New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922

This database contains a collection of unassisted immigrant passenger lists to New South Wales, Australia for various years between 1826 and 1922. “Unassisted immigrants” are individuals whose passages were NOT subsidized or paid for by another person or through another agency. This collection is comprised of two different series of records. They are:

• Inward Passenger Lists
• Reports of vessels arrived (or Shipping reports)

About the Records:

Inward Passenger Lists

These records consist of passenger list forms of ships arriving in Australia from 1854-1922. They are also known as “Passengers Arriving” or “Shipping Lists.” Information that may be listed in these records includes:

• Name and tonnage of ship
• Port of departure
• Name of master
• Date of arrival
• Information about seamen (e.g. names, positions, ages, birthplaces)
• Names of passengers (given names may not always be listed - people may just be listed as “Mr. and Mrs.”)
• Children passengers – children traveling with parents are usually not listed by name, but may be indicated by number and/or gender
• Passenger’s occupation
• Passenger’s class of travel (e.g. cabin, steerage, etc.)
• Passenger’s race

Reports of vessels arrived (or Shipping reports)

These records consist of vessel and shipping reports of vessels arriving in New South Wales, Australia from 1826-1859. Information that may be listed on these records includes:

• Name and tonnage of ship
• Number of crew
• Name of master
• When sailed
• Cargo
• Names of first class passengers
• Names of number of steerage passengers
• Passenger’s trade or occupation
• Passenger’s nativity

Shipping reports dating from 1839 and forward, may also have Health Officer’s Reports filed along side them. In addition to similar information already listed on the main reports, the health reports may also show:

• Ports touched on during passage
• Bill of Health
• Awareness of diseases prevailing at ports visited
• Details of sickness during voyage
• Number of persons sick
• Number of deaths
• Number of sick now on board and their diseases
• Date of first and last cases of sickness during voyage
• Date and cause of deaths during voyage