Researching Your Family’s History from Ships Passenger Lists

Family historians and genealogists prize the information that ship passenger lists have to offer. Although the information recorded on the lists was not made standard until the twentieth century, finding an ancestor or research target on a ship’s passenger list still provides valuable knowledge about the ancestor. The information on these lists include age, who they traveled with, what ship they took if they traveled first-class or steerage, what port they sailed from and what port they landed at, and their occupation when they took the journey. All of this information was typically recorded along with extra information like their physical description.