Find your ancestors in New South Wales unassisted passenger lists

Discover more about these records

Each result will provide a transcript and image of the original record; the information included on the transcript will vary; however, most will include the following fields:

  • First name(s)
  • Last name
  • Birth year
  • Nationality/where born
  • Passage type
  • Year
  • Departure port
  • Vessel
  • Arrival year
  • Arrival date
  • Arrival port
  • State
  • Archive
  • Year range

Images may contain additional details including marital status, religion, calling (occupation), health, and level of literacy. Depending on the type of record, images may also include additional details about the ship and its crew, as well as details about the voyage: master’s name, whether a passenger was in a cabin or in steerage, or if a passenger was travelling with children.

Unassisted passengers are those whose passage was not subsidized or paid for by a third party/agency. Two series make up this collection of unassisted passenger records.

  • Inward Passenger Lists, NRS 13278 – This series comprises forms signed by ships’ captains detailing who was on board upon arrival in Australia. The records pertain to the years of 1854 to 1922. Details you may be able to discover in these records are departure port, arrival date, lists of seamen, lists of passengers, name and tonnage of ship, master’s name, notation of children on board, occupation and class of travel, and race of passengers.
  • Reports of Vessels Arrived (or Shipping Reports), NRS 1291 – These reports are for ships arriving in New South Wales between 1826 and 1859. You may discover the following details: ship’s name, master’s name, the number of crew onboard, departure port and date, lists of passengers in cabins and steerage, and passengers’ occupations or native country.