Down to the Sea in Ships:
How did They Get Here?
by Bev & Ken Rees
Agenda
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Some definitions
Arrival Records
Departure Records
Ship’s Logs and Company Records
Printed and Secondary Sources
Research tips and Strategies
What is a Ship's Passenger List?
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A ship’s passenger list is a list of passengers and
crew on a particular ship.
A ship’s passenger list substitute is a list of
passengers and crew on a particular ship
reconstructed from other sources.
The Migration Process
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Obtain permission to leave
Travel to the port of departure
Obtain passage
Travel to the destination port (may have been
several stops)
Obtain permission to enter
Travel Document
Types of Ship's Passenger Lists
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Records kept at the port of departure
Records kept at the port of arrival
Records kept at ports of call along the route
Records kept by shipping companies
Arrival Records
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Canada
United States
Some Statistics
Canada
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Halifax, Nova Scotia (1881–1935)
Saint John, New Brunswick (1900–1935)
Sydney, Nova Scotia (1906–1935)
Quebec and Montreal, Quebec (1865–1935)
Vancouver, British Columbia (1905–1935)
Victoria, British Columbia (1905–1935)
via New York (1906–1931)
via Eastern US Ports (1905–1928)
Canadian Immigration History
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Prior to 1865, there was no requirement to
retain ship’s passenger lists.
Passenger lists were generated but in
general were not retained.
Therefore, no organized collection of lists
exist in Canada prior to 1865.
There are scattered and limited lists for
individual ports and individual ships.
Library and Archives Canada
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Library and Archives Canada is responsible
for preserving all records of national
importance.
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/
Provincial Sources (all periods)
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Some provincial archives hold material that
relate to ship’s lists.
Usually, these will be a type of ship’s list
substitute.
Some of this material may be useful in
determining date and port of arrival.
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/0
22-802-e.html
Canada Prior to 1865
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French Regime
British Regime
French Regime
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French Colonial Records Passenger Lists
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1717–1760
1786
Colonial Archives
At Library and Archives Canada
British Regime
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Miscellaneous Immigration Index
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From British Isles
To Quebec and Ontario
1801–1849
Irish Assisted Immigration to Peterborough
early 1820s
Canada 1865-1919, 1925-1935
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‘Large sheet’ ship’s manifests
Fairly complete
Arranged by port and date of arrival
Library and Archives Canada (microfilm)
Filmed in 1949, but not up to today’s
standards
Canada 1919 to 1924
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Individual Form 30a
Various ports changed to/from Form 30a at
various times
Microfilmed
Arranged in ‘quasi-alphabetical’ order
Early Canadian Ship’s List Contents
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Name
Age
Sex
Country of origin
Occupation
Place of destination
‘Large Sheet’ and Form 30A Contents
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Name of ship
Date of sailing
Port and date of arrival
Name
Age
Occupation
‘Large Sheet’ and Form 30A Contents
continued. . . . . .
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Birthplace
Race
Citizenship
Religion
Destination
Name of the nearest relative in the country
from which the immigrant came.
Canada Form 30A
Canada RG 76
Finding Aids - Canada
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French Regime http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/02
2-908.002.01-e.html
Colonial Records http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/0
20112_e.html
RG 76 http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/02
2-908.003.02-e.html
Library and Archives Canada
Specific Search
Results
Armenia arriving in Halifax 1903
Indices - Canada
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British Regime - http://www.ingeneas.com/
Quebec City (1865–1869) http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/02
2-908.003.01-e.html
Halifax (1881–1882) http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/02
2-908.003-e.html
On-line database - RG76 -(1925-1935) http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/0
20118_e.html
But There are So Few Canadian
Indexes!
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Pressure our government for more funding
<smile>
Volunteer to transcribe, index, abstract, or
extract some of the many ship’s lists
available from LAC or other sources
Visit http://www.immigrantships.net/ (The
Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild)
But There are So Few Canadian
Indexes! continued. . . . . .
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Many, many ships have been partially or fully
transcribed. Start to gather links to those you
find while searching the web.
Start a new project (see
http://www.afhs.ab.ca/registry/index.html)
Cooperate with others in indexing the
existing transcriptions.
US Immigration History
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Prior to 1820, there was no requirement to
document immigrants into the United States.
Between 1820 and 1891, the Bureau of
Customs was tasked with keeping such
records – the Customs Passenger Lists.
After 1891, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service kept Immigrant
Passenger Lists.
National Archives and Records
Administration
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The US National Archives and Records
Administration (similar to Library and
Archives Canada) is charged with the
custody and preservation of records of
national import.
http://www.archives.gov/
Customs Passenger Lists
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Prepared in duplicate on board.
One copy was filed by the master with
collector of customs.
Other copy was kept with the ship’s papers.
Copies and abstracts sent to the Secretary of
State
Transcriptions of the copies were also made.
Customs Passenger List Contents
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Name
Age
Sex
Occupation
Nationality
Destination country
Immigrant Passenger Lists
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Immigrant passenger lists were kept by the
Immigration and Naturalization authorities
(and their predecessor organizations).
They contained basically the same
information as the old Customs passenger
lists.
The amount of information was increased as
time went on.
Immigrant Passenger Lists
Contents
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Name
Age
Sex
Occupation
Nationality
Destination country
Immigrant Passenger Lists
Contents continued. . . . . .
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(after 1882) native country, local destination,
(after 1891) last residence,
(after 1893) marital status, if joining a relative
and if so name, address, and relationship,
amount of money, health and social
conditions,
(after 1903) race,
(after 1907) physical description.
Titanic Survivors
Filed by mistake with
June 12, 1912 arrivals.
(The “Carpathia”
rescued these survivors)
Records Before 1820
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Are not filed nationally
May be filed at the Port of Entry
May be called ship’s cargo manifests
Consult the state archive for additional
information http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/referen
ce/state-archives.html
Except….
Records Before 1820
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continued. . . . . .
Arrivals at New Orleans, Louisiana, 18131819
Arrivals at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 18001819
United States Major Ports
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Galveston, Texas (1846–1948)
New Orleans, Louisiana (1820–1900)
Baltimore, Maryland (1820–1948)
New York, New York (1820–1938)
Boston, Massachusetts (1820–1943)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1800–1945)
Others (many others)….
Finding Aids
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By port http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/immigrati
on/passenger-arrival.html#film
Galveston Indexes
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1844 – 1848 - http://www.tsmelissa.org/immigration-login.htm
1846 – 1871 – Ancestry.com
1896 – 1952 – NARA microfilm
New Orleans Indexes
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1853 – 1899 - NARA microfilm
1900 – 1952 – NARA microfilm
1820 – 1850 – Ancestry.com
Baltimore Indexes
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1820 – 1897 – NARA microfilm
1833 – 1866 – NARA microfilm city lists
1897 – 1952 – NARA microfilm
New York Indexes
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1820 – 1846 - NARA microfilm
1846 – 1851 - NARA http://aad.archives.gov/aad/serieslist.jsp?cat=SB301&bc=sb
1851 – 1891 - Ancestry.com http://www.ancestry.com/
1892 – 1924 - Ellis Island http://www.ellisisland.org/
Additional New York Indexes (Online)
Castle Garden (1820 – 1892) http://www.castlegarden.org/
Boston Indexes
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1848 – 1891 – NARA microfilm
1902 – 1920 – NARA microfilm
1899 – 1940 – NARA microfilm
1820 – 1943 – Ancestry.com
For missing periods, see the Massachusetts
state lists
(http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcidx.htm)
Klingenberg Family
Therese G. Klingenberg
Philadelphia Indexes
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1800 – 1906 – NARA microfilm
1883 – 1948 – NARA microfilm
Departure Records
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British Isles
Scandinavia
Netherlands/Belgium/France
Germany/Central Europe
British Isles Ports
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Hull, England
Liverpool, England
Southampton, England
Glasgow, Scotland
http://www.findmypast.com/ - indexes to those
leaving the United Kingdom from 1890 to
1919. (1920 to 1960 coming soon)
Search screen
Index to departing passengers
Scandinavia Ports
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Gothenburg, Sweden
Stockholm, Sweden
Oslo, Norway
Trondheim, Norway
Copenhagen, Denmark
Netherlands/Belgium/France
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Amsterdam, Netherlands
Antwerp, Belgium
Cherbourg, France
Le Havre, France
Rotterdam, Netherlands
La Rochelle
Germany/Central Europe Ports
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Hamburg
Bremen
Hamburg
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Up to 30% of immigrants passed through
Hamburg
Indexes and ship’s lists are available for the
great majority of the period from 1850 – 1934
(the Great War interrupted emigration)
Partial indexes are available on line at
http://www.linktoyourroots.hamburg.de/
Ancestry.com also has indexes.
The ship’s lists are divided into direct and
indirect lists.
Index to Hamburg Passenger Lists
Georg Ukrainetz
Therese Klingenberg
Bremen
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Passenger lists were kept from about 1832
The early lists were destroyed between 1875
and 1909 because of lack of space.
Lists kept between 1910 and 1920 were
destroyed by Allied bombing in the Second
World War
Lists from 1921 to 1939 are available.
Substitutes are available.
Departure Records
For records relating to these ports, see
http://www.familysearch.org/
Or http://www.cyndislist.com/portsdepart.htm
Or http://www.google.ca/
Ship’s Logs/Company Records
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Ship’s Logs may be found via maritime
museums, such as
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Mariner’s Museum – Newport News, VA
Mystic Seaport – Mystic, CT
National Maritime Museum – San Francisco, CA
A list of shipping lines may be found at
http://www.theshipslist.com/index.html
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In general, the company must be contacted for
access to their archives.
Printed and Secondary Sources
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In the next few slides, a brief sampling is
given of some of the printed and secondary
sources that might be consulted. There are
many, many more.
Note that almost every index is a secondary
source.
Hence the imperative need to always consult
the original record.
Printed and Secondary Sources
continued. . . . . .
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Filby, P. William, ed. Passenger and
Immigration Lists Index: A Guide to
Published Arrival Records of ... Passengers
who Came to the United States and Canada
in the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and
Nineteenth Centuries. 3 volumes plus annual
supplements. Detroit: Gale Research Co.,
1981-__. This series is a finding aid to
published passenger lists. Be sure to read
the "front material" to understand how to use
the information you find.
Printed and Secondary Sources
continued. . . . . .
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Filby, P. William, ed. Passenger and
Immigration Lists Bibliography, 1538-1900.
2d ed. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Co., 1988.
Lancour, Harold, comp. A Bibliography of
Ship Passenger Lists, 1538-1825; Being a
Guide to Published Lists of Early Immigrants
to North America. 3d ed. New York: New York
Public Library, 1978.
Printed and Secondary Sources
continued. . . . . .
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Wood, Virginia Steele, comp. Immigrant
Arrivals:
A Guide To Published Sources http://www.loc.gov/rr/genealogy/bib_guid/im
migrant/
Printed and Secondary Sources
continued. . . . . .
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Boyer, Carl. Ship Passenger Lists, National
and New England (1600-1825). Newhall, CA:
C. Boyer, 1977. Covers Lancour entries 1-71.
Boyer, Carl. Ship Passenger Lists, New York
and New Jersey (1600-1825). Newhall, CA:
C. Boyer, 1978. Covers Lancour entries 72115.
Printed and Secondary Sources
continued. . . . . .
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Boyer, Carl. Ship Passenger Lists,
Pennsylvania and Delaware (1641-1825).
Newhall, CA: C. Boyer, 1980. Covers
Lancour entries 116-197.
Boyer, Carl. Ship Passenger Lists, the South
(1538-1825). Newhall, CA: C. Boyer, 1979.
Covers Lancour entries 198E-243.
Printed and Secondary Sources
continued. . . . . .
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Tepper, Michael. New World Immigrants: a
Consolidation of Ship Passenger Lists and
Associated Data from Periodical Literature.
Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co.,
1979.
Tepper, Michael. Passengers to America: A
Consolidation of Ship Passenger Lists From
the New England Historical and Genealogical
Register. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing
Co., 1977.
Printed and Secondary Sources
continued. . . . . .
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Tepper, Michael. Emigrants to Pennsylvania,
1641-1819: a Consolidation of Ship
Passenger Lists from the Pennsylvania
Magazine of History and Biography.
Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co.,
1978
Tepper, Michael. Immigrants to the Middle
Colonies: a Consolidation of Ship Passenger
Lists and Associated Data from The New
York Genealogical and Biographical Record.
Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co.,
1978
Printed and Secondary Sources
continued. . . . . .
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A dictionary of immigrants to Nova Scotia, by
Leonard H. Smith, Jr, Owl Books, ca. 1985.
A dictionary of Scottish emigrants to Canada
before Confederation, by Donald Whyte,
Ontario Genealogical Society, 3 volumes.
Canadian passengers inward bound, 1856
1858 by Mary Kearns Trace, Calgary, Traces,
ca.1997.
Printed and Secondary Sources
continued. . . . . .
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Index of some passengers who emigrated to
Canada between 1817 & 1849, compiled and
edited by John A. Acton, Ontario
Genealogical Society, ca. 2003. (Index to the
lists found in the British Colonial Office 384
records.)
The Lanark Society settlers : ships' lists of
the Glasgow Emigration Society, 1821, by
Gerald J. Neville, British Isles Family History
Society of Greater Ottawa, 1995.
Printed and Secondary Sources
continued. . . . . .
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Names of emigrants : from the 1845 1847
records of James Allison, emigrant agent at
Montreal, prepared by the Irish Research
Group, Ottawa Branch, Ontario Genealogical
Society, 1994.
Passengers to New Brunswick: The Custom
House Records; 1833, 34, 37 & 1838, by
Daniel F. Johnson, Saint John Branch, New
Brunswick Genealogical Society, ca. 1987.
Printed and Secondary Sources continued. . .
...
The McCabe list : early Irish in the
Ottawa Valley, by Bruce S. Elliott,
Ontario Genealogical Society, 2002
(revised edition).
 The people's Clearance : Highland
emigration to British North America,
1770 1815, by J. M. Bumsted,
University of Manitoba Press, 1982.
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Printed and Secondary Sources
continued. . . . . .
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The Silver Chief: Lord Selkirk and the
Scottish Pioneers of Belfast, Baldoon
and Red River, by Lucille H. Campey.
Printed and Secondary Sources
continued. . . . . .
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"La Rochelle et le Canada au XVIIe siècle"
by Marcel Delafosse in Revue d'histoire de
l'Amérique Française, volume 4 (1951),
pages 469 511, 1632 to 1693.
Les passagers du Saint André: La recrue de
1659, by Archange Godbout, Montréal,
Société généalogique canadienne Française,
1964, 166 pages..
Printed and Secondary Sources
continued. . . . . .
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"Liste des navires venus en Nouvelle France
de 1657 à 1665", by Michel Langlois in
l'Ancêtre (Québec), Volume 3 (1976), pages
3 15.
Common Research Strategies
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Search the passenger lists directly
Use an arrival index
Use a departure index
Narrow the search
Search for birds of a feather
Go line by line
Search the passenger lists directly
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Use this strategy when you know the exact
date and port of arrival. In this case, there is
no need for an index as you have the
information to go directly to the appropriate
ships list.
Use an arrival index
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A great many of the US ports have a name
index for arriving passengers. Where
possible, use the index to locate the arrival
record for your ancestor.
We discussed arrival indexes when we talked
about arrival records.
Use a departure index
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A few of the European and British ports have
published indexes for departing passengers.
Use these indexes to find the departure date,
the port of arrival, and the arrival date. Then
go to the arrival ships lists and locate the
name of your ancestor.
We talked about departure indexes when we
talked about departure records.
Narrow the search
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Narrow the search by weeding out
impossible ships, impossible ports of entry
(or departure), and impossible dates.
First search the most probable, then search
the increasingly improbable.
The Canadian immigration records from
1865 to 1922 have a very good search tool
that can help us narrow the search.
Search for birds of a feather
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Since most of our ancestors traveled and
arrived in groups, use the techniques of
cluster genealogy to pin-point the arrival port
and date.
In every record in which your ancestor
appears, note the people mentioned.
Those mentioned most often form a core
group. It may be that these immigrated at
the same time and from the same place.
Go line by line
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This is the strategy of last resort!
Even here, don’t start in January and wade
through to December.
Search March, April, May, September,
October, November, June, July, August,
December, January, and finally February.
Can You Find a Substitute for a
Missing Passenger List?
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Look at the following:
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Newspaper records at the port of departure
Newspaper records at the port of arrival
Pest hospital records
Indenture records
Oaths of allegiance
Health certificates
Entry Permits
How Should an Index Be Used?
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Know the difference between an index, an
abstract, and an extract.
Search all possible spellings
Search for related individuals
Search for known immigrants who resided in
the same area as your ancestor
When an entry is found, consult the original
record. (Always!)
When an entry is not found, search the
original records. (Always!)
Finding Aids
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Finding aids give access to one portion of a
group of records.
Finding aids are similar to indexes, but they
usually identify a larger area to search.
Finding Aid Use
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Know what information is absolutely required
in order to use the finding aid.
Know what information might help in using
the finding aid. (More is not always better!)
Identify a strategy to get the required
information.
Strategies for Finding the Port and
Date of Arrival
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Use home sources (letters, journals, diaries,
histories, interviews)
Use printed or secondary sources, such as
indexes
Look for naturalization records
Consult the census
Review immigrant aid society and religious
records
Track family, neighbours and friends
Strategies for Finding the Port and
Date of Arrival continued. . . . . .
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Land records
Death registrations
Directories
National registrations (Canada, 1940)
Consider settlement patterns and available
transportation
Look at nationality, ethnicity, culture, and
religion
What ports were active at the time?
Using the Record
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When you find an individual, look to see who
the traveling companions are.
Be aware of the provenance of the record or
index you are using.
Immediately create a source citation.
If you can, make an exact copy of what you
find (photocopy, digital image, scanned
image)
Questions?
Beverley A. & Kenneth W. Rees
15 Heritage Point West
Lethbridge, AB T1K 7B7
Phone: 403.328-9366
Email: ancestor-find@familyhistree.com