has passenger lists for 1,320+ ships available. This database is fully searchable.
Colonial South Australian Pioneers - Arrivals, births, marriages, deaths & burials 1836-50s This pioneering South Australian colonists database, by Barry Leadbeater, contains combined archival collections of passenger lists, births, marriages, deaths and burials. New
The Ships List - Immigrants to South Australia, (UK, assisted passage) 1847-1886 This ongoing project by Robert Janmaat currently has over 200 selected lists for 1847-1866; 1868; 1870-1872 available. Use the Search Australia Lists box to search all Australian lists hosted by The Ships List.
Bound for South Australia - Passenger Lists 1836-1851 by Diane Cummings The passenger lists are arranged by arrival year and alphabetically by ship name within each year. The passenger lists are presented as scanned images from the original source or are transcribed. There is no keyword search option. At the bottom of the page there are some Quick links for access. Choose a year from the list on the right to search. Updated
German Emigrants to South Australia 1837-1864 This database, by Robert Janmaat, is on the The Ships List site and has transcripts of the passenger lists online.
Horner Index to Overseas Departures by Passenger Ship from South Australia 1836-1887 This card index, compiled by Sally Horner from the Register newspaper, is available online as PDF files on the State Library of South Australia's site. It does not list interstate or intrastate departures.
Tasmania -
LINC Tasmania The online name indexes include:
• Arrivals - index of passengers and ships arriving in the 19th century. This index includes passengers, crew, ship's masters and ships arrivals mostly to Hobart. Many of the records have been digitised and are available online. Updated
• Departures - index of people leaving Tasmanian ports (1817-1867). This ongoing index lists names; rank; ship, date and port of departure; where bound; ship to colony; status and remarks. Records of departures from series POL220 have been digitised and are now available online.
Ancestry.com This site offers access to indexes and digitised images of Tasmanian records. There is a free name search with various subscription options available to access images of the original records held by the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office. Databases include:
• Tasmania Passenger Arrivals, 1829-1957 - Most of the records are for arrivals to Hobart, with some to Launceston.
• Tasmania, Immigrant Lists, 1841-1884
• Tasmania, Immigrant Applications and Bounty Tickets, 1854-1887
Our Digital Island Indentured Servants of the Van Diemen’s Land Company site This was archived 2000. There are transcripts of the passenger lists for the twelve ships that brought the indentured servants and their families to Van Diemen’s Land 1825-1837. Details include name, place of origin, occupation and spouse. Not all details are available for all ships.
Victoria
State Records New South Wales - Indexes Online - Shipping and Immigration The index to Assisted Immigrants includes those arriving at Port Phillip 1839-1851. Note: Passenger list images are available on Ancestry.com.au. A fee ($) applies. They are also available through SRNSW free online reels (See New South Wales).
Public Record Office of Victoria - Index to Assisted British Immigration 1839-1871 A search returns names, age, month, year and ship of arrival plus book and page number which refer to the passenger lists held on microfiche. Note: Passenger list images are available on Ancestry.com.au. A fee ($) applies.
Public Record Office of Victoria - Index to Unassisted Inward Passenger Lists to Victoria 1852-1923 This database lists unassisted passengers to Victoria from British, Foreign and New Zealand Ports. A search returns name, title, age, arrival date, ship name and fiche reference to the relevant passenger list. Note: Passenger list images are available on Ancestry.com.au. A fee ($) applies.
Public Record Office of Victoria - Index to Outward Passengers to Interstate, UK, NZ and Foreign Ports 1852-1923 A search of this index to passengers on ships leaving Victoria returns names, age, ship name, departure month and year, destination, film references (month and year) and page number. The passenger lists are held on microfilm by PROV (VPRS 3506) and can be viewed in PROV reading rooms.
Ancestry.com - Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists 1839-1923 - Victoria There is a free name search with subscription, or pay to view, options available to access the digitised records. This database covers the following records held by the Public Record Office Victoria:
• Inward Overseas Passenger Lists (British Ports). (Microfiche VPRS 7666, copy of VRPS 947)
• Inward Overseas Passenger Lists (Foreign Ports). (Microfiche VPRS 7667, copy of VRPS 947)
• Inward Overseas Passenger Lists (New Zealand Ports). (Microfiche VPRS 13439, copy of VRPS 947)
• Register of Assisted Immigrants from the United Kingdom. (Microfiche VPRS 14)
Origins - Immigrant Communities in Victoria This site contains the migration histories of 82 communities. There are photographs, graphs and statistics based on official government census data collected since 1854.
Western Australia
Passenger Arrivals Index 1921-1949 This database by the National Archives of Australia indexes the Inward passenger manifests for ships and aircraft arriving at Fremantle, Perth Airport and outports. Currently arrivals at WA ports (1921-1949) and Perth airport (1944-1949) are available for searching. For access click on Search the collection then Begin your search. You can then search using the Passenger arrivals index tab (RHS). These records include all passengers disembarking but also those travelling onto other Australian ports.
Ancestry.com - Western Australia, Crew and Passenger Lists, 1852-1930 There is a free name search with subscription, or pay to view, options available to access the digitised records. This database covers the following records held by State Records Office of Western Australia.
• Registers of Inward and Outward Passengers, 1893-1896. Accession Number 113, AN 371
• Lists of Emigrants by Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners’ Ships, 1851-1867. Accession Number 115, AN 371
• Survey Office, Passenger Lists – Inwards from Overseas, 1829-1930. Accession Number 297
• Arrivals and Departures for Fremantle and Outports, 1898-1915. Accession Number 457
• Colonial Secretary’s Office, Passenger and Crew Lists, Manifests Inwards for Fremantle, 1880-1898 (incomplete)
• Colonial Secretary’s Office, Passenger Lists of Immigrants for Certain Ships, 1876-1877. Series 1243, Consignment 633
• Register – Expirees and Conditional Pardons, 1863-1894. Series 1135, Consignment 318, Item 1
1829 Shipping Arrivals to the Swan River Colony Use the Western Australian Genealogical Society site and click on Genealogy WA Data for access. This information has been transcribed from early newspapers and includes passenger lists.
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