Australia, Inward, Outward & Coastal Passenger Lists 1826-1972

Each record includes a transcript and many also include an image of the original record. Passenger lists vary widely in size, length, and level of detail, as there was no standardised format.

Some record only a minimum of information about the passengers, while others are quite detailed. The amount of information listed varies, but they usually include the following information about your ancestor:

• Name
• Age
• Estimated birth year
• Occupation
• Marital Status
• Nationality
• Native place – this is sometimes the place of birth, sometimes the last place of residence
• Date of departure
• Year of departure
• Date of arrival
• Year of arrival
• Ship name
• Ship tonnage
• Ship master
• Departure port
• Destination port
• Australian state
• Additional notes
• Contributing collection

Until 1871, assisted passenger lists were kept separately from unassisted passengers.

Assisted passengers Assisted passengers or migrants were those who migrated under sponsorship schemes, meaning their voyage was subsidised either fully or partially by the colonial government.

Unassisted passengers Unassisted passengers or migrants were those who paid their own fare or were privately sponsored. Prior to 1852, it was not required for the names of unassisted passengers to be recorded, making it difficult to assess how complete the existing passenger lists are.

This growing collection contains millions of records from multiple sources from all corners of Australia. In it, you can find:

• Australian National Passenger Lists 1898-1972
• New South Wales passenger lists (assisted & unassisted)
• 1881 British census crew and passengers on ships arriving in New South Wales
• Queensland customs house shipping passengers and crew 1852-1885
• South Australia passenger lists 1847-1886
• Passengers to South Australia on board Buffalo 1836
• Tasmania Departures 1817-1863
• Victoria inward passenger lists 1839-1923
• Victoria outward passenger lists 1852-1915
• Victoria coastal passenger lists 1852-1924

• This collection contains records from multiple sources, your ancestors may appear in a number of documents. Be sure to look at as many as possible that match your criteria.

• Start your search broadly, and narrow down with additional information if you get too many results.

• Some passengers were listed only under their surnames, or their first name initials, or as part of a family group (for example, ‘Mr Jones and family’). Also, women, children, servants and passengers who travelled in steerage were sometimes not recorded on passenger lists.