Shipping & Immigration Resources

— links to passenger lists, immigration records and maritime databases

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A curated collection of the best online resources for researching shipping and immigration. Links verified June 2026. · If you find a broken link or know of a resource not listed, please contact the webmanager.

Major NZ Databases & Archives

Free

NZ Immigration Passenger Lists 1839–1973

FamilySearch / Archives New Zealand

The most comprehensive NZ passenger list collection online. Fully digitised from Archives New Zealand originals — covers assisted and unassisted immigrants arriving by ship 1839 to 1973. Many records are indexed and searchable by name; others can be browsed by port and date.

Free

Archives New Zealand — Migration Guide

archives.govt.nz

The definitive guide to NZ migration records held by Archives NZ. Covers the New Zealand Company 1838–1853, provincial assisted immigration from 1855, and commercial passenger lists 1883–1973. Includes card indexes and crew lists. Start here if you are unsure where to look.

Free

Papers Past

natlib.govt.nz — National Library of NZ

Digitised NZ newspapers and periodicals from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Passenger arrival and departure notices were regularly published in provincial newspapers — an invaluable source for finding individuals not listed in official passenger lists. Fully searchable by name.

Free

New Zealand Maritime Index

NZ Maritime Museum

Search for vessels, organisations, and people mentioned in a range of NZ maritime publications indexed by the Museum. Useful for researching ship histories and maritime personnel beyond the standard passenger lists.

Free

Te Ara — Stories of Immigrant Shipping

teara.govt.nz — The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Rich contextual articles on the history of immigrant shipping to New Zealand from the 1840s. Useful for understanding the journey your ancestors made and the ships they sailed on. Includes photographs, maps, and contemporary accounts.

New Zealand Passenger List Resources

🚢 NZ Shipping Databases

New Zealand Maritime Index— NZ Maritime Museum — search vessels, subjects and people across multiple NZ maritime publications

New Zealand Yesteryears— over 2,000 passenger lists with 942 ships and 250 ship photographs; also includes travel within NZ ports

Passenger Arrivals at Port Chalmers— March 1848 to January 1851 — expanded and corrected version of Dr Hocken's lists

NZ Society of Genealogists — Shipping Database— limited free access; NZSG members can view the full database; more extensive version available at the Family Research Centre

Petone Settlers Museum — Passenger Database— arrivals from UK, Europe and Australia to Wellington 1839–1897

Auckland Libraries — Passenger Arrivals— taken from newspaper reports 1838–1889 plus Archives NZ lists 1909–1921; search the catalogue for "passenger arrivals"

Tasman Libraries — Immigrant & Shipping Records— passenger lists for early migrant ships to Nelson and the Tasman region

Seafarers' Scroll — Lost at Sea— scroll of known seafarers who lost their lives whilst serving in New Zealand waters

🚢 Australia

OzShips— convicts 1788–1868; arrivals, departures, and passenger lists for Australia

Perth Dead Persons Society— Western Australia family history including shipping arrivals

Unassisted Immigration to Victoria 1852–1923— Public Record Office Victoria — index of inward passenger lists from British and foreign ports

Emigrants.net.au— searchable database of emigrant passenger lists compiled from public submissions; Australia and NZ focus

🚢 United Kingdom

UK National Archives — Passenger Lists— outward passenger lists 1890–1960 and inward lists; also searchable for shipboard diaries and logs

FindMyPast — UK Passenger Lists 1890–1960— subscription service; covers Australia, NZ, USA, Canada and other destinations

🚢 United States

Ellis Island Database— New York immigration 1892–1957 — over 65 million passenger and crew records

Castle Garden— New York immigration 1820–1892 — pre-Ellis Island arrivals, over 11 million records

Ancestry — US Passenger Lists— subscription — US immigration and passenger lists 1820–1957; one of the largest collections available

🚢 International & General

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild (ISTG)— 100+ passenger list sites, emigration/immigration research, ethnic research, library and archive guides, and worldwide maritime information

Cyndi's List — NZ Ships & Passenger Lists— comprehensive directory of online NZ shipping resources including convict lists, passenger lists, and port-specific databases

FamilySearch — Immigration to NZ Catalogue— 100+ items including books and microfiche on NZ shipping; some available at the NZSG library

Note: Several links from the previous version of this page have been removed as they are no longer active — including Rootsweb-hosted pages (NZ Bound, Denise & Peter's pages), Freeservers, Angelfire, and the old Archway search portal (now replaced by Archives NZ's Collections search). · The Archives NZ passenger lists guide is the best starting point for any NZ shipping research. · If you find a broken link or know of a resource not listed please contact the webmanager.