New South Wales

This page lists New South Wales-related online, networked and microform resources as well as print publications available for use within the National Library of Australia.

Online

Ancestry (Library Edition)

The Library's subscription to Ancestry currently provides the following New South Wales 'Immigration & Travel'-related resources via its online database. To access Ancestry (Library Edition), visit the eResources portal, click the Browse eResources tab and search for 'Ancestry'. The original data has been obtained from NSW State Archives and Records unless otherwise indicated:

• New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922
  
  Original data:
  • Inward passenger lists
    
    NRS 13278, Reels 399-560, 2001-2122, 2751
  • Reports of vessels arrived (or Shipping reports)
    
    NRS 1291, Reels 1263-1285, 2851
    
     
• New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896
  
  Original data:
  • Returns of convicts applications for wives and families to be brought to New South Wales at Government expense
    
    NRS 1190, Reel 699
  • Persons on bounty ships (Agent’s Immigrant Lists)
    
    NRS 5316, Reels 2134-2143
  • Persons on early migrant ships (Fair Copy)
    
    NRS 5310, Reel 1286
  • Wage agreements and entitlement certificates of persons on bounty ships (Agent's Immigrant Lists)
    
    NRS 5315, Reels 2449-2456
  • Persons on bounty ships to Sydney, Newcastle, and Moreton Bay (Board’s Immigrant Lists)
    
    NRS 5317, Reels 2458-2498
  • Persons on bounty ships arriving at Port Phillip (Agent's Immigrant Lists)
    
    NRS 5318, Reels 2143A-2145
  • Passengers arriving at Sydney 1846 (Agent's Immigrant Lists)
    
    NRS 5326, Reel 2457
  • Passenger lists of the Family Colonization Loan Society
    
    NRS 5323, Fiche 839
  • Members of the Family Colonization Loan Society
    
    NRS 5322, Fiche 839
    
     
• New South Wales, Australia, Settler and Convict Lists, 1787-1834
  
  Original data:
  • Home Office: Settlers and Convicts, New South Wales and Tasmania;
    
    HO 10, Pieces 1-4, 6-18, 28-30;
    
    The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey, England
    
     
• New South Wales, Australia, Immigration Deposit Journals, 1853 - May 1900
  
  Original data:
  • Immigration Deposit Journals 1853-May 1900
    
    NRS 5264, Reels 2668A-2676
  • Immigration Deposits (refunded or declined) 1852-1885
    
    NRS 5266, Reels 3111-3114
    
     
• New South Wales, Australia, Departing Crew and Passenger Lists, 1816-1825, 1898-1922
  
  Original data:
  • Ships musters 1816-1825
    
    NRS 1289, Reels 561-562
  • Vessels and persons departing (outward lists), 1898–1922
    
    NRS 13279, Reels 563–579, 3149–3205

• New South Wales, Australia, Certificates of Naturalization, 1849-1903
  
  Original data:
  • Certificates of Naturalization 1849-1876
    
    NRS 1039, Reels 2688-2699
  • Registers of Certificates of Naturalization 1849-1903
    
    NRS 1040, Reels 128A-141A
  • Lists of Aliens to whom Certificates of Naturalization have been issued 1859-1876
    
    NRS 1041, Reel 130

• New South Wales, Australia, Passengers Arriving at Port Phillip, 1846
  
  Original data:
  • New South Wales Government. Immigration Agent. Passengers arriving at Port Phillip, 1846
    
    Series 5327, Reel 1408

• New South Wales, Australia 1828 - 1842: Bounty Immigrants List
  
  Original data:
  • Bounty Immigrants to New South Wales 1828 - 1842
    
    Records kept at New South Wales State Archives and Records, Libraries Tasmania and State Records Office of Western Australia

• New South Wales, Australia, Wives & Children of Irish Convicts, 1825-1840
  
  Original data:
  • Wives & Children of Irish Convicts Petitioned by Husbands and Fathers.
    
    CD-ROM. Central Coast Family History Society Inc. East Gosford, New South Wales

• New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary's Papers, 1788-1825
  
  Original data:
  • Main series of letters received, 1788-1825
    
    NRS 897, Reels 6041-6064, 6071-6072
  • Special Bundles, 1794-1825
    
    NRS 898, Reels 6020-6040, 6070; Fiche 3260-3312.
  • Memorials to the Governor, 1810-25
    
    NRS 899, Fiche 3001-3162

• New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Seamen, 1859-1936
  
  Original data:
  • Registers of seamen engaged before the Shipping Master, 1859–1923
    
    NRS 13282, Reels 3669–3680
  • Index of seamen engaged before the Shipping Master, 1917–20
    
    NRS 13283, Reel 3669
  • Registers of seamen engaged on board ships, 1864–1919
    
    NRS 13284, Reels 3667–3668
  • Registers of seamen discharged, 1859–1916
    
    NRS 13286, Reels 3680–3688
  • Registers of Certificates of Competency issued
    
    NRS 10785, Reels 3689, 3694

Findmypast (World Edition)

To access Findmypast (World Edition), visit the eResources portal, click the Browse eResources tab and search for 'Findmypast'. Currently, Findmypast has the following New South Wales-related travel and migration records available. The original data has been obtained from NSW State Archives and Records unless otherwise indicated:

• New South Wales and Tasmania: Settlers and Convicts 1787-1859

• Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960
  
  Records kept at The National Archives of the UK (TNA), London, England

• Australia, Assisted Emigration
  • Australia, Government Ships 1811-1856.
    
    NRS 5313, Reels 2654, 2668
  • Wage Agreements and Entitlement Certificates of persons on Bounty Ships 1844-1845
    
    NRS 5315, Reels 2449-2456
  • Entitlement Certificates of persons on Bounty Ships 1832-1842
    
    NRS 5314, Reels 1286-1349
  • Persons on Bounty Ships arriving at Port Phillip 1839-1851
    
    NRS 5318, Reels 2143A-2145
• Australia, Inward, Outward and Coastal Passenger Lists 1826-1972
  
  Contains lists from multiple sources around Australia. Those for NSW are:
  • Australian National Passenger Lists 1898-1972
  • New South Wales passenger lists (assisted & unassisted)
  • 1881 British census crew and passengers on ships arriving in New South Wales

NSW State Archives and Records

In addition to records provided via Ancestry and Findmypast, NSW State Archives and Records also provides access to the following records and indexes through its own website:

• Assisted Immigrants (digital) Shipping Lists
  
  Browse through digital shipping lists from 1828-1896
  • List of Irish passengers arrived on the ship Sir Joseph Banks, Oct 1828
    
    NRS 5309, Reel 2795
  • Persons on early migrant ships, 1828-32
    
    NRS 5310, Reel 1286
  • Persons on early migrant ships, May 1832- Jan 1833
    
    NRS 5311, Reel 1286
  • Women on the Red Rover and other early migrant ships, 1832
    
    NRS 5312, Reel 2795
  • Persons on government ships, Aug 1837-40
    
    NRS 5313, Reel 2668
  • Persons on bounty ships (Agent's Immigrant Lists), 1838-96
    
    NRS 5316, Reels 2134-2135
  • Persons on bounty ships arriving at Port Phillip, 1839-51
    
    NRS 5318, Reels 2143A-2145
  • Germans on bounty ships, 1849-52
    
    NRS 5320, Fiche 851
  • Members of the Family Colonization Loan Society, 1854-57
    
    NRS 5322, Fiche 839
  • Passenger lists of the Family Colonization Loan Society, 1854-55
    
    NRS 5323, Fiche 839

• Assisted Immigrants Index (arriving in Sydney, Newcastle, Moreton Bay and Port Phillip)
  
  This Index covers arrivals at:
  • Sydney and Newcastle, 1844-1859
  • Sydney, 1860-1896
  • Port Phillip, 1839-1851
  • Moreton Bay (Brisbane), 1848-1859
    
     
• Crew and Passengers Index (1828-1841)
  
  This index may assist those searching for crew of ships arriving in NSW between 1828 and 1841. It contains over 2500 entries and was compiled from NSW Colonial Secretary's In Letters Index 1826-1895 (NRS 905) but is not a complete list. Crew lists were not regularly kept until 1854. 

• Miscellaneous Immigrants Index (1828-1843)
  
  This index contains over 9000 entries for the period 1828 to 1843. Information includes names of passengers who paid their own fare and some assisted immigrants, ship, date of arrival, age and events (e.g. shipwreck) as well as the series, item and microform numbers.

• Unassisted Immigrants Index (1842-1855)
  
  The index comprises unassisted (or free) passengers who came to Australia at their own expense, including ships' crew and military. There are over 136,100 entries in the index. In some instances, when a last name is common and no first name or initial is given, it can be hard to pinpoint which entry is your ancestor. Often the entries on the records indexed will provide no more information than the details contained in this index.

• Vessels arrived in Sydney (1837-1925)
  
  This index relates to vessels arriving in Sydney only. It records the name and type of vessel, and date of arrival.

Networked resources in the Library

In addition to our subscription databases, the Library also provides access to the following networked CDROM resources:

• Bounty Immigration New South Wales 1828 to 1842
  
  Contains nearly 60,000 records of immigrants arriving in New South Wales from 1828 to 1842

• 1828 Census of New South Wales
  
  This was the first New South Wales census. It was held in November 1828 and is the only census to survive in full to the present day. It aimed to record all the inhabitants of the colony at the time, and provides the individual's full name, age, place of residence, ship of arrival, occupation employer's name and place of residence.

• Free passengers to NSW 1826-1837
  
  Society of Australian Genealogists: Contains a searchable database of 36,000 names of free passengers, crews & military arriving by passenger, merchant or whaling vessels to New South Wales between 1826 and 1837.

• NSW immigration deposits combined index 1853-1900
  
  This title provides an index to the following records held by State Records New South Wales: Immigration; NRS 5264, Immigration Deposit Journals, 1853-1900 [4/4576 to 4/4598, microfilm copy SRNSW Reel Nos. 2668A to 2675] and the supplementary records of Embarkation Orders and Shipping Lists in Immigration; NRS 5269, Persons Proceeding to the Colony under Remittance Regulations, Oct 1856-Feb 1858 [with Ships Arriving Nov 1856 to Feb 1858] - part of 1 box (Ref: 9/6182.1 1 bundle)

• Paracensus of Australia 1788-1828
  
  A reconstruction mainly prepared by the consolidation of contemporary records about the people of that era and their families. Some family records and literary references are included. A few Maori and Aboriginal family records are also included. Sources on personal information about each of them are listed. It includes marines, soldiers, ship's captains, some sailors, migrants, convicts, some visitors, officially recorded Aborigines, exiles and orphans, also births, migrants, and ships. The shipping arrivals cover 1788-1828, details included are: names of ship, date arrived, port, no. of migrants/convicts, and referenced numbers. The lists of people give surname, given name/s, year of arrival, ship name, reference numbers.

• Unassisted Arrivals to Sydney (NSW) 1842-1857
  
  Pastkeys: Index lists name, age, arrival date, status, departure ports, including foreign, coastal and interstate and any other information such as nationality, description, occupation and any additional information from the original source. Available only on the standalone/jukebox PC in the Newspapers and Family History zone.

For more information about these resources, visit the eResources portal, click the Browse eResources tab and search for the name of the resource.

Microfilmed and other published material

The following microfilmed products and published works are available on open access in the Newspapers and Family History zone:

Archives Authority of NSW - Genealogical Research Kit

All of the following immigration-related resources provided as part of this kit can be located under Call Number mfm N 229:

Other Microfiche

Related and other resources

Related Resources

Other Resources

Registers of Certificates of Competency Masters and Mates: Colonial Trade. (BT 128)

New South Wales 1871-1921

The Registers are arranged by certificate number and entries give name, place of birth, year of birth and date of certification as Master, 1st Mate or 2nd Mate. The pre 1890 entries often give the name of ships on which the individual served. In some case deaths are recorded.

Available on two microfilm reels Call Numbers mfm PRO 6894-6895 - Request via Catalogue

Index to Ships’ Logs found in the Australian Joint Copying Project

Draft booklet available at the Newspapers and Family History zone desk