Sessional Papers/Parliamentary Papers

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General Information on Availability of Passenger Lists in the UK

The following information was provided by Debbie Beavis.

BT26 - Passenger Lists, Inwards, 1878-1888 and 1890-1960

These give the names of all passengers arriving in the UK where the ship's voyage began at a port outside Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. Names of passengers who boarded these ships at European ports and disembarked in the UK will be included in these lists. However it should be noted that passenger lists for ships whose voyages both began and ended within Europe (including the UK and the Mediterranean Sea) are not included. There is a small collection of lists between 1878 and 1888. The continuous run begins in 1890.

BT27 - Passenger Lists, Outwards, 1890-1960

These give the names of all passengers leaving the UK where the ship's eventual destination was a port outside Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. Names of passengers who disembarked at European ports from these ships will be included in these lists. However it should be noted that passenger lists for ships whose voyages both began and ended within Europe (including the UK and the Mediterranean Sea) are not included. Lists earlier than 1890 have not survived.

It is important also to remember that British lists have not been filmed, many of them are in a fragile condition and searching them is very time consuming. There are no indexes of names, and most lists are not alphabetical. The information given varies but can include age, occupation, last address in the UK, (outbound, after 1920) and proposed destination. Inbound lists after 1920 will usually include the proposed address in the UK but they do NOT show last address prior to joining the ship. They are arranged monthly by port of departure. To use them you need to know at least the approximate date of departure and the port if you are to have any realistic hope of finding a passenger's name. After a few emails asking for more information/clarification about British passenger lists, perhaps the following might be useful.

You CANNOT get passenger lists for:

Ships travelling between ports in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England
Ferry boats, including Cross-Channel, North Sea and Irish Sea ferries
Ships travelling between England and all European ports or any ports which lie on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, including all islands in the Med such as Malta UNLESS the ship's voyage started or ended outside that area.
Cruise ships
Voyages which happened before 1890 unless it was one of the very few lists which escaped the bonfire, but they are only for a few arrivals in Queenstown between 1878 and 1888
Ships bringing trans-migrants into the east coast ports in the UK (Hull, Grimsby etc) from Scandinavia, Germany, Holland, Belgium for example before shipping out through Liverpool, Leith etc. You can only pick these up in British lists by finding them leaving on transAtlantic ships or others bound for beyond-Europe destinations. No Wilson Line arrival lists into Hull.
You also cannot find the names of passengers who boarded ships in (say) Antwerp, which then called in to Dover or London for example before continuing to the US, Canada etc. So if your passenger boarded a Red Star Line ship in Antwerp which took on more passengers in Dover en route for the US, you will not find the names of those already on board when she arrived in Dover.
Soldiers on purely troop-ship voyages
Ships which sank before they reached their port in the UK. This means there is NO arrival list for the Lusitania's last voyage, nor for any other ship which did not arrive at its destination for whatever reason.
But like all rules, these are meant to be broken! I can think of various exceptions to quite a few of these examples but they are all mistakes! They shouldn't be there! If you stumble across such an example you will be very lucky! I am keeping a list of all these 'mistakes' so if anyone finds an example I'd be grateful if you could let me know. (Send email to Debbie Beavis at marine@netcomuk.co.uk) Remember it is often easier to find your passenger arriving at their final destination on transAtlantic and Australia voyages. British lists are not indexed nor filmed!

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