Emigration to Canterbury : Shipping Lists 1856-1874

The following passenger lists are for ships to Canterbury which carried assisted immigrants. This immigration was organised by the Canterbury Provincial Government from 1856-1870, and the Central Government from 1870-1874. Schemes were put in place that offered prospective migrants some financial assistance for the voyage. Emigrants were expected to contribute to the cost of their passage or pay a sum after they had been in the province for some time.

These lists are most likely clerk’s copies. The original items are held in the Christchurch City Libraries archives collection. Please note that this is not a complete collection of embarkation lists for Canterbury.

Lists available in the Family History area, Tuakiri | Identity, Level 2, Tūranga.

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More about the lists

Layout of the Lists

Families are listed first, followed by single men and single women. Columns include name, age, county and occupation.
Children up to the age of 11 are listed with their parents. Children who were 12 years of age or older appear among the lists of single men and single women. During the voyage families were quartered together while those listed as single men or women had their own quarters.
There are also columns showing the amount of total cost of the passage, how much passengers had contributed and how much they were expected to pay.

Information in the Lists

The information in the lists may not be accurate. People may have mislead authorities about their age or occupation so that they could receive assisted passage. Occupations as butchers, bakers, farm labourers, cooks and dairy maids were sought rather than people who were accustomed to work in the towns.

Some people accompanied their family but were not assisted immigrants.
People who paid their own passage may be mentioned in the shipping column published on the ships arrival.

Shipping columns

In the provincial period, a shipping column in the newspapers listed ships that had just arrived. The column entry often contains an abbreviated list of assisted immigrants. These lists have male heads of families along with their place of origin and occupation and a reference to a spouse and children. The names and places of origin of single men and women also appear. A prospective employer could sit down and work out who among the imminent arrivals might become his employee.

More information about finding passenger lists can be found in the Family History guide.

Note about image quality

The embarkation lists were microfilmed, and digital images created from the film.
The originals were faint so black pages were inserted to help contrast of text, and the filming was manipulated to help increase contrast as much as possible.
Blank ledger pages were not filmed.
The limitations of the originals mean some pages may appear faint, and some pages may have text from the reverse showing through.
The text within the PDF documents is not searchable.

Caroline Coventry 1869

Sailed 25th February 1869
Arrived 8th June 1869

Cashmere 1859

Sailed 10th June 1859
Arrived 11th October 1859

Chariot of Fame 1862

Sailed 25th October 1862
Arrived 28th January 1863 at Lyttelton

Charlotte Gladstone

Sailed 5th November 1870 from London
Arrived 30th January 1871 at Lyttelton

Chrysolite 1862

Sailed 5th August 1862
Arrived 24th November 1862

Clontarf 1859

Sailed 29th November 1859
Arrived 16th March 1860

David G Fleming 1863

Sailed 23rd August 1863
Arrived 9th December 1863

Dover Castle 1872

Sailed 19th January 1872
Arrived 7th May 1872

Egmont 1856

Sailed 10th September 1856
Arrived 23rd December 1856

Glenmark 1864

Sailed 29th October 1864
Arrived 21st January 1865

Glenmark 1867

Sailed 18th August 1867
Arrived 14th November 1867

Himalaya 1865

Sailed 16th December 1865
Arrived 3rd February 1866

Hydaspes 1869

Sailed 3rd July 1869
Arrived 30th September 1869

Indiana 1858

Sailed 2nd August 1858
Arrived 23rd November 1858

Isabella Hercus 1855

Sailed 3rd September 1855
Arrived 4th January 1856

Light Brigade 1868

Sailed 19th May 1868
Arrived 26th August 1868

Mary Anne 1859

Sailed 26th April 1859
Arrived 14th August 1859

Matoaka 1861

Sailed 13 November 1861
Arrived 10th February 1862

Mermaid 1862

Sailed 30th September 1862
Arrived 26th December 1862

Mermaid 1863

Sailed 15th November 1863
Arrived 20th January 1864

Mermaid 1865

Sailed 30 September 1865
Arrived 1st January 1866

Mermaid 1866

Sailed 15th September 1866
Arrived 5th January 1867

Mermaid 1868

Sailed 5th October 1868
Arrived 8th January 1869

Merope 1871

Sailed 9th June 1871
Arrived 25th August 1871

Mersey 1862

Sailed 1st June 1862
Arrived 26th September 1862

Mystery 1861

Sailed 25 October 1861
Arrived 7 January 1862

Ramsay 1870

Sailed 27 March 1870
Arrived 17 June 1870

Rhea Sylvia 1861

Sailed 13 January 1861
Arrived 2 May 1861

Robert Small 1859

Sailed 6 October 1859
Arrived 29 January 1860

Royal Stuart 1861

Sailed 3 July 1861
Arrived 8 October 1861

Sebastopol 1861

Sailed 5 September 1861
Arrived 14 December 1861

Strathallan 1858

Sailed 12th October 1858
Arrived 21st January 1859

Tiptree 1863

Sailed 21st October 1863
Arrived 20th January 1864

Tudor 1865

Sailed 10th June 1865
Arrived 24th September 1865

Victoria 1861

Sailed 5th December 1861
Arrived 30th March 1862

Victory 1859

Sailed 20th January 1859
Arrived 14th May 1859

Victory 1865

Sailed 16th December 1865
Arrived 24th March 1866

William Miles 1860

Sailed 5th May 1860
Arrived 21st August 1860

William Miles 1864

Sailed 3rd July 1864
Arrived 22nd October 1864

Zealandia 1858

Sailed 11th June 1858
Arrived 21st September 1858

Zealandia 1862

Sailed 4th February 1862
Arrived 23rd May 1862

Zealandia 1870

Sailed 23rd September 1870
Arrived 23rd December 1870