Source Information
- Registers of Inward and Outward Passengers, 1893-1896. Accession Number 113, AN 371. State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
- Lists of Emigrants by Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners’ Ships, 1851-1867. Accession Number 115, AN 371. State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
- Survey Office, Passenger Lists – Inwards from Overseas, 1829-1930. Accession Number 297. State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
- Arrivals and Departures for Fremantle and Outports, 1898-1915. Accession Number 457. State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
- Colonial Secretary’s Office, Passenger and Crew Lists, Manifests Inwards for Fremantle, 1880-1898 (incomplete) . Accession Number 503, AN 371. State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
- Colonial Secretary’s Office, Passenger Lists of Immigrants for Certain Ships, 1876-1877. Series 1243, Consignment 633. State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
- Register – Expirees and Conditional Pardons, 1863-1894. Series 1135, Consignment 318, Item 1. State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
About Western Australia, Australia, Crew and Passenger Lists, 1852-1930
This is a collection of passenger records of arriving immigrants and emigrants to Western Australian port cities from 1852 to 1930. The majority of records involve arrivals from the Eastern States, but immigrants from overseas are also included.
The earliest passenger lists in Western Australia were held by the Colonial Secretary’s Office and in newspapers. These are contained in the Fremantle Passenger Arrivals record. In 1885, the Western Australia gold rush started and by the first decade of the 1900s the gold mining industry was at its peak in the eastern goldfields of Western Australia. The gold rush brought many more settlers and prospectors to Western Australia, much like earlier rushes had done around Melbourne.
Before Fremantle Harbour was deepened and the limestone bar and sand shoals removed in 1898, Albany was the major port of call for ships arriving from overseas and the Eastern States. During the gold rush, many people arrived in Albany before heading to the goldfields or Perth by train. From 1901 on, the responsibility for immigration records was held by the Commonwealth, not the states, so the post-1900 immigration records are in the National Archives, while this is a collection of records from the State Records Office of Western Australia. The two records from Fremantle cover mostly travel from the Eastern States with a few listings of overseas arrivals. Other port cities included in this collection are Albany, Geraldton, Carnarvon, Bunbury, Esperance, and Eucla. The collection also contains overland arrivals at Eucla. Some records list the crew as well as passengers, but most do not.
The records vary, but most contain:
- Port of departure
- Port of arrival
- Vessel name
- Passenger name
- Rank
- Nationality or origin
- Arrival date
- Departure date
- Destination port
