British Emigration Goes Online for the First Time

The UK National Archives has announced that everyone can now access the first comprehensive database of passenger lists from ships departing the UK on long-distance voyages to destinations including North America, Australia, India and South Africa between 1890 and 1960

The following is an extract from the National Archives' announcement:

This new online resource has been developed by one of the leading UK-based family history websites findmypast.com in association with The National Archives.  The passenger record series BT 27 covering 1890 - 1899 will go live from today, followed by the remaining decades between 1900 and 1960 over the next six months.

The database will enable would-be genealogists and family historians alike to view digitised images of the original ship passenger records online, which contain over 1.5 million pages, listing the 30 million passengers who travelled on long-distance journeys from UK ports.

The new resource includes passenger records from the period of mass migration between 1890 and 1914 when an estimated average of 131,000 people emigrated from Great Britain to other parts of the globe every year.

New Discoveries
These invaluable records will also provide a new avenue of research for people who have come to a ´brick wall´ in their family tree research using UK records. As well as every ship passenger record containing the names of each passenger, the name of the ship, the date and UK port of departure and the destination port, the records may also include the address, age, marital status, occupation and nationality of each passenger, providing invaluable details that could help uncover more branches of a family tree and further insights into a family's history.

Historical Insights
The passenger lists also open up new insights into family history and social trends. For example, the lists reveal the story of the Jewish migrants who fled persecution and poverty in Russia to escape to South Africa in search of a new life via British ports.

You can find more information at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk and at http://www.findmypast.com.

Comments

[Jude]

Unfortunately, my most recent immigrant from the UK came over in 1849 for the gold rush. Oh, well. This is still exciting news.

[m_hurl]

After locating my grandmother on ancestry arriving in NY in 1890 and on the Hamburg list, I was excited about the findmyfamily site. I was very disappointed. The lists for 1890 didn't have anything more than what was on the NY arrival list. In fact, the Brits had her listed with the wrong country and no city/county of origin. Prior to the launch of the emigration lists, there was no pricelist so I didn't purchase enough units. I had problems accessing the records and it cost me 50 units. I hope others gain more info on their ancestors than I did.

[Margaret]

Did anyone else have trouble downloading the viewer? I was ready to buy units and have tried to download the Lizard Tech viewer recommended. My Windows XP computer blocked it saying it was an "unknown publisher." No point in buying units if I can't view them. Is there a way to bypass the XP block?

[Dick Eastman]

You should be able to easily bypass the XP block. There should be an icon that says ACCEPT or DOWNLOAD or something like that. Lizard Tech is a well known viewer program used on many web sites. I have it installed on several of my PCs and have never had a problem with it.

- Dick Eastman

[Margaret]

For some reason, I only get the OK button and then when I chose it, I am bumped out of completing the download. I thank you for the suggestion, however. I hate when computers decide to "save" you!