Victoria Inward Passenger Lists 1839-1923

Each record includes a transcript. The amount of information listed varies, but the Victoria Inward Passenger Lists 1839-1923 usually include the following information about your ancestor:

• Name
• Age
• Estimated birth year
• Nationality
• Native place – this is sometimes the place of birth, sometimes the last place of residence
• Month and year of arrival
• Ship name
• Destination port
• Departure port

This index contains the records of over two million passengers who arrived in Victoria between 1839 and 1923.

Passenger lists vary widely in size, length, and level of detail, as there was no standardised format. Some record only a minimum of information about the passengers, while others are quite detailed.

Note that some passengers were listed only under their surnames, or their first name initials, or as part of a family group (for example, ‘Mr Jones and family’). Also, women, children, servants and passengers who travelled in steerage were sometimes not recorded on passenger lists.

Until 1871, assisted passenger lists were kept separately from unassisted passengers.

Assisted passengers Assisted passengers or migrants were those who migrated under sponsorship schemes, meaning their voyage was subsidised either fully or partially by the colonial government.

Unassisted passengers Unassisted passengers or migrants were those who paid their own fare or were privately sponsored. Prior to 1852, it was not required for the names of unassisted passengers to be recorded, making it difficult to assess how complete the existing passenger lists are.

Data provided by Public Record Office Victoria and is the result of over twenty years' work by a dedicated of team of volunteer transcribers.