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

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Deaths 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]
Search the index for the official record of your ancestor’s death to find out if they died on voyage to Australia. You may find their age or parents’ names in the index. You will need to buy the certificate to find other details such as the date and cause of their death, the latitude and longitude of where their death occurred, their age, the place of their birth, their parents’ names, the name of the ship and which port the ship departed from.
Enter ‘marine’ in the ‘District’ field to narrow your search to deaths at sea.
Index to unassisted arrivals, 1842-1855 [external website]
Search the index to find out if your ancestor died on the voyage to Australia. Refer to the 'Remarks' column in the search results to see if they died during the voyage. You may find their date of death, age, the name of the ship, if they were a passenger or part of the crew and which port the ship departed from. In some cases the cause of death is listed.
Use the information from the index to find and view the original records on microfilm in the Library. The information is typically brief and usually doesn't include details of their death. You can also search for 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 for your ancestor to see if they had died on the voyage to Australia. View the record to find their name, date of death, age and cause of death. You will also be able to view a digitised version of the original record.
You can also search the passenger lists on microfilm in the family history area.
Indexes to assisted immigrants, 1839–1896 [external website]
Search the index to see if your ancestor died on the voyage to Australia. Enter 'dv' in the 'Remarks' field in your search to limit results to only include individuals who died during the voyage. You will find some information on the index such as their age, the name of the ship and where the ship arrived. View the records to find their date of death and sometimes even the cause of their death.
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.

Deaths at sea

From March 1856 the NSW Registry required masters and commanders of British and Colonial vessels arriving in Sydney to record deaths 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 age at death, 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 and cause of death and the latitude/longitude where the death occurred.

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.

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.

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 unassisted passenger?

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