This Immigration
Passenger List Guide barely scratches the surface of what's available,
but it will give you an easy to navigate place to begin your search. In
particular the *Ships List site in the links
below is a fantastic place to start, as is the
Lloyds of London Shipping Register, if you know the name of the
ship of course.
I have nothing
but the utmost admiration and respect for those of our ancestors who
literally 'took the plunge' and sailed to far off lands like Australia,
New Zealand and North America in search of a better life. I don't think
we will ever truly appreciate the hardships involved back then. Of
course, unlike now, a sailing ship was THE only choice. Luxury cruise
ships and Jumbo Jets were not an option. Back then a typical journey
was measured in months and life on board for such an extended period
must have been tedious at best. Many died from sickness caused by a
limited diet, infectious diseases due to such long periods of
confinement and, of course, being at the mercy of the elements. The
likelihood of being shipwrecked was high as these vessels ventured
further into the open seas as was the risk of foundering on rocks as
the vessels came within the proximity of land. And with the advent of
steam came other hazards - see The Sultana Disaster 27 April 1865
Passenger lists
were kept to aid officials at the ports of imbarkation and departures
in keeping records of those leaving - emigration, and arriving -
immigration. Also shipping companies, naturally enough, needed to
ensure that only those passengers that had paid came on board. Details
on these lists will vary from country to country as will the years in
which records are available. Some have been be lost, perished by fire
or, worst of all, deliberately destroyed! Historical records have not
always been treated with the respect they deserve. But, hopefully, the
following will help you to narrow the search area down to a manageable
size.
The following
article is mainly specific to the US, but don't despair because this
one HERE goes into some detail about records
available in England.
Several Ways to Search Ship Manifests for your
Family's History By: Paul Duxbury and Kevin Cook
Before the days
of airplane travel, emigrants typically left their countries of origin
on ships and braved long and difficult journeys across the ocean.
Finding evidence of an ancestor's journey to a new world through
passenger lists and ship manifests can be a thrilling experience for
anyone who is interested in their family history. Such valuable
documents, kept by most shipping companies across the world, can be
incredibly difficult to search, however, leading genealogists to spend
countless hours in fruitless inquiry. Many of the lists, for instance,
have not been put into indexes and lay moldering in some obscure or
unreachable archive. At other times, even when genealogists do find
their ancestors on a ship manifest, only their name and country of
departure are listed; no other exciting information, such as birth
date, country of origin, or occupation, is included. Such warnings
aside, however, there are ways genealogists can increase their chance
of success in finding their ancestors
on passenger lists.
First, remember
that your ancestors may have been included on a number of lists, not
just the ones made upon arrival in their new country. Lists were made
when they first got on the ship and whenever they stopped along the
way. Newspapers and organizations that may have paid for their journey,
such as aid societies, would also have kept lists. Even passport
applications and naturalization papers can provide valuable clues to
your ancestor's journey.
After becoming
aware of the variety of places in which you can look for your
ancestors, try and keep the time period in which they arrived in
consideration. Passenger lists made for immigrants arriving in America
before 1820, for example, are particularly difficult to search for
because they were not standardized or carefully preserved and either do
not exist anymore or are extremely difficult to find. The search for
immigrants arriving between 1820 and 1891 is slightly less difficult
but information is still limited. Finally, in 1891, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service came into existence in the United States, and
passenger lists were greatly improved, becoming more reliable,
informative and well-preserved.
Before you begin
searching passenger lists, you need to know your ancestor's complete
and original name, the date of his arrival in America, and the port at
which he arrived. It is also helpful to know his age; the port from
which he departed; his country of origin; his ultimate destination in
the United States; and the names of his ship or of any fellow
travelers. You can find this information through a piece memorabilia,
such as a letter or ticket; through previously researched family
history; through census records, which are available on the internet
and on purchasable computer programs; through naturalization records,
which are actually more informative than passenger lists for immigrants
arriving after 1906; and through passport records, if your ancestor
applied for one to visit his country of origin.
If you discover
that your ancestor arrived before 1820, there is no centralized place
to search for passenger lists. Many ships did keep lists, which they
left at the ports of arrival, but since the government did not require
these lists to be kept or saved, they were lost, destroyed, or
scattered in different libraries or private collections. Many of the
surviving lists have been published on the web or in books, so these
are the best places to search. Newspapers from the time which have been
microfilmed are also valuable resources. Finally, the government does
have records in the national archives for arrivals in New York from
1789 to 1919, in New Orleans from 1813 to 1819, and in Philadelphia
from 1800 to 1819.
If your ancestor
arrived after 1820, then your main job will be in consulting the
variety of resources available. Customs Passenger Lists, compiled by
ship captains from 1820 to around 1891 and indexes for these lists can
be found at the National Archives; in libraries, including the
comprehensive genealogical archives of the Church of Latter Day Saints;
online in images, transcripts, and indexes; on purchasable CD-ROMs; and
in books. The archives and other resources contain notable gaps in
information and errors, so it is best to search in a variety of indexes.
Beginning around
1891, Immigration Passenger Lists replaced Customs Passenger Lists due
to the flood of immigrants to the United States and the establishment
of a Superintendent of Immigration. Immigration Passenger Lists are
much more detailed and two pages long by 1906. They can be found in the
National Archives, in the Latter Day Saints library, on the Ellis
Island on-line database, and on other on-line sites. Once again, errors
were made in microfilming lists and a variety of resources should be
consulted. In the end, genealogy is like a scavenger hunt where you
must use the clues provided to you and search in a variety of places
before you find what you are looking for.
About the
Authors Paul Duxbury and Kevin Cook own www.amateur-genealogist.com and
www.our-family-trees.co.uk two of the leading Genealogy Websites. In
addition Paul owns a wide range of exciting websites which can be
viewed at www.our-family-trees.co.uk
Every little bit more you find out about your ancestors adds another
important layer to who they were and how they lived. Although not
usually the first record sort out by family historians, as more
detailed information can be found elsewhere, an immigration passenger
list can be one of the most important in providing that elusive snippet.
Immigration
Passenger List Guide