Search our website and collections

Go direct to State Archives online indexesGo direct to State Archives catalogue

Migration

Archives behind the scenes - assisted passenger lists

In this episode of Archives Behind the Scenes Emily shows us some assisted passenger lists, in particular the Board's Passenger Lists of arrivals to Sydney that date from 1848 to 1896

Beannachd leat, Alba – Goodbye, Scotland

For a number of Scottish women, the Hyde Park Barracks immigration depot was a refuge from the devastating Highland Clearances of the 19th century

Illustration of goldfields with figures dressed in Chinese-style clothing working.

Chinese on the goldfields

By the early 1850s, news of a gold rush in Australia sparked an influx in Chinese migration to Australia.

Water colour of the Hyde Park barracks showing front wall and gates. Smoke can be seen coming out of chimneys on either side of the 3 story brick barracks building.
Convict Sydney

Female migration

For many women in the UK migration was seen as an opportunity to change their fortunes - to escape poverty, find work and start a family

Black and white image of a building

Hope 1848–1886

In 1848 the Hyde Park Barracks became an immigration depot and hiring office for unaccompanied women newly arrived in Sydney

Irish orphan girls at Hyde Park Barracks

This is a story of over 4000 Irish orphans driven from their homeland by the Great Famine

A reflection of the Hyde Park Barracks on the glass as part of 'An Gorta Mor', The Australian Monument to the Great Irish Famine

Remembering the Great Irish Famine

The memorial was officially unveiled on 28 August 1999 by Governor-General Sir William Deane