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English emigration refers to those relocating to a different country from England where they were born. If your ancestor was born in England and moved to a foreign land they are said to have emigrated. The records that this act leaves behind depends on the year that a person emigrated and the country that they moved to. It is common to find English people moving to very distant countries including America, Canada and Australia as well as those within Europe. Emigration may be by choice, such as in search of a better life, or against the person's wishes, such as via transportation. A person who has emigrated may remain in their new country, return home to England or relocate to another different country.
Reasons for emigrationReasons for emigration
Voluntary Emigration- Many people will find that their English ancestor emigrated to live in a different country by choice. This may have been to live closer to friends or relatives, to escape religious persecution in England, to avoid criminal justice, to chase a new career opportunity or to study. The reason for a person's emigration is not always obvious.
Involuntary Emigration- If your ancestor was charged with a crime, one available punishment was that of transportation to a new country. Sometimes people who were given the death penalty had this sentence reduced to that of transportation. This was most commonly for a term of seven years, but many chose to live the remainder of their lives in their new country. Transportation was either to America (1615-1776) or Australia until 1868. Children were also involuntarily relocated to a new country, such as Canada, with the help of charities such as Barbados, in the belief this would give them a better life. These children were known as 'home children'. These schemes were run from 1618 to 1967[1].
Records of emigrationRecords of emigration
UK-registered ships were only required to keep passenger lists from 1842 onwards, with a majority of records surviving from 1890 onwards. You may find your ancestor in earlier lists if they were travelling on a ship registered elsewhere in the world due to differing legislation. The majority of surviving lists are for long-distance journeys, such as to America and Australia, rather than those within Europe.
Records for outbound passengers travelling from the UK between 1890 and 1960 are held at The National Archives in Series BT 27. The information supplied varies but may include:
- 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)
Some passenger lists were published in newspapers in the UK and abroad. These were often not comprehensive, usually with only noteworthy people, such as military officers, royalty and celebrities named, alongside a general statement of '66 other passengers' for example.
You may find that families relocated together and can be found travelling on the same ship. At other times the head of the household relocated first to find a stable job and home before his family moved to be with him, sometimes several years later. If the first traveller was unsuccessful in settling down, he may have returned home to England.
As well as passenger lists, you may wish to look into other travel related documentation. Museums often hold ephemera such as diaries, letters and travel tickets relating to those emigrating or immigrating from the country. The Maritime Museum in Liverpool is well known for this, with the city being a popular place to emigrate from. Over half a million passports were issued between 1795 and 1916, however they were not required for passengers arriving at or leaving from England until 1915.
Many records have been digitised and are available to view online, and there are further transcripts which are also available. Examples include the Australia, British Assisted Passengers to Victoria, United Kingdom, Convict Transportation Registers and British & Irish Passenger Lists 1890 collections at MyHeritage.
Overseas recordsOverseas records
When you have found an ancestor settling abroad, you can check the records to see what evidence survives of their time there. The documentation may include census returns, newspaper articles and civil registration records depending on the country they moved to and when they moved there.
You may find evidence of their naturalisation if they remained in their new country. Many records have been digitised and are available online. 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 English emigrationExplore more about English emigration
- 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
- Colonial Immigration – The English Pioneers of Early America at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Coming to America: The Legacy of Castle Garden and Ellis Island on the MyHeritage blog
- Emigration and emigrants Research Guide at The National Archives
- Emigrants to a New World gallery at Maritime Museum, Liverpool
References
- ↑ How to look for records of...Child emigration. The National Archives