Assisted Immigrants Index 1839-1896

• Record series in the index:
  • Port Phillip, 1839-1851 [NRS 5318]
  • Moreton Bay, 1848-1859 [NRS 5316, NRS 5317]
  • Sydney and Newcastle, 1844-1896 [NRS 5316, NRS 5317, NRS 5315, NRS 5320, NRS 5321, ​NRS 5316, NRS 5317]
• Entries in the index: 191,900+
• Copy service available

For assisted arrivals to NSW 1828-42 check the Index to Bounty Immigrants on the Family Search website.

bv: born on voyage, in quarantine etc.

b&dv: born and died on voyage, in quarantine etc.

cob: child(ren) on board (listed separately)

dv: died on voyage, in quarantine etc.
inft: infant

pob: parent(s) on board (listed separately)

sf: stepfather

tw: travelling with

One practice which frequently occurred during this period was the taking on of an alias in order to obtain passage. This happened in cases where passage had been denied under the correct name; in these instances, the assumed name was often the maiden name or the name of a person with whom travelling. In other instances, an immigrant assumed the name of a person to whom a passage certificate had been granted. An example of this is Joseph Golding who came in place of John Mahon. In these cases the lists usually record the person under his/her correct name with a reference to the alias (or assumed) name.

• Where the individual shares the head of family's surname, the reference "and family", or occasionally "travelling with", has been used to indicate that person's location in the original list.
• Where the individual has a different surname from that of the head of family, one of two references has been used. These are "travelling with" followed by the head of family's surname and initial, and "stepfather" followed by the head of family's surname and initial.
• In the case of difficulties in deciphering handwritten records, major variations in the spelling of the surname or different surnames in the source records, both surnames have generally been given complete index entries with cross references to each other, for example
• CALLAGHAN Eliza 18 or CALLAGHER, E Commodore Perry 1856 2138, 2473
• CALLAGHER Eliza 18 or CALLAGHAN, E Commodore Perry1856 2138, 2473

unless the cross reference is unnecessary because of the proximity of the two surnames. In these cases an internal cross reference is given in the "Remarks" column, for example

• MOUREGAN Bridget 21 or MOURIGAN Abyssinian 1859 2139, 2479

In the case of aliases a cross reference has been made from the alternative surname to the surname under which the immigrant is listed, for example

• DAVIDSON Isabella 19 see WILLIS, C Earl Grey 1848 2135, 2458
• WILLIS Charlotte 19 alias DAVIDSON, I Earl Grey18482135, 2458

Where there are variant spellings of the surname of a family the relationship is given for one of the surnames and a cross reference given in the other, for example

• STEPHENS George E 30and family St Vincent 1849 2135, 2460
• STEVENS George E 30 or STEPHENS, G E St Vincent 1849 2135, 2460

Immigrants, including unnamed infants, who died on the voyage have been included, for the sake of completeness.

Your ancestor may have arrived in one of the other categories of passengers who came to New South Wales. These include unassisted passengers, convicts, military, crew.

Assisted immigrants arriving at Port Phillip, 1839-51

The vessel Ann Gales listed in volume [4/4818]: Although this volume is labelled as "Persons on Bounty Ships arriving at Port Phillip", the Ann Gales appears to have arrived at Port Jackson, Sydney 12 July 1840, and did not arrive at Port Phillip.

The vessel Cataraqui listed in volume [4/4815] was shipwrecked in 1845. Although the passengers are all listed in the Index, there was only one survivor, Solomon Brown.

The vessel India was burned at sea in 1841. All surviving passengers were transferred to the Grindlay listed in volume [4/4814]. One passenger from the India, Mr Patterson, died at sea, however he is listed on the Grindlay.

Twofold Bay

It is known that two ships carrying assisted immigrants, the Bermondsey (1848) and the Caesar (1855), put in at Twofold Bay (Eden) and discharged some of their immigrants there, the remainder being landed in Sydney. Unfortunately, the immigrant lists do not indicate the port of disembarkation.

If you are ordering entries for a family please be aware that family groups are generally listed as one entry on the same page. The lists are usually arranged by family group, then by single males and single females.

One entry could be any of the following combinations:

• a single person, or
• 2-3 adult siblings of the same sex travelling (sisters or brothers) together on the same vessel, or
• a married couple, or
• a family group with children under 16 years of age.

Identifying a family group

You can often identify that a person is part of a family group travelling together by checking the 'Remarks' field in the search results. The remarks will usually state something like "and family". Generally, a family group is listed on one page so you will only need to request one family member for your copy order. If you request all members of one family you may end up with multiple copies of the one page.