Australia, New South Wales, Index to Bounty Immigrants - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
This collection includes assisted passengers arriving in Sydney between 1828 and 1842.

Record Description
This index consists of two kinds of interfiled cards: brief handwritten and pre-printed typewritten. The cards are in alphabetical order by surname and then by given name.

For an alphabetical list of records currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

This collection indexes about 60,000 records of immigrants arriving in Sydney. Beginning in 1828, the Australian Government organized a program to encourage people to migrate to Australia, particularly to the State of New South Wales, which had been founded in 1788. “Assisted Immigrants” were immigrants whose passage was paid for or partially paid for by the Government as an incentive to settle in New South Wales. Another program which ran from 1835 to 1841 was the bounty reward system. “Bounty immigrants” were selected by colonists and who paid for their passage. When the immigrant arrived, the colonist would employ them and the colonist would then be reimbursed by the government for all or part of the cost of passage. The first immigrants to apply for this assisted immigration were the people from Ireland, England, Wales, and Scotland. Later, people from other European countries began immigrating to Australia.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts which may be found in the passenger’s index:




 * Passenger’s name
 * Occupation
 * Religion
 * Age
 * Native place
 * Father’s name
 * Mother’s name
 * Ship
 * Date of arrival

How to Use the Records
If unable to find your ancestor in the vital records of Australia, you may be able to find the arrival of your ancestor in this index, if their arrival time was between 1828 and 1842. In order to search this index, it is necessary to know the surname of the ancestor, as it is in alphabetical order. Children are often listed separately on a brief handwritten card with no parent’s name as well on the father’s card under “children”. Therefore, if you find a card for a child, you should look for that person listed as a child under the name of a parent in order to identify the child’s parents and siblings.

This collection indexes about 60,000 records of immigrants arriving in Sydney. Beginning in 1828, the Australian Government organized a program to encourage people to migrate to Australia, particularly to the State of New South Wales, which had been founded in 1788. “Assisted Immigrants” were immigrants whose passage was paid for or partially paid for by the Government as an incentive to settle in New South Wales. Another program which ran from 1835 to 1841 was the bounty reward system. “Bounty immigrants” were selected by colonists and who paid for their passage. When the immigrant arrived, the colonist would employ them and the colonist would then be reimbursed by the government for all or part of the cost of passage. The first immigrants to apply for this assisted immigration were the people from Ireland, England, Wales, and Scotland. Later, people from other European countries began immigrating to Australia.

Why the Record Was Created
The index was created to provide easy access to the inward passenger lists.

Record Reliability
With the information gathered from this index, a patron can then search the civil registration or the church records for additional information.

Related Websites

 * Index to Bounty Immigrants Arriving in N.S.W., Australia, 1828-1842
 * Indexes to assisted immigrants
 * Australia, New South Wales, Sydney Indexes Online

Related Wiki Articles

 * Australia
 * Australia Emigration and Immigration
 * New South Wales, Australia

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the data and images published on FamilySearch.org Historical Records. It may include the author, custodian, publisher, and archive for the original records.

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Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
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A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Citation Example for Records Found in This Collection
"Index to Bounty Immigrants Arriving in N.S.W., Australia, 1828-1842," database and digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org: accessed 24 March 2011); James Barker, 31 August 1841; citing Immigation Records, FHL microfilm 416,870; Western Sydney Records Centre, Kingwood, N.S.W., Austraila.