We hold many records about 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 about:
- Ships arriving at South Australian ports
- Mariners and sailors
- Migrants applying to come to South Australia through various government-run immigration schemes
- Colonisation 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
The indexes are in searchable PDF format and can be browsed for names.
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
GRG 56/68/4 Chronological List of Passenger Lists for Ships Arriving at South Australian Ports from Overseas 1836 - 1849 - use this list as a companion volume to GRG 56/68/5
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
GRG 56/68/4 Chronological List of Passenger Lists for Ships Arriving at South Australian Ports from Overseas 1836 - 1849 - use this list as a companion volume to GRG 56/68/5
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.
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 from 25 November 1840 to 21 May 1844.
This list is arranged into two separate sequences.
Index to GRG 41/10 Manifest of shipping 1840 - 1844 by surname of crew
Index to GRG 41/10 Manifest of shipping 1840 - 1844 by surname of passenger
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.
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. You may also have a reference to this index as GRG56/68/3 which was the identification given to the entire index when it was created.
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.
Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 A - Bee
Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Beec - Coe
Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 Coen - D
Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 E - F
Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 G
Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 H – I
Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 J – K
Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 L
Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 M
Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 N – R
Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 S
Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 T - V
Index to official assisted passenger lists 1845 - 1886 W - Z
Official lists of passengers arriving in South Australia from overseas 1888 to 1908 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.
Lists of outgoing passengers departing from Port Adelaide for overseas ports 1889 to 1940 - 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
Official lists of passengers arriving in South Australia from overseas 1909 to 1924 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.
Assisted passage, passenger lists 1845-1940
Records available on FamilySearch
- Records relating to official assisted immigration - Crown Lands and Immigration Office - Official assisted passage passenger lists 1845-1886
(GRG 35/48/1)
- Lists of outgoing passengers departing from Port Adelaide for overseas ports 1888-1940 (GRG 41/35)
- Official lists of passengers arriving in South Australia from overseas 1888-1940 (GRG 41/34)