Emigration Records

Heritage Hub Source List

At the Heritage Hub we can help you to access the websites of other archive collections and search databases of emigrant records. However no original emigration records for individuals are held.

Please note Scottish Borders Archive and Local History Service is not responsible for the content of the websites and external links

We do hold a limited collection of printed lists, directories of emigrants and the following introductory guides:

Introductory Guides
Author	Title
Kershaw, Roger	Emigrants and expats: A guide to sources on UK emigration and residents overseas
Kershaw, Roger	Family history on the move: where your ancestors went
Richards, Eric	Britannia’s children: emigration from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland since 1600

Emigration records include:

Passenger lists recording departures from the UK and ship manifests which were records of arrival made at the port of entry.
Immigration records and naturalisation papers.
Convict transportation registers and also prison and criminal trial records for those sentenced.
Records of emigration societies and charitable societies which actively encouraged emigration in the 19th century. Local newspapers carried advertisements placed by these organisations and by shipping agents offering passages.
Records of poor relief authorities which sometimes paid the passage of paupers as a cheaper alternative to supporting them in the parish or the poorhouse.

General Websites

www.ancestorsonboard.com: a searchable list of outbound passengers from British ports 1890-1960. The same database can also can be accessed on www.findmypast.com

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk: the National Archives (London) holds records of the Board of Trade, the Colonial Office, Land and Emigration Commission and other government bodies. NA Online Research Guides include:

Emigrants – Domestic Records
American and West Indian Colonies before 1782
Emigrants to North America after 1776
Transportation to America and the West Indies, 1615-1776
Transportation to Australia, 1787-1868

www.nas.gov.uk: The National Archives of Scotland (Edinburgh) has an online Research Guide to Emigration Records and a bibliography of books and directories.

www.scan.org.uk: The Scottish Archive Network offers an online Guide to Emigration and a bibliography of books and directories. The site also features digitised images of the Highland and Island Emigration Society 1851-59 and its passenger lists 1852-57.

www.gla.ac.uk/archives: details passenger lists held at University of Glasgow Archive Services

www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk: online catalogue to the archives and library at the Merseyside Maritime Museum. Online information sheets:

Emigration to USA and Canada
Emigration to Australia, New Zealand & South Africa

www.workhouses.org.uk: an account of the organised emigration of paupers and poor children

www.familyrecords.gov.uk: a website run by the National Archives (London) which has a topic guide to emigration and links to other archives.

Passenger lists for most destination countries can be searched at the following websites:

Specific Country Information:

Australia:

www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/migration: Immigration records at the National Archives of Australia are mostly 20th century. Records before 1901 were the responsibility of the separate colonies.
www.blaxland.com/ozships: lists Australian shipping arrivals 1788 to 1967
www.list.jaunay.com/ausnzpassengers: locates passenger lists for ships to Australia
www.wags.org.au/shipping/pasships.htm: has lists of ships for ports in Western Australia.

Resources held at the Heritage Hub
Author	Title
Dobson, David A.	Directory of Scots in Australia 1788-1900. 3 parts
Sainty, Malcolm	Census of New South Wales November 1828
National Archives of Scotland	The Scots in Australia
Num, Cora	How to find shipping and immigration records in Australia
Scottish Record Office	The Australian source list [4 microfiches]
Scottish Record Office	The Scots in Australia 1788-1988
Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints	CD ROM - Australian Vital Records Index 1788-1905

Canada

www.collectionscanada.gc.ca: Library and Archives Canada holds immigration records on microfilm 1865-1935. Website Includes bibliography of printed lists.
www.mun.ca./mha: Maritime History Archive hosted by the Memorial University of Newfoundland has data on individuals and families involved in the settlement of Newfoundland up to 1850.

Resources held at the Heritage Hub
Author	Title
Dobson, David A.	Scots in USA and Canada 1825-1900
Lawson, James	The emigrant Scots: an inventory of extant ships manifests (passenger lists) in Canadian archives for ships travelling from Scotland to Canada before 1900
Whyte, Donald	Dictionary of Scottish emigrants to Canada before Confederation. 2 vols.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints	CD Rom - Vital Records Index to North America [USA & Canada] 1631-1888
Family Tree Maker	CD Rom - Immigrants to the New World 1600s-1800s
Family Tree Maker	CD Rom - Passenger and immigration lists: Irish Immigrants to North America 1803-1871

New Zealand

www.archives.govt.nz: Archives New Zealand holds immigration records and original passenger lists of arrivals.
www.list.jaunay.com/ausnzpassengers: Locates passenger lists for ships to New Zealand

Resources held at the Heritage Hub
Author	Title
Scottish Interest Group of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists	Microfiche - Register of New Zealand immigrants of Scottish birth arriving before 1 January 1921.

Northern Ireland

www.proni.gov.uk

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has online guide: Family History: - Key Sources

The Heritage Hub holds a small directory which lists a few hundred Scottish settlers:
Author	Title
Dobson, David	Scots Irish links 1575-1725

United States of America

www.ellisisland.org: Online access to ship manifests at the Federal Government immigration station at Ellis Island New York, 1892-1954. Prior to that individual states regulated immigration.
www.castlegarden.org: Online access to the arrival lists at Castle Garden - the processing station for immigrants to New York State 1855-1890.
www.archives.gov: US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) holds immigration records for various ports 1800-1959. Bibliography of the main US printed lists.

Resources held at the Heritage Hub
Author	Title
Adams, Ian	Cargoes of despair and hope: Scottish emigration to North America 1603-1803
Dobson, David A.	The original Scots colonists of early America 1612-1783. Supplement 1607-1707
Dobson, David A.	Scots on the Chesapeake 1607-1830
Dobson, David A.	Scottish emigration to Colonial America 1606-178
Dobson, David A.	Directory of Scots banished to the American Plantations 1650 -1775
Dobson, David A.	Directory of Scots in the Carolinas 1680-183
Dobson, David A.	Scots in Georgia and the Deep South 1735-1845
Dobson, David A.	Scottish American heirs 1683-1883
Dobson, David A.	Scottish ships from Scotland to America 1628-1828
Dobson, David A.	Scottish soldiers in Colonial America [part two]
Dobson, David A.	Scots in USA and Canada 1825-1900
Erickson, Charlotte	Invisible immigrants: the adaptation of English and Scottish In 19th century America
Whyte, Donald	A dictionary of Scottish emigrants to the USA. 2vols
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints	CD Rom - Vital Records Index to North America [USA & Canada] 1631-1888
Family Tree Maker	CD Rom - Immigrants to the New World 1600s-1800s
Family Tree Maker	CD Rom - Passenger and immigration lists: Irish Immigrants to North America 1803-1871

May 2008