Family History

Maritime and Passenger Records

Ancestors On Board
UK outward passenger lists for long-distance voyages leaving the British Isles from 1890 (the first time there was an official requirement to keep them) to1960. Covers passengers leaving for destinations including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and USA ports such as Boston, Philadelphia and New York
http://www.ancestorsonboard.com/

Ancestry Library Edition
Available free in Bedfordshire libraries. Click the link or the logo at the top of the 'Local and family history A-Z' page. To find England maritime and passenger records, click the 'Search' tab at the top of the Ancestry Library Edition home page, scroll down and click 'UK and Ireland', click 'England' and at the 'England immigration and emigration section', click 'view all 14 England immigration and emigration'
http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/ webingres/ bedfordshire/ vlib/ 0.local_studies/ local_studies_a_z.htm

Ancestry.com
Many records of immigration to America plus Australian convict transportation records and images of ships
http://www.ancestry.com/

CLIP - Crew List Index Project
Guidance to finding online and other records of merchant seafarers on British registered ships for the years 1861 to 1913
http://www.crewlist.org.uk/ index.html

Ellis Island
You can search records of the 22 million immigrant passengers and ships crews who entered the United States through Ellis Island and the Port of New York between 1892 and 1924.
http://www.ellisisland.org

Maritime History Archive
Collects and preserves documents relating to the history of maritime activities in Newfoundland and Labrador and throughout the North Atlantic world. Holds a large collection of records including crew lists, logbooks, an index of Newfoundland Captains, 1820-1889, Lloyd's Captains Registers, 1851-1948 and other sources. Canadians who served in the Merchant Navy during the First World War were under British registration and copies of those British records are also available at this site
http://www.mun.ca/ mha/

Merseyside Maritime Museum Archives and Library
Includes useful information sheets, including details of passenger lists and tracing ancestors in the merchant navy
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ maritime/ archive/ listGuides.aspx

National Archives Research Guide - Passenger Lists
Guide to sources for inbound and outbound passengers
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ catalogue/ RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=106

National Archives: Research Guides
List including guides relating to records of people in the merchant navy and Royal Navy.
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ researchguidesindex.asp

National Maritime Museum
This section of the National Maritime Museum web site includes research guides relating to tracing people who were involved with either the Merchant Navy or the Royal Navy.
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/ server/ show/ nav.005002006

National Maritime Museum - Maritime Memorials
You can search or browse a memorials database that contains records of over 4000 church, cemetery and public memorials to seafarers and victims of maritime disasters.
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/ memorials/

Gateway Home