Victorian immigration and emigration

Find passenger lists and other records of migrants arriving in and leaving Victoria.

Interstate arrivals and departures

Records of interstate shipping to and from Victoria can be found in the following resources:

  • Victoria coastal passenger lists 1852-1923
    Passenger lists of those travelling by ship into Victoria from another Australia port. These lists are available on the following websites:

    • Public Record Office Victoria 

    • Findmypast  Access only at the Library
      Provides images and transcripts of the original passenger lists. For use in the Library building only. 

    • Family Search 
      This database provides free access to the transcripts of the passenger lists. Free account required.

  • Victorian outward passengers to interstate, UK, NZ and foreign ports 1852-1923
    Available on the Public Record Office Victoria website. 

  • 'South Australia, Immigrants Ship Papers, 1849-1940', via FamilySearch  (free account required). Indexed records in collection include passenger lists arriving and departing from South Australia, including passengers coming from or en route to Melbourne. Original records in the State Records of South Australia, Adelaide.

  • ‘Shipping Intelligence’ column of The Argus newspaper (strong coverage exists in the 1880s period).

  • Family records or documents that have survived in a repository, or have been referenced in a genealogical publication – search the State Library’s Manuscripts collection (for references to family papers or diaries). You could also try the Trove website for references available in other libraries.