Find your family tree's Australian inward, outward & coastal records with ship passenger lists. Sign up for a free trial
Find your family tree's Australian inward, outward & coastal records with ship passenger lists. Sign up for a free trial
Each record includes a transcript and many also include an image of the original record. 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. The amount of information listed varies, but they usually include the following information about your ancestor:
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.
This growing collection contains millions of records from multiple sources from all corners of Australia. In it, you can find:
This collection contains records from multiple sources, your ancestors may appear in a number of documents. Be sure to look at as many as possible that match your criteria.
Start your search broadly, and narrow down with additional information if you get too many results.
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.