G'day Liam; Your email regarding further research sources as below is possibly helpful for those who already pay the big dollars however much of what Ancestry.com are offering as a pay for view is already freely available, and there is far more free search indexes available than Ancestry.com offer, I've included a synopsis below for anyone who is interested. Best Wishes Don in Melbourne AU Moderator: Campbells in Australia/NZ: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CampbellsAustralia Johnstons in Australia/NZ: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JohnstonAustralia Irish Ancestors Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Irishancestorsgroup <Snip> The Australian Free Settler Collection (Liam Martin) Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 10:12:13 +0100 From: "Liam Martin" <L.Martin@zen.co.uk> Subject: [NIR-ANTRIM] The Australian Free Settler Collection To: irl-co-donegal@rootsweb.com, nir-antrim@rootsweb.com, DONEGALEIRE-L@rootsweb.com The Times newspaper reports that a new online archive in Ancestry.co.uk will allow people to trace whether their forebears were among the British and Irish settlers who moved to Australia in the 19th and early 20th centuries in search of a better life. The collection enables the public to search 8.9 million names of passengers and crew, three million of whom were free settlers, who arrived in New South Wales between 1826 and 1922. The Australian Free Settler Collection numbers more than 2.2 million British names. Also included are other travellers and crew who journeyed to Australia over almost a century. See the URL http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article4061326.ece and the Ancestry.co.uk URL at http://landing.ancestry.co.uk/intl/au/settlers/default.aspx Liam <Unsnip> AUSTRALIA - TASMANIAN CONVICTS, 1804-53 Available at the Archives <http://portal.archives.tas.gov.au/menu.aspx?search=11> Office of Tasmania website An index of all convicts transported to Tasmania and those who were convicted (through the convict system) in the colony, from the beginning of transportation in 1804 until 1853 when transportation ceased. The latest entry in the database for the locally convicted convicts is 1893. About 76,000 people are indexed. <http://portal.archives.tas.gov.au/menu.aspx?search=11> http://portal.archives.tas.gov.au/menu.aspx?search=11 AUSTRALIA TASMANIA INDEX TO TASMANIAN CONVICTS, 1804 UNTIL 1853 This comprehensive index of all convicts transported to Tasmania and those who were convicted (through the convict system) in the colony was created by indexing all original records we hold from the beginning of transportation in 1804 until 1853 when transportation ceased. The latest entry in the database for the locally convicted convicts is 1893. About 76,000 people are indexed. <http://portal.archives.tas.gov.au/menu.aspx?search=11> http://portal.archives.tas.gov.au/menu.aspx?search=11 AUSTRALIA - ASSISTED IMMIGRANTS ARRIVING IN SYDNEY, NEWCASTLE, MORETON BAY AND PORT PHILLIP All of the arrival records of assisted immigrants are indexed. Port Phillip, 1839-51, Sydney and Newcastle, 1844-59, Moreton Bay (Brisbane), 1848-59, Sydney, 1860-79, Sydney, 1880-96 Information and re-direct at: <http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/indexes_online_3357.asp> http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/indexes_online_3357.asp AUSTRALIA - MISCELLANEOUS IMMIGRANTS 1828-43 This index contains the names of some passengers who paid their own fare and some assisted immigrants. Information and re-direct at: <http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/indexes_online_3357.asp> http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/indexes_online_3357.asp AUSTRALIA - UNASSISTED IMMIGRANTS 1842-55 This index covers free or unassisted passengers arriving in NSW. Information and re-direct at: <http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/indexes_online_3357.asp> http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/indexes_online_3357.asp AUSTRALIA - UNASSISTED PASSENGER AND CREW ARRIVALS, 1854-1900 Covering Shipping Inward lists from the Shipping Master's Office, lists for the 1850s, 1860s and 1870s are almost complete, 1880s and 1890s to follow. Searchable by person's name, vessel name, and date; includes transcribed passenger lists and links to scans of the original lists. Information and re-direct at: <http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/indexes_online_3357.asp> http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/indexes_online_3357.asp AUSTRALIA - VESSELS ARRIVED IN SYDNEY, 1837-1925 This index covers vessels arrived in Sydney only. It records the name and date of arrival and in some cases type of vessel. If you know the name of a ship then this Index can be consulted to check the date of arrival. Information and re-direct at: <http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/indexes_online_3357.asp> http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/indexes_online_3357.asp AUSTRALIA - SHIPS' MUSTERS, 1816-25 This series - NRS 1289 - lists both passengers and crew departing from Sydney. More Indexes and on-line information can be found at the New South Wales Government Web Site located at: <http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/indexes_online_3357.asp> http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/indexes_online_3357.asp IRELAND-AUSTRALIA TRANSPORTATION DATABASE The National Archives of Ireland holds a wide range of records relating to the transportation <http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/transportation/transportation.html> of convicts from Ireland to Australia covering the period 1788 to 1868. In some cases these include records of members of convicts' families transported as free <http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/transportation/transp9.html> settlers. To mark the Australian Bicentenary in 1988, the Taoiseach presented microfilms of the most important of these records to the Government and People of Australia as a gift from the Government and People of Ireland. A computerised index to the records was prepared with the help of IBM and is available for use at various locations in Australia. While the collection of convict <http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/transportation/transp8.html> petitions dates from the beginning of transportation from Ireland to Australia in 1791, all transportation registers compiled before 1836 were destroyed in the Four Courts fire of June 1922. Therefore, if the person you are researching was convicted before 1836, but was not the subject of a petition, he or she will not appear on this database. In other words, the records from which the transportation database was compiled such as the transportation <http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/transportation/transp6.html> registers, convict reference files <http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/transportation/search01.html> http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/transportation/search01.html