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We are discussing Tracing family history
With Antoinette Buchanan, Stephanie Ryan and Jennifer Higgins

Question:
I have traced family back to the point of their arrival in Moreton Bay/Queensland in the 1850s and 1860s. Apparently there is a problem with shipping records then. Many were destroyed in floods later in the 19th Century. Is there a way around this obstacle? One ship I am particularly keen to find out about is the Lady Macdonald which arrived in 1856

Answer:
Stephanie - Many shipping lists of 1850-1869 journeys to Moreton Bay/Queensland were lost in later floods but here are some ways to find ancestors’ ships of arrival for this time.

1850-1859: Queensland was part of NSW so check NSW lists
NSW shipping lists were much more informative than those of Moreton Bay. The Lady Macdonald is a good example. According to the Queensland immigration records from 1848 to 1923 (Queensland State Archives) which is held in a number of libraries there is no list for the Lady Macdonald. There are however two NSW lists, each providing more detail than a researcher will find on a Queensland list. Extra information includes the names of parents, and where family were living in the country of origin and the names of relatives in the colony.

Check an index for passengers coming to Moreton Bay during this period at the State Records of NSW website Use the advantages of the online index by exploiting the use of the wildcard to deal with possible spelling variations. Many males over the age of forty dropped their age significantly and stated they were agricultural labourers, regardless of previous employment in order to qualify for assisted passage so do not be distracted by these issues necessarily. Most State Libraries and many family history societies will hold the NSW shipping lists.

1860-1869: Queensland was now a separate State
Queensland, having achieved separation, was keen to encourage immigration but many lists were lost and there was no backup from NSW lists.

The Queensland State Archives site Indexes - Immigration 1848-1884 does not include all the sources for lists but it is a starting point. Check microform and printed sources held at libraries, societies and the Archives.

Land orders
Many immigrants qualified for land orders during this period. These could be used towards the purchase of land. Queensland State Archives has an index to registers of land orders in the reading room but not online. This links those entitled to them to a ship of arrival. Even if it is not possible to get the full personal details of passengers from the list, one can still find other material relating to the journey such as newspaper reports and any documentary material such as letters or journals as well as illustrations of the vessel.

Other ways of finding the ship of arrival
Newspaper accounts of reunions of fellow passengers, stories of old pioneers and passenger lists are some alternatives. The State Library of Queensland is indexing these where possible.

Early shipping in Moreton Bay 1846-1863
This two volume work by Winifred Davenport and Betty Mottram indexes passengers’ names, usually of those who were unassisted, from the shipping intelligence column from the Moreton Bay Courier.

Passenger lists for Moreton Bay/Queensland from non-British ports 1850-1860
Passengers who came from the United States, New Zealand and parts of Asia will not be recorded on the available lists.

German passenger lists
There are lists made at the departure point of those who left from Hamburg. Eric and Rosemary Kopittke have recorded and indexed these lists in Emigrants from Hamburg to Australia. There is a separate index for the 1850s and another for the 1860s. Their records covering 1850-1879 will soon be available on CD-ROM. The lists cover journeys to other Australian Colonies/States so many libraries would hold them

A few lists are not available. These are for ships which left from Bremen and include the Diana (1858) and the Solon (1859) which arrived in Moreton Bay. A list for the Pauline (1857) is available on the list of unassisted passengers into NSW.

Beware
If you cannot find the person you are looking for in lists of passengers to Queensland, check the shipping records of other States. Many immigrants to Australia arrived at a port in one colony and travelled elsewhere, for a number of reasons including cheaper passages to one colony rather than another, the search for gold or employment in another colony or another part of a colony, and movements of friends and family.

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