Genes Reunited Releases Ship Passenger Records Online
By Genes Reunited, PRNESunday, June 19, 2011
LONDON, June 20, 2011 -
Genes Reunited, the family history website, has announced that
people will now be able to view passenger lists online. The
lists include people onboard ships departing British ports for
long-distance voyages across the world from 1890 to 1960.
The
passenger records offer a range of information from simply the
passenger’s name and age, to much more detailed information; the
departure and destination ports, the ship’s name, date of travel as
well as actual descriptions of the passengers themselves, such as,
UK address, year of birth, marital status, occupation and
nationality. Through these records it is possible to find some
truly unique information about ancestors who voyaged overseas.
As well as the range of detail that can be found in these
records, there are also some famous names which can be discovered,
in particular Hollywood royalty such as a two year old Elizabeth
Taylor, a 56 year old Alfred Hitchcock, a 22 year old Audrey
Hepburn and finally a four year old Olivia Newton-John who was on
her way from London to Australia.
The passenger records cover the period of mass migration to
Australia between 1947 and 1960 when an estimated 710,000 people
travelled there from Great Britain. This ‘golden age’ of
migration to Australia was prompted by the launch of the
Government’s ‘Ten Pound Pom’ scheme to encourage Britons to
emigrate to Australia and enhance the nation’s skilled workforce
driving its economy forwards.
Similarly to today, the records reveal a high number of retirees
also travelled to Australia to spend the rest of their lives in the
sun, with 17,385 retirees emigrating from the UK during the 1950s.
Furthermore, 140,511 housewives travelled to Australia in the same
decade. The records also show that there were 58 divorcees
and 215 widowers listed who may have journeyed to the country to
make a fresh start.
Rhoda Breakell, head of Genes Reunited, commented: “The wealth
of passenger list records now available on Genes Reunited is an
invaluable resource for people tracing relatives they believe may
have left the UK from 1890 onwards. The passenger records may
very well provide a missing link for many family historians who
have hit a brick wall in their research, as well as helping those
outside of the UK to trace back to their British and European
heritage.”
The easily-searchable and user-friendly database on the
enable would-be genealogists and family historians alike to view
digitised images of the original ship passenger records online,
which contain over 1.1 million pages, listing the 24 million
passengers who travelled on long-distance journeys from UK
ports.
About Genes Reunited:
Genes Reunited was launched in 2003 as a sister-site to the
Internet phenomenon Friends Reunited. Since then it has grown to
become the UK’s largest genealogy website.
It marked a revolution in genealogy and ancestry by combining
them with Internet social-networking. Members are able to build
their family tree by posting it on the site and investigating which
ancestors they share with other members. They can also search
historical records such as census, death, marriage, military and
birth records.
Genes has over 11 million members and over 750 million names
listed. One new name is added to the site every single second.
PR Contact:
Carolynne Bull-Edwards
Head of PR
Fourth Floor, 117 Fenchurch Street
London
EC3M 5DY
+44(0)2079940149
.
Tags: Australia/Oceania, Genes Reunited, June 20, London, United Kingdom
