NZSG Shipping Collection Project

Did your ancestor swim to New Zealand? It sometimes feels like they did. The NZSG Shipping Collection is aiming to find everything we can on every ship that came to or left New Zealand up to and including 1920, including coastal shipping around the ports of New Zealand.

This is the biggest project ever undertaken by NZSG and will take some time to complete. It is being phased as follows:

Phase 1 : Finding volunteers to help

This stage will be ongoing throughout the project. If you have not registered your interest already, please complete this form to let us know what you can help us with. An hour a day, an hour a week or an hour a month, we will be happy to have your support.

Phase 2 : Collecting the list of ships

We are going to start by finding as many voyages as we can. By producing a comprehensive database, we can reduce duplication of effort for the next phases.

Phase 3 : Finding out where information is available

For some voyages there is little more than a news article, for others there are passenger lists, diaries, captain’s reports, surgeon's records, photographs/paintings and more. We will add to the database a list of everything that can be found, and where it can be found, on each voyage collected in Phase 2.

Phase 4 : Indexing and compiling the data

Now the nitty gritty of what we want. This phase will be far easier with the groundwork put in previously. We will need help in many different ways – indexing, visiting repositories, scanning and enhancing images, and of course collating the information into one impressive database.

What Will The NZSG Shipping Collection Contain?

The NZSG Shipping Collection will be a searchable database of passengers who travelled to, from and around New Zealand. Wherever possible, the collection of documents will be added as images for instant access to the information. If unable to add images due to copyright and privacy restrictions, links to the original information will be provided.

The database will be added to the Kiwi collection. Subscribers to Kiwi will have immediate access to all information included in The NZSG Shipping Collection. Non subscribing members will be able to request the information through Research Services.

Any questions? Email shippingcollection@genealogy.org.nz

13/06/2024