New Zealand Shipping Passenger Lists

Editor’s Comments

I am getting more requests for Passenger Lists so that people can complete their family trees. My objective when I set up “The History of New Zealand Shipping” was to concentrate on the anecdotal stories that really give you a buzz when you read them. Providing detailed information on Passenger Lists is not in line with my objective. However I appreciate this website may attract people looking for information on NZSCo Passengers. To help those people, I am providing this page of information on locating Passenger Lists. 

UK Records

All ships carrying passengers in or out of any British port were required by law to lodge a passenger list with the relevant port authorities. Records for ship passengers travelling between 1890 and 1960 are available in the UK Board of Trade’s collection of original passenger lists. 
These can be seen at the Public Record Office in Kew, England. 
More information is available at http://www.pro.gov.uk/research/easysearch/migration.htm

In 2003 The Public Records Office (PRO) merged with the Historical Manuscripts Commission to form the The National Archives, you need to go to https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

After 1960, UK Passenger Lists do not exist, primarily because of increasing air travel.

The Reality

Passenger Lists exist as paper documents, hand written or typed, and stored in boxes. With the passage of time these documents are fragile and require careful handling. Any research will therefore be time consuming. Few of these Passenger Lists have been transcribed into accessible Databases. There are Volunteer Organisations carrying out this work. More information can be found at https://www.immigrantships.net/index.html
The reality is locating your family and friends on NZSCo Passenger Lists will require time, effort, expertise and, maybe even cost if you employ professional researchers.