Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP)

The Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) is a collection of historical material relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific dating from 1560 to 1984.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors are kindly advised that this website includes images, sounds and names of people who have passed.

All users should be aware that some topics or historical content may be culturally sensitive, offensive or distressing, and that some images may contain nudity or are of people not yet identified. Certain words, terms or descriptions may reflect the author's/creator's attitude or that of the period in which they were written, but are now considered inappropriate in today's context.

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Emigrant diaries and letters

Well over a million emigrants arrived in Australia and New Zealand in the nineteenth century, part of a European migration unparalleled in history. 

The shipboard diaries of passengers, and the journals and letters that document the emigrant experience in the new world, form a large part of the M Series. 

The M Series has copied papers in private hands and collections of maritime museums and record offices that document the emigrant experience, including the SS Great Britain Project, Bristol.


Significant Collections

SS Great Britain

The SS Great Britain made 32 round voyages between Britain and Australia in the period 1852-1876, carrying an estimated 15,000 emigrants, more than any other ship.

Built in 1843 it was the first iron-built ocean-going steamer with a screw-propeller and the largest ship then afloat.

The "Great Britain" before leaving Liverpool for Australia, 1860s SHARE: