(Use your browser's 'Back' button to return to the Passenger arrivals index screen.)
On this page:
In your initial search for a passenger, it is better to include only a family name and (if you know it) a year, or range of years, of arrival (eg 1926 or 1926-1927).
Not all passenger list entries include given names, ports of embarkation and disembarkation. If your initial search is too specific (eg it includes a family name, given names, port of embarkation and day of arrival) you may not find the relevant entry.
If your search retrieves a large number of entries, use the Refine this search result button (at the top of the 'Display passenger search results' screen). Then enter information in another option. Usually the best option is the ship's name - see ship/aircraft name for advice. But you may also want to search using given name/s - see given names for advice.
If you don't find the information you are looking for, it may be because the relevant passenger list has not yet been entered into the database. Check the 'Current coverage' note at the bottom of the 'Passenger arrivals index' search screen.
You may also need to broaden your search. Use fewer search options (eg family name only) or, if you are not sure of the spelling, do a wildcard search. See wildcard searching for advice.
If you know the name of the ship that the passenger arrived on, you can search by ship and look through all the passengers.
Names in passenger lists may not be correctly recorded. They may have been spelt incorrectly when written down from the spoken word, they may be abbreviated or the handwriting may be illegible.
To retrieve variations of family names, you may need to conduct a wildcard search or more than one search, for example, undertake two searches:
If the family name includes more than one word, you must type all words (eg Barr Smith) or use a wildcard. If you type 'Smith' or 'Barr', you will not retrieve people with the family name Barr Smith.
Bear in mind that this is an index and family members are not grouped together as they are on the passenger list. For example, if there are three Smith families on a ship, although they will be grouped by family on the passenger list, in a search of this index the Smiths will appear in alphabetical order by their given names.
See wildcard searching for advice. And see above if you retrieve too many results.
Note that on the passenger list entries index to date:
A man whose given name is George may be listed as George, Geo or G. Or he may be listed by family name alone. If you are using a given name to refine a search, it is better to search with a wildcard, eg G*.
You can type a year (eg 1926), a month and year (eg Jan 1926) or a day, month and year (eg 25 Jan 1926).
Bear in mind that the date of arrival is the date the ship arrived in Fremantle, and that many passengers travelled on to the eastern states. If you know a person disembarked in Sydney on 2 June 1927, then you could type '1927'. If you know they got to Sydney in January 1927, then it is better to type 1926-1927. It may still have been 1926 when they arrived in Fremantle.
Ships' names must be typed in full, exactly as spelt, or with a wildcard, taking particular care if the ship's name includes more than one word, for example:
If you type the ship's name as 'Genova' or 'City of Genoa', for example, you will not retrieve any passenger list entries as the ship was named Citta Di Genova.
You can check the spelling of ships' names by viewing the list of ships/aircraft. (A View list of ships/aircraft button appears next to the Ship's name option on the 'Index to passenger arrivals' screen.)
Searching by aircraft name is not very helpful as you are unlikely to know the details. Early aircraft are listed under their aircraft registration number. Later arrivals are listed by their flight numbers.
Do not include the port of embarkation or disembarkation in an initial search for a passenger as you may fail to retrieve relevant entries.
For many passengers, the port of embarkation is listed as 'Unknown'.
Ports of embarkation could be:
Ports of disembarkation could be:
If you know the barcode of a passenger list for a particular voyage or flight and you wish to retrieve it quickly, you can use this search option to retrieve it directly.
You can retrieve variations of a name in one search by using asterisks or question marks within or after part of a word. This is known as a wildcard search. It works in every search option except date and barcode.
Use a question mark if it is just one letter that may vary.
Use an asterisk if the variation goes across multiple letters.
You can also use more than one asterisk.
Bear in mind that you might get more results than you anticipate.
Searches are not case-sensitive. You can type your query in upper case or lowercase or in any combination. The result will be the same.
You can use apostrophes, eg O'Brien. And you can use hyphens without a space, eg Anne-Marie but not Anne - Marie.