The following resources may help you to trace ancestors who left or came to the United Kingdom.
Inward-bound passengers
You can search incoming passenger lists on ancestry.co.uk for people arriving in the United Kingdom from foreign ports outside of Europe and the Mediterranean. These passenger lists cover the years 1878 to 1960.
Records may include the name of the passenger, their date of birth or age, port of departure, port of arrival, date of arrival and vessel name.
The records were made available online by our partner, ancestry.co.uk. It is free to search the website, but there is a charge for viewing the full entry and downloading images of the passenger lists.
Selected images may be viewed free of charge on our Moving Here website.
Outward-bound passengers
You can search the outward-bound passenger lists at AncestorsOnBoard.com for people leaving ports in the United Kingdom and Ireland. These passenger lists cover the years 1890 to 1960.
The lists show details of passengers travelling to long-distance destinations, including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States of America.
The records were made available online by our partner, findmypast.com. It is free to search the website, but there is a charge for downloading images of the passenger lists.
Moving Here
Moving Here explores immigration to England over the last 200 years, in particular the migration of Caribbean, South-Asian, Irish and Jewish communities. The website enables you to:
- access documents and photographs to explore this fascinating history
- get advice on tracing your family history
- read people's personal experiences of migration and add your own story
Research guidance
Research signposts
For those starting out on their research, useful information can be found in our research signposts. Each brief guide indicates where you can find the relevant records, and how they can be accessed:
In depth research guides
Our in-depth research guides give you more detail on the relevant records and provide bibliographies for further research:
