Research Guides: Births, deaths and marriages: Births at sea

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Key to library resources

	In the Library (or anywhere with a Library card for NSW residents)
	Only in the Library
	Publicly available

Births at sea

Resources

Digitised assisted immigrants lists, 1828–1896 [external website]
Scroll through digital copies of assisted passenger lists for your ancestor. You will need to know the name of the ship and date of arrival to search the lists.
We recommend first searching the Indexes to assisted immigrants, 1839–1896 on the State Archives & Records NSW website as only the microfilm reels 2134–2145 have been digitised.
NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages Index Historical records [external website]
Find the official certificate of your ancestor’s birth which occurred on the voyage to Australia. In the index you will find the year, registration number and their parents’ names. Try searching with only their last name and the district as the index may not include their given name. You will need to buy the certificate for the date and place of their birth as well as the name of the ship, which port the ship departed from and details about their parents including their age, the date they married and their birthplace.
Enter ‘marine’ in the ‘District’ field to narrow your search to births at sea.
Index to unassisted immigrants, 1842–1855 [external website]
Search the index to see if your ancestor was born on the voyage to Australia. Refer to the 'Remarks' column in the search results to see if they were born on the voyage. You may find their date of birth, the name of the ship and the port the ship departed from.
Use the information found in the index to view the original records on microfilm in the Library. Information is typically brief and won't usually include details of the birth. You can also search and view the original records on Ancestry Library Edition (Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826–1922) in the Library.
NSW State Records - Index to Miscellaneous Immigrants 1828 - 1842
Search the index to see if your ancestor was born on the voyage to Australia. Refer to the 'Remarks' column in the search results to see if they were born on the voyage. You can find their name and date of birth.
Use the information found in the index to view the original records at State Archives & Records NSW. We also have some of the records available on microfilm. Ask at the Family history desk to view the records that we have.
Indexes to assisted immigrants, 1839–1896 [external website]
Search the index to see if your ancestor was born on the voyage to Australia. Enter 'bv' in the 'Remarks' field to limit the results to individuals who were born during the voyage. You may find their birth recorded in the list and in some cases the date of birth.
You can view some of the original records on the State Archives & Records NSW website. You can also buy a copy of the record from their website. Visit us to view the records on microfilm in the family history area or on Ancestry Library Edition (Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828–1896) in the Library.
Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828–1896 – Ancestry Library Edition [eresource]
Search for your ancestor to see if they were born on the voyage to Australia. You will find the year of their birth, their gender and the name of the ship. View the digitised version of the record as you may find more information such as details about their parents.
You can also search the passenger lists on microfilm in the family history area.
Australasian genealogical computer index (AGCI): Volume 1 [catalogue record | CD–ROM]
Find details of your ancestor's birth that occurred on the voyage to Australia in cemetery transcripts. You may find their date of birth and the name of the ship.
Use the information in the index to find the original record.
Marine births and deaths, 1837–1965 – General Register Office overseas indexes [catalogue record | microfiche]
Use the index to find details of your ancestor’s birth at sea. You can find the name of the ship, the page number and the GRO index reference. Use this information to buy the certificate from the General Register Office. You will find more information on the certificate such as their date of birth as well as their parents’ names, nationality and last place of residence.
We do not have copies of the certificates. You will need to buy a copy of the certificate from the General Register Office.
Maritime Births, 1867–1960 — Findmypast [eresources]
Find details of your ancestor’s birth at sea. You may find their date of birth, the name of the ship and details about their parents such as their father’s name and occupation, mother’s name and place of residence in the UK.
Surgeon's journals, 1798–1856 [catalogue record | microfilm]
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Find the surgeon’s journal using the name of the ship and date of arrival to find information about births that occurred on convict and emigrant voyages to Australia. You may find your ancestor’s date of birth.
Don't know the name of the ship and date of arrival? Search the passenger lists, then use the Log of logs to find the surgeon’s journal. You can also search for surgeon’s journals that are in the AJCP Collection using the Ships card index in the Mitchell Library Reading Room.
Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826–1922 — Ancestry Library Edition [eresource]
Search for your ancestor to see if they were born on the voyage to Australia. You will find the year of their birth, the port of departure and arrival, and the name of the ship. View the digitised version of the record as you may find more information such as details about their parents.
You can also search the passenger lists on microfilm in the family history area.

Did you know?

Children who were born on the voyage to Australia were frequently named after the ship – especially their middle name.

Something to think about when tracing your ancestors in the passenger lists.

Surgeon's journals

Surgeon’s journals contain a wealth of information about the health of passengers and often include a sick list documenting visits to the ship doctor. You will find the entries are very detailed especially in the event of a birth or death at sea.

You can view a selection of these journals on the National Archives (UK) website.

Births at sea

From March 1856 the NSW Registry required masters and commanders of British and Colonial vessels arriving in Sydney to record births that occurred on the voyage. The official record was filed by the registry in separate volumes known as the Marine Registers.

Search the index to find their parents’ names and possibly the name of the ship. You will need to buy the certificate from the registry to find other details such as the date of birth and the latitude/longitude where the birth occurred.

Abbreviations

bv	born on voyage, in quarantine etc.
b&dv	born and died on voyage, in quarantine etc.
cob	child(ren) on board (listed separately)
dv	died on voyage, in quarantine etc.
inft	infant
pob	parent(s) on board (listed separately)
sf	stepfather
tw	travelling with

What is an assisted passenger?

An assisted passenger is someone whose journey was paid for by someone else, such as the government through a government immigration scheme, or by a family member or an employer in the colony or a charity.

What is an unassisted passenger?

An unassisted passenger was able to pay for their passage to the colony.