Immigration and shipping : getting started
Immigrants travelled under various schemes.
Assisted passage: source of the most comprehensive records but detail varies
- Government assistance could involve a subsidy, a small charge or was free
- Remittance or nominated passages were arranged by a friend or relative living in Australia, who paid a warrant for their passage to the Government
- Indentured immigrants were brought out as contract labourers for employers who paid the Government for their passage.
For more detail on conditions of passage in the various Colonies/States check:
- The archival handbooks kept at the Family History reference desk on Level 3 of the State Library of Queensland at South Bank.
- Robin Haines’ Nineteenth century government assisted immigrants from the United Kingdom to Australia: schemes, regulations and arrivals, 1831-1900 (G 325.94 1995)
Unassisted passage: little detail. Usually immigrants paid full fare.
The indexes and lists following will help you trace your ancestor’s arrival in Australia.
Clues as to where and when to look for an arrival may be found on death certificates.
Note: Immigrants were very mobile and names could be spelt variously.
Queensland:
State Records of NSW. 1848-1859 index: passengers arriving in Moreton Bay (Brisbane) [new window]
Note: The website provides an index only.
1848-1915 Index: assisted immigrants to Qld
- For 1848-1859 use NSW index listed above
- For 1860-1915 use the Qld indexes [print and microfilm]
- See also Queensland State Archives internet indexes for immigration covering 1848 to 1912 [new window]
The State Library holds the indexes and immigration lists [microfilm] on open access in the Micrographics Reading Room on Level 3 of the State Library of Queensland building at South Bank.
New South Wales
Lexigraphical index to all passengers to Sydney, N.S.W. 1828-1842 [microfilm] - MFL 929.3944 1985
Assisted (bounty) immigration New South Wales : 1828 to 1842 [CD-ROM] - QCFS 929.3944 2002
- CD-ROM held at Family History reference desk.
State Records of NSW. Assisted immigrants arriving in Sydney & Newcastle, 1844-59 [new window] Note: The website provides an index only
State Records of NSW. Assisted immigrants arriving in Sydney, 1860-79 [new window] Note: The website provides an index only
State Records of NSW. Assisted immigrants arriving in Sydney, 1880-96 [new window] Note: The website provides an index only
- Indexes and lists [microfilm] on open access.
1853-1900 Immigration deposit journals
- Index [microfiche] and lists [microfilm] on open access. Index also available on CD-ROM at Family History reference desk.
State Records of NSW. Index to the Unassisted Arrivals NSW 1842-1855 [new window]
- Index [microfiche] and lists [microfilm] on open access. Index is also available on CD-ROM at Family History reference desk.
Unassisted passenger and crew arrivals, 1854-1900. Available at Mariners and Ships in Australian waters [new window]
Note: The website provides transcribed passenger lists from the Shipping Inward lists of the Shipping Master's Office for most of the 1850's, 1860's and 1870's with links to scans of the original lists. Searchable by name, vessel and date of arrival. Lists for the 1880's and 1890's are to follow.
- Unassisted lists to 1922 [microfilm] available on open access.
State Records of NSW. Index: miscellaneous assisted immigrants 1828-1843 [new window]
- The State Library of Queensland holds some of the records contained in this index.
Card index to unassisted passengers arriving NSW, 1826-1853 [microfilm] - MFL 929.3944 1999
- Index and lists [microfilm] on open access.
Victoria
Public Records Office of Victoria. 1839-1851 Index: assisted immigrants, Port Phillip [new window]
Note: The website provides an index only
Public Records Office of Victoria. 1839-1871 Index: assisted immigrants from Britain [new window]
Note: The website provides an index only.
Public Records Office of Victoria. 1852-1923 Index: unassisted inward passengers to Victoria [new window]
Note: The website provides an index only.
- Indexes and lists (microfiche) available on open access in the Micrographics reading room.
Public Records Office of Victoria. 1852-1886 Index: outward passengers to interstate, UK & foreign ports [new window]
Note: The website provides an index only. The Library does not hold any of the lists.
Tasmania
Unassisted immigrants & coastal passengers, Hobart, Tasmania 1829-1865 [microfiche] - MFCB 929.3946
Index of assisted immigrants into Tasmania 1841-1889 [microfiche] - MFCB 929.3946
- Indexes [microfiche] and lists [microfilm] on open access.
Archives of Tasmania. Index to Departures 1817 - 1867 [new window]
Note: The Library does not hold any records referred to in this index.
Archives of Tasmania. Index to passengers & ships arrivals - 19th Century [new window]
Note: The Library may not hold records referred to in this index.
South Australia
Index to register of emigrant labourers applying for a free passage to South Australia, 1836-1841 [microfiche] - MFCB 929.39423
- Index only on open access.
Bound for South Australia : passenger lists 1836-1851 / presented by Di Cummings [CD-ROM] - QCFS 929.39432 2005
- Index and lists on CD-ROM held at Family History reference desk.
1847-1886 Official passenger lists, assisted passages from the U.K. [microfiche] - MFCB 929.39423
- Index and lists on open access.
1846-1887 Newspaper index: persons arriving in South Australia from overseas (including New Zealand) as recorded in the Adelaide Times, South Australian and South Australian Register [microfiche] - MFCB 929.39423
- Index only on open access.
1888-1908 Alphabetical index to in-coming passenger list [microfiche] - MFCB 929.39423
- Index only on open access.
1921-1924 Index to applications for assisted passage as agricultural labourers [microfiche] - MFCB 929.39423
- Index only on open access.
1922-1924 Index to applications, assisted passages as farm labourers (Barwell Boys) [microfiche] - MFCB 929.39423
- Index only on open access.
1921-1930, 1938-1939 Index to applications for assisted passage as a domestic helper [microfiche] - MFCB 929.39423
- Index only on open access.
Western Australia
Western Australian shipping and immigration [micorfiche] - MFCB 929.3941
1829-1890 Arrivals at Fremantle from overseas
1885-1908 Arrivals at Fremantle from interstate
1873-1925 Arrivals from overseas into Albany
1873-1924 Arrivals from interstate into Albany
- Indexes only on open access.
Passenger arrivals in Western Australia, 1839-1890 [CD-ROM] - QCFS 929.3941 2003
1898-1925 Passenger arrivals in Western Australia, overseas and interstate [CD-ROM] - QCFS 929.3941 2001-
- CD-ROM indexes held at Family History reference desk.
1873-1903 Passenger and crew lists (Access to Ancestors reels 198-206, 211-213)
- Lists (microfilm) on open access.
Other passenger and shipping lists
Emigrants from Hamburg to Australia
These records (FAMHIS 929.3943 1991-), compiled by Eric and Rosemary Kopittke, list German and some Scandinavian immigrants for the years 1850-1879 at the point of departure for the various Australian Colonies/States. There are indexes for 1850-1859 and 1860-69 together with the lists on open access. For the 1870s use the index at the back of each book. These records are also available on CD-ROM (QCFS 325.243 2006) at the Family History reference desk on Level 3.
Passenger lists from the Melbourne Argus 1846-1868 (MFC 929.3945 1993) are indexed.
The Hodge Index (MFC 929.39423 1990) is an index to passenger lists published in South Australian newspapers for S.A. ports and New Zealand, 1837-1855.
There are many other publications that provide information about shipping, seamen and maritime illustrations. See the leaflet Immigration and shipping: more than lists.
Check the online One Search catalogue for other passenger lists.
More information
If you have a family history enquiry, you can contact us in any of the following ways:
For general enquiries:
- Ask at your local Queensland public library
- Other libraries [new window]
Last updated: 18th May 2009
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