On 2 May 2002 at 6:41, Bob & Penny Flynn wrote: > Hi > I was wondering if some one could help me. > Thomas G Flynn came to Canada about 1844 from Ireland and Hello Bob, Before 1865 shipping companies were not required by the government to retain their passenger manifests. This means that passenger lists may not be available for the time period of interest to you. There are some passenger lists archived at the NAC (National Archives of Canada) for the time period 1817-1831. The NAC also holds scattered records for the years 1732 and 1749 to 1760 for immigrants who sailed from France. There are some passenger lists which were kept by shipping agents in the originating country. For example, the Passenger Books of J & J Cooke, Shipping Agents gives sailings from Londonderry to Philadelphia PA, Quebec, and St. John New Brunswick from 1847 to 1871. I have some passenger lists from these records online, and will be adding more as time permits. There are also the William McCorkell & Co. lists (from Ireland) but they begin in 1863 and end in 1871. The Hawke Papers, letterbooks of Chief Emigrant Agent Anthony B. Hawke are also available. They cover the years 1831 to 1892. There are also some special collections housed in Ontario University Libraries, and more details on those can be found in my Immigration to Canada before 1865 article online (URL below) Of course you won't want to overlook Olive Tree Genealogy's Ships Passenger Lists online for Canada at http://olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/tocanp01.shtml However, because ships passenger lists are so scattered for Canadian arrivals before 1865, you should also consult ships passenger lists substitutes to try to find records of an ancestor's arrival. These substitutes include the following: -Census Records - try to narrow the time frame for your ancestor's arrival. Census records for Canada vary by Province so you will need to consult records specific to your Province of interest. See http://olivetreegenealogy.com/can/ont/census.shtml for Ontario Census records. See http://olivetreegenealogy.com/can/ for other provinces. -Tax Rolls - don't overlook these records to pinpoint an arrival year. Ontario's Tax & Assessment records began at various times for each County. They are discussed on my census pages at http://olivetreegenealogy.com/can/ont/census.shtml -Newspaper Accounts - sometimes ship arrivals and/or passenger names were listed in local newspapers. Sometimes friends and family put in a "Looking for John Smith (or whoever) ...." requesting information on an immigrant. See http://olivetreegenealogy.com/can/ont/npaper.shtml for details on what newspapers are available for the time period of interest to you. Also see The Ships List at http://www.theshipslist.com/ for newspaper accounts of voyages -Land Records - most immigrants purchased land soon after arrival. See http://olivetreegenealogy.com/can/ont/clri.shtml for details on Ontario land records. For a link to a searchable database of New Brunswick land records from 1765 to 1900, go to http://olivetreegenealogy.com/can/nb.shtml -City & Farmer's Directories - can pinpoint an ancestor's arrival. See http://olivetreegenealogy.com/can/ont/dir.shtml for Ontario Directories For more details of what is available, where to find it, how to access the records, and for links to specific databases for these records, please see my article online on Immigration to Canada before 1865 at http://olivetreegenealogy.com/articles/immcanpre1865.shtml I am adding more information to this online article as I find it. The above suggestions are not meant as the definitive answer; I am quite sure there are more records that one can search, but this is all the info I have available at present. Of course if anyone can add to my list of available resources, I welcome input. Lorine Lorine McGinnis Schulze The Olive Tree Genealogy http://OliveTreeGenealogy.com/ Past Voices:Letters Home http://pastvoices.com/ My Family Branches http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~myfamilybranches/ otg@csolve.net olivetreegen@netscape.net