New South Wales Emigration and Immigration

Online Resources

 * 1787-1859 New South Wales and Tasmania: Settlers and Convicts 1787-1859, at FindMyPast, index ($)
 * 1787-1976 New South Wales, Australia, Miscellaneous Records, 1787-1976, images only, topic index, ($)
 * 1790-1849 New South Wales, Australia Convict Ship Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1790-1849, index, browse, and images, ($).
 * 1791-1816 List of convict ships and prisoner's names from Ireland to Sydney, 1791-1816 at FamilySearch Catalog; images only
 * 1800-1849 In-letters, 1800-1849, New South Wales Colonial Secretary Includes letters from Norfolk Island, 1833-1835. Requests for removal, transfer, having families brought over. Shipping lists and orders.
 * 1816-1825 Shipping records, 1816-1825, New South Wales, images.
 * 1816-1825, 1898-1911 New South Wales, Australia, Departing Crew and Passenger Lists, 1816-1825, 1898-1911 at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1826-1922 New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922, index, browse, and images, ($).
 * 1826-1900 New South Wales Passenger Lists, 1826-1900, index, ($)
 * 1826-1856 New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary's Letters, 1826-1856 at Ancestry - index and images ($)
 * 1826-1859 Reports of vessels arrived, 1826-1859, images.
 * 1828-1842 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1828-1842 New South Wales, Australia 1828 - 1842: Bounty Immigrants List, at Ancestry, index, ($).
 * 1828-1890 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1828-1890 Assisted immigrants inwards to Sydney, 1828-1890 at FamilySearch Catalog; images only
 * 1828-1896 New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896, index, and images, ($).
 * 1837-1925 Inward shipping lists, 1837-1925, images. A list of crews and passengers on ships arriving at ports in New South Wales.
 * 1839-1896 Index to Assisted Immigrants 1839-96, Moreton Bay, 1848-1859, Port Phillip 1839-1851; Also at MyHeritage ($)
 * 1842-1851 Index to unassisted Immigrants 1842-1851
 * 1846 New South Wales, Australia, Passengers Arriving at Port Phillip, 1846 at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1848-1873 Register of applications for passages to the colonies for convicts' families, 1848-1873, images.
 * 1850-80s Mariners and Ships in Australian Waters - primarily New South Wales, unassisted records from the 1850-80s, incomplete
 * 1853-1900 New South Wales, Australia, Immigration Deposit Journals, 1853-1900 at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1877-1882 Immigration papers, 1877-1882, New South Wales, images.
 * 1881 1881 British Census, Crew and Passengers On Ships Arriving In New South Wales, index, ($)

Australia

 * Ireland-Australia transportation database National Library of Australia
 * Genealogical Index To Australians and Other Expatriates In Papua New Guinea at FindMyPast - index & images ($)
 * Australian Contingents To South Africa at FindMyPast - index & image ($)
 * Australia Passenger Indexes archived on the Wayback Machine
 * 19-Century Emigration of 'Old Lutherans' from Eastern Germany to Australia, Canada, and the United States, index and images, ($).
 * 1788-1968 Ozships: Australian shipping 1788-1968
 * 1788-1890 Admission, discharge and other records, 1788-1890, images. These are the records of the Royal Philanthropic Society, organized in 1788 "for the admission of the offspring of convicts and the reformation of criminal poor children." Records exist of those who went to Australia.
 * 1811-1856 Australia, Assisted Emigration at FindMyPast - index & images ($)
 * 1826-1972 Australia, Inward, Outward, & Coastal Passenger Lists 1826-1972 at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
 * 1850-1879 Emigrants from Hamburg to Australasia, 1850 - 1879 The collection records the name, former place of residence, age, occupation, ship, destination and departure year for more than 40,000 emigrants between 1850 and 1879. Passengers on all ships to Australia and New Zealand are listed; they include emigrants destined for all states in Australia (except Western Australia) and ports in both the north and south islands of New Zealand. It includes passenger lists for which no Australasian records exist. It is an important resource for family historians and those with a more general interest in migration from Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Italy and other European countries.
 * 1873-1924 Alphabetical register of all inward passengers to Albany, 1873-1924 at FamilySearch Catalog; images only
 * 1890-1960 Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960 at FindMyPast; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Australia
 * 1904-1914 Germany, Bremen Passenger Departure Lists, 1904-1914 at MyHeritage; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Australia
 * 1946-1971 Free Access: Africa, Asia and Europe, Passenger Lists of Displaced Persons, 1946-1971 Ancestry, free. Index and images. Passenger lists of immigrants leaving Germany and other European ports and airports between 1946-1971. The majority of the immigrants listed in this collection are displaced persons - Holocaust survivors, former concentration camp inmates and Nazi forced laborers, as well as refugees from Central and Eastern European countries and some non-European countries.
 * Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild Choose a volume and then choose Australia under "Listed by Port of Departure" or "Listed by Port of Arrival".
 * Immigrant Ancestors Project

Convict Records

 * 1810-1867: New South Wales, Australia, Certificates of Freedom at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1810-1869: New South Wales, Australia, Tickets of Leave at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1810-1891: New South Wales, Australia, Convict Records at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1824-1886: New South Wales, Australia, Convict Savings Bank Books at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1825-1840: New South Wales, Australia, Wives & Children of Irish Convicts at Ancestry; index only ($)
 * 1825-1851: New South Wales Registers Of Convicts Applications To Marry at FindMyPast; index & images ($); Also at Ancestry ($)
 * 1826-1856: New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary's Letters at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1826-1879: New South Wales, Australia, Convict Death Register at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1827-1867: New South Wales, Butts Of Convicts' Certificates Of Freedom at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
 * 1828-1839: New South Wales, Australia, Convict Applications for the Publication of Banns at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1829-1879: New South Wales, Australia, Sheriff's Papers at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1834-1859: New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia, Convict Pardons and Tickets of Leave at Ancestry; index & images ($)


 * 1787-1834: New South Wales, Australia, Settler and Convict Lists at Ancestry; images only ($)
 * 1787-1859: New South Wales and Tasmania: Settlers and Convicts at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
 * 1787-1976: New South Wales, Australia, Miscellaneous Records at Ancestry; images only ($)
 * 1788-1842: New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents at Ancestry; index & images ($); Also at FindMyPast ($)
 * 1788-1856: New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary's Papers at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1788-1870: New South Wales, Australia, Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1806-1849: New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1871-1969 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images

Australia Convict Records

 * 1788-1842 Australia List of Convicts with Particulars, 1788-1842 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
 * 1791-1867 Australia Convict Conditional and Absolute Pardons 1791-1867 at FindMyPast - index & images ($)
 * 1786-1849 Australia Convict Ships 1786-1849 at FindMyPast - index & images ($)
 * 1824-1874 Australia Convict Tickets Of Leave 1824-1874 at FindMyPast - index & images ($)
 * Australia's First Fleet
 * Australia's Second Fleet
 * Australia's Third Fleet
 * Convict transportation registers database
 * Ireland-Australia transportation database, National Archives of Ireland
 * Convicts to Australia

Archive Resources Kit

 * Community Access Points A list of libraries and archives which hold microcopies of the Archive Resource Kit records.
 * The Archive Resources Kit includes the following immigration and convict records:

Immigration

 * Indexes to ships arrived, 1837-1925
 * Assisted immigrants, 1828-42
 * Assisted immigrants (Port Phillip), 1839-51
 * Assisted immigrants Sydney, 1838-96, and Moreton Bay, 1848-59
 * Persons on bounty ships to Sydney, Newcastle and Moreton Bay, 1848-91
 * Unassisted Passengers arriving in Sydney, 1826-53, 1854-1900
 * Wage agreements & entitlement certificates (Sydney), 1844-45
 * Germans on bounty ships (Sydney), 1849-52
 * Wives and families of convicts on bounty ships (Sydney), 1849-55
 * Immigration deposit journals, 1853-1900
 * Members of the Family Colonization Loan Society, 1854-57
 * Passenger lists of the Family Colonization Loan Society, 1854-55
 * Ships musters: passengers departing, 1816-25

Convict Records

 * Index to Convict Indents, 1837-42
 * Convict Indents, 1788-1842
 * Musters and other papers relating to convict ships, 1790-1849	NRS 1155
 * Registers of convicts' applications to marry, 1825-51
 * Assignment Registers, 1821-24
 * Register of Tickets of Leave, 1824-27
 * Ticket of Leave butts, 1827-67
 * Registers of Conditional Pardons, 1791-1825
 * Registers of convicts recommended for Conditional Pardons, 1826-56
 * Registers of Absolute Pardons, 1791-1843 and Registers of recommendations for Absolute Pardons, 1826-46
 * Convict Deaths, 1828-79

Ancestry and immigration
Country of Birth (2016 Census)

At the 2016 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were: • English (33%)

• Australian (32.4%)

• Irish (10.6%)

• Scottish (8.4%)

• Chinese (7.4%)

• Italian (3.9%)

• German (3.4%)

• Indian (3%)

• Indigenous (2.9%)

• Lebanese (2.4%)

• Greek (1.9%)

• Filipino (1.7%)

• Vietnamese (1.6%)

• Dutch (1.1%)

At the 2016 census, there were 2,581,138 people living in New South Wales that were born overseas, accounting for 34.5% of the population. Only 45.4% of the population had both parents born in Australia.

2.9% of the population, or 216,176 people, identified as Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders) in 2016.