Emigration records for the United Kingdom cover people who moved away from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to reside in another country. If your ancestor was born in England and moved to a foreign land they are said to have emigrated. Their reasons for doing so may have been voluntary, such as relocating for work, or involuntary, such as through penal transportation. The documentation that survives for a person's journey abroad and subsequent new life varies depending on their destination country, where they travelled from and the period within which they travelled. From the United Kingdom, it is common to find people who emigrated within Europe, as well as further afield such as America and Australia.[1]
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Reasons for EmigrationReasons for Emigration
If you discover that your ancestor resided overseas it is natural to wonder why. It may be that they were forced to relocate abroad, or it may have been their choice to leave their home country. Some potential reasons for emigrating are explained below.
Voluntary Emigration- This is when a person or family relocated to live in a different country by choice. The reason for a person's emigration is not always obvious. They may have chosen to move abroad to escape religious persecution, to live closer to friends or relatives who had already settled overseas, to avoid criminal justice, to train for a new career opportunity, for missionary work or for higher education. Many were simply in search of a better life, sometimes aided by the government, such as the 'Ten Pound Poms' scheme which enabled people to cheaply move to Australia after World War II. At other times families decided to move due to a lack of necessary resources, most famously the Irish potato famines.
Involuntary Emigration- Many people were relocated abroad against their will. The most common reason for doing so was transportation which was a criminal punishment. Transportation was either to America (1615-1776) or Australia until 1868, usually for a term of 7 years or life. In other cases, children were moved abroad partly due to the belief that they would have a better life there but also partly due to the government's wish to expand the population of the British Empire oversea. They were often orphans assisted by charities, such as Barnardos, and are referred to as 'home children'. There are also many cases of forced evictions, such as land clearances in the Scottish Highlands and Ireland, that caused many to relocate abroad.
Passenger ListsPassenger Lists
Passenger lists give names of those travelling on a particular ship. Unfortunately, in the United Kingdom it was only legally required to create and retain passenger lists from 1842 onwards, with a majority of records surviving from 1890 onwards. This date varies between countries, so if your ancestor travelled prior to this date and their outbound UK passenger list does not survive, you may find their incoming passenger list survives in their new host country. Nearly all of the surviving passenger lists relate to long-distance journeys outside of Europe, such as Australia and America.
The National Archives holds the records for outbound passengers travelling from the UK between 1890 and 1960 in Series BT 27. The information provided on each passenger list varies according to the date and what captains were required to record at the time. Details may include:
- The passenger's name (sometimes only a first initial is given)
- The passenger’s age
- Their occupation
- Their place of birth
- The name of their employer
- The name of their next of kin or relative they were going to live with abroad
- Their intended final destination (not always the country the ship is heading for, they may be due to travel on another connecting ship)
Families often travelled together however there relationships tend not to be stated. Passenger lists can be used as a good guide however to look for further sources and confirm suspected relationships between passengers with the same surname. Alternatively, you may discover one family member travelled overseas first to find a job and a place to live before his family joined him at a later date. Sometimes this was several years later.
Many passenger lists have been digitised and are available to view online, and there are further transcripts which are also available. The Passenger Lists collection details which records are available at MyHeritage. The records for the Highland and Island Emigration Society Records for 1852-1857 which give passenger list details for people who emigrated from Scotland to Australia are available at ScotlandsPeople.
Newspaper ArticlesNewspaper Articles
Some passenger lists were published in national and local newspapers. These usually only name notable passengers, such as local celebrities or royalty, however there are many occasions where all passengers are named. Lists found in newspapers are more likely to give a person's marital status (i.e. Mrs Caroline Smith) and also sometimes give relationships. They usually also state what class the passenger was travelling in and often their occupation.
Shipping news was a popular column in UK newspapers. If you find out the name of the ship that your ancestor was aboard from another source, you can trace the movements of this ship via newspaper articles. This includes their departure from the UK, their arrival in their new country and any incidents that occured during their journey. Such incidents may involve damage to the ship or a loss of life onboard due to illness or accident. When using this research method, be aware that ship names were not unique so be careful to ensure you are tracing the correct ship.
Other Records of EmigrationOther Records of Emigration
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Whilst the most likely evidence of emigration is likely to be within passenger lists you may wish to discover more about their journey. Other sources can also help to fill in gaps where the passenger list either does not give much detail or does not survive at all. An seemingly obvious source to uncover is a person's passport however they were not required for passengers arriving at or leaving from the UK until 1915. Nevertheless, over half a million passports were issued between 1795 and 1916. More recent passports may survive within your family's own personal collection.
Other items that may be held within your family ephemera, within archives or within museum collections are travel diaries, tickets, receipts of travel and photographs taken either onboard or shortly prior to (or after) their journey. An illustration or photograph of the ship that an ancestor travelled on can be of interest to see its size and condition. To find these items you can try searching catalogues of relevant archives and libraries, such as The Maritime Museum in Liverpool and the National Library of Wales.
Overseas RecordsOverseas Records
For researchers looking into ancestors who settled overseas, whether permanent or temporary, various records can provide insight into their time abroad. Documentation may include census returns, newspaper articles and civil registration records. The availability of these records depend on the destination country and the period within which they lived there.
Should your ancestor have decided to reside permanently in their destination country, evidence of their naturalisation may survive. Many of these records have been digitised and can be viewed online whilst others remain in national archives within their destination country. Examples include the Minnesota, Naturalization Card Index, 1930-1988 and West Virginia Naturalization Records, 1814-1991 collections on MyHeritage.
See alsoSee also
Explore more about United Kingdom emigrationExplore more about United Kingdom emigration
- Immigration & Travel record collection at MyHeritage
- Liverpool: The Central Hub for Northern Europe’s 19th and 20th Century Emigration at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Emigration via Hamburg at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Coming to America: The Legacy of Castle Garden and Ellis Island on the MyHeritage blog
- Why Did Your Ancestors Migrate, and How Can You Trace Their Journey? on the MyHeritage blog
- Scottish Emigration to North America: Before, During and After the Rebellions at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Irish Emigration to America at the National Museum of Ireland