Australia, Victoria, Coastal Passenger Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection includes passenger lists from 1852-1924.

These passenger lists record the name, age, gender, date, and start and finish ports for passengers traveling round the Australian coast. The original records are located in the Public Records Office of Victoria (PROV) in North Melbourne, Australia.

Record Content
Passenger Lists may contain the following information:
 * Name of passenger
 * Marital status
 * Date and port of departure
 * Date and port of arrival
 * Number of children traveling with adults
 * Age of passenger
 * Occupation

How to Use the Record
When searching: It is helpful to know such information as your:
 * Ancestor's name
 * Ancestor's age
 * Ancestor's possible departure or arrival port
 * The year of migration

Search the Collection
To browse by image: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the "Port of Arrival" category ⇒Select the "Year of Arrival" category ⇒Select the "Date of Arrival & Ship Name" category which takes you to the images

Search the collection by image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

Using the Information

 * Take note of passengers with the same last name grouped together on the ship, they may be family.
 * Use the passenger arrival lists to locate departure lists which may give more information about your ancestor or his or her origins.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at the passenger list for everyone with the same name before deciding which is correct.
 * Remember that there may be more than one person on the passenger list with the same name.
 * Your ancestor may have used a nickname or a different names at different times.
 * Titles associated with people on the ship list may be clues to property ownership, occupations, rank, or status within the community.
 * Continue to search the passenger lists to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have migrated on the same voyage or at other times.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Check for variant spellings of the names.
 * Your ancestor may have traveled on a different ship than previously thought.
 * Search the passenger lists of other voyages that occurred near the approximated year.
 * Did your ancestor travel as a child? If so, sometimes names of children were not recorded. Try searching for a parent (or if parents’ names are unknown, search for someone of the same surname). The number of children traveling with the parents were often listed.

General Information about These Records

 * The ship list is handwritten on a pre-printed form
 * Included on the form are the name of the ship, and the name of the Captain

The Merchant Shipping Act of 1854 began the standard procedure of keeping official numbers for registered ships in the United Kingdom. It was later repealed, but several new Acts have been put into place.

Related Websites

 * National Archives of Australia – Migration and Citizenship
 * Shipping - Passenger lists – Australia
 * National Archives of Australia – Facts sheets on migration and citizenship

Related Wiki Articles

 * Australia Emigration and Immigration
 * Australia Genealogy
 * Victoria, Australia

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection Citation:

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