We hold many records relating to immigration to South Australia from 1836 onwards, with a full set of digitised passenger lists from 1845 - 1940.
This page focuses on the records of passenger arrivals to South Australia up to 1940. We also hold records relating to:
- Ships arriving at South Australian ports
- Mariners and sailors
- Migrants applying to come to South Australia through various government-run immigration schemes
- Colonization Commissioners, and
- Crown Lands and Immigration Office Correspondence.
National Archives of Australia has records of:
- Passenger lists for all Australian ports from 1924
- Passenger lists for arrivals in South Australia from 1941, and
- British and Foreign crew from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Access conditions
Most of these records are open for general public access.
Indexes and special lists
- 1836 - Colonial Office
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Passengers arriving in South Australia on the Buffalo in 1836 (GRG 56/68/5)
This list has been prepared as an extract from the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) reel 306 - Public Record Office CO 13/4 (National Archives, United Kingdom).
It also contains a reference to a crew list available in GRG24/90 Item 373 (Miscellaneous records of historical interest, artificial series - Colonial Secretary's Office, Governor's Office and others).
GRG 56/68/5 Index to passengers arriving in South Australia from overseas 1836 on the Buffalo
- 1836 to 1845 - Newspapers
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Passengers arriving at South Australia from overseas ports 1836 - 1845 (GRG 56/68/5)
This is an index to early passenger lists for international arrivals for the period 1836 to 1845.
Entries within the index have been taken from newspapers. Make note of the key to source references at the front of the index.
GRG 56/68/5 Index to passengers arriving in South Australia from overseas 1836 - 1845 Abbott - Eagle
GRG 56/68/5 Index to passengers arriving in South Australia from overseas 1836 - 1845 Eagle - Jury
- 1846 to 1887 - Newspapers
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People arriving in South Australia from overseas 1846 - 1887 (GRG 56/68/7)
This index contains names of immigrants arriving in South Australia from overseas, as recorded in newspapers - the Adelaide Times, the South Australian and the Register.
Once you have identified the newspaper and date, you can find the digitised newspaper list on Trove.
Each entry has a source codes which can be checked against GRG 56/68/7 Key to newspaper index 1846 - 1887.
- 1840 to 1844 - Outward manifests
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Manifest of Shipping departing from Port Adelaide 1840 - 1844
Manifests are lists documenting the cargo on a ship, the passengers and the crew members.
The manifest book in this series records data for outward shipping from Port Adelaide for the period 25 November 1840 to 21 May 1844.
This list is arranged into two separate sequences.
Special list to GRG 41/10 Manifest of shipping 1840 - 1844 by surname of crew
Special list to GRG 41/10 Manifest of shipping 1840 - 1844 by surname of passenger
- 1849 to 1865 - Deaths
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Deaths On-Board Immigrant Ships 1849 - 1865
This list was published in the South Australian Government Gazette on 25 January 1866.
It contains the names of persons who died on board immigrant ships between 1849 and 1865.
This special list is arranged alphabetically by the surname of the deceased.
Special List to deaths on-board immigrant ships, 1849 - 1865 A - Z
- 1845 to 1886 - Official passenger lists
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Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 (GRG 35/48/1)
This index to official passenger lists is arranged alphabetically by the name of the emigrant.
After each name in the index is the ship number:
- The first two numbers refer to the year of arrival (ie. 66 = 1866).
- The next number refers to the passenger list number allocated by the Archives, which reflects the sequence by which ships arrived.
GRG 56/68/3 Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Aarons - Bee
GRG 56/68/3 Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Beech - Coe
GRG 56/68/3 Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Coer - Dyson
GRG 56/68/3 Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Eacott - Fynes
GRG 56/68/3 Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Gabb – Gyles
GRG 56/68/3 Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Haake– Izatt
GRG 56/68/3 Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Jachmann – Kyte
GRG 56/68/3 Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Laban – Lyttleton
GRG 56/68/3 Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Mabey – Myson
GRG 56/68/3 Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Naffin – Ryss
GRG 56/68/3 Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Sabin - Szurkiewicz
GRG 56/68/3 Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Tabb - Vye
GRG 56/68/3 Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Wach - Zweck
- 1888 to 1908 - Official passenger lists
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Official lists of passengers arriving in South Australia from overseas (GRG 41/34)
This series contains official passenger lists of ships arriving in Port Adelaide from overseas, from 1888-1940.
The Customs Department required masters of incoming ships to prepare and forward passenger lists to the Department.
These lists cover 1888 to 1908 (with gaps for 1893 and 1895). They may contain names of passengers disembarking at Australian ports other than Adelaide.
- 1889 to 1940 - Outgoing passenger lists
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Lists of outgoing passengers departing from Port Adelaide for overseas ports - Customs Department (GRG 41/35)
This series contains outgoing passenger lists for passengers leaving from Port Adelaide to overseas ports. There are some gaps.
Information recorded varies over time, but generally includes ship's name, master's name, tonnage, where bound, date, port of embarkation, names of passengers, ages, occupation, nationality and port at which passengers have contracted to land.
GRG 41/35 Index to Ships and Outward Passenger Lists, 1889 to 1940
- 1909 to 1924 - Official passenger lists
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Official lists of passengers arriving in South Australia from overseas (GRG 41/34)
This series contains official passenger lists of ships arriving in Port Adelaide from overseas, from 1888-1940.
The Customs Department required masters of incoming ships to prepare and forward passenger lists to the Department.
These lists cover 1909 to 1924. They may contain names of passengers disembarking at Australian ports other than Adelaide.
Digitised records
Assisted passage, passenger lists 1845-1940
These records are also available on the FamilySearch website along with indexes.
FamilySearch - Records relating to official assisted immigration - Crown Lands and Immigration Office - Official assisted passage passenger lists 1845-1886 (GRG 35/48/1)
FamilySearch - Lists of outgoing passengers departing from Port Adelaide for overseas ports 1888-1940 (GRG 41/35)
FamilySearch - Official lists of passengers arriving in South Australia from overseas 1888-1940 (GRG 41/34)
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