Research Guides: Shipping and Passenger Records: Guide to shipping and free passenger records (NSW State Records guide 17)

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Guide to shipping and free passenger records (NSW State Records guide 17)

You can use the Guide to shipping and free passenger records (NSW State Archives & Records guide 17) in the Library.

What's in the guide?

Guide 17 was compiled from all of the related resources held at NSW State Archives & Records. Its purpose is to help researchers trace the arrival and departure of people and ships from the colony.

Find records about immigrant ships arriving in Sydney, 1828–1896, Newcastle, 1854–1855, Port Phillip, 1838–1851 and Moreton Bay, 1848–1859. You will also find details of ships carrying Australian Agricultural Company servants and immigrants, 1825–1862.

How to search for shipping movements

STEP 1

Collect the Guide to shipping and free passenger (i.e. passenger) records (Guide 17) from the Passenger lists shelves in the Family history service.

STEP 2

Use the following appendixes from the guide to find the reel and lists numbers for your ship. Each appendix lists the ships arriving at a particular port and is arranged in date order.
- Immigrant ships at Sydney 1828-1896 and Newcastle 1854-1855 (Appendix A)
- Immigrant ships arriving at Port Phillip 1838-1851 (Appendix B)
- Ships carrying immigrants and passengers to Moreton Bay 1848-1859 (Appendix C)
- Ships carrying Australian Agricultural Company servants and immigrants 1825-1862 (Appendix D)

Example of the information found in an appendix entry:

Date of Arrival	Ship	From Whence	Lists	Photocopy	Reel
21 Aug	Mermaid	London 24 Feb & Hobart	4/4823 4/5199	COD 21	1286 1263

STEP 3

Collect the microfilm reels from the microfilm shelves in the Family history service.
- Microfilm reel numbers 1286–1349: Assisted (bounty) immigrants to New South Wales 1828–42
- Microfilm reel numbers 1263–1280, 2851: Unassisted passengers, 1826–1900

You can also view the records on microfilm at NSW State Archives & Records. The lists and reel numbers for the microfilm reels at NSW State Archives & Records are the same.

STEP 4

Search for the list numbers to find the ship’s entry.

Look for the starting page of each volume for an idea of what information is listed in that particular volume. The page will contain the title of the record, the list number and the year of arrival.