Here are the dates for which you can find the series of Board of Trade British passenger lists, together with a brief description of what you may find. Note that these lists are NOT filmed! They can only be seen at the Public Record Office in Kew, England. They are very time consuming to search, there are no indexes of any kind at Kew and no official 'finding aids' exist. Lists after 1906, can often open up the way to locate that elusive information of the name of the ship which brought transmigrants (ie migrants who came to Britain to board their ship to Australia) into the UK. This is the only way of extracting that information as there are no arrival lists for these voyages (see below). Note that the name of the 'feeder' ship is sometimes given, but was not required. From 1907, the name of the steamship line bringing these transmigrants to the UK was a requirement and should be separately recorded. 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. Debbie Beavis www.passengerlists.co.uk