GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L Archives

From: "Aida Kraus" <>
Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Canadian Immigration Records on line
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2008 07:57:32 -0700

Canada immigration records, 1865-1935, now online
www.ancestry.ca/CAPassengerLists.

*Ancestry.ca launches Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 - one in three
Canadians descended from immigrants listed in this collection*

TORONTO, Sept. 16 /CNW/ - In a world first, Ancestry.ca, Canada's leading
family history website, today launched online the Canadian Passenger Lists,
1865-1935, which contains more than 7.2 million names, including 5.6 million
of those who travelled from around the world to start a new life in Canada.

The collection is fully indexed by name, month, year, ship and port of
origin and arrival of more than 4,000 ships, and includes original images
for more than 310,000 pages of historical records. It is the first time that
these records have been indexed and made available online.

The Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935, the originals of which are held by
the Library and Archives Canada (LAC), are the official records of the
arrival of the majority of people accepted as immigrants in Canada during
this key immigration period.

An estimated 11.6 million Canadians or 37 per cent of its current population
have ancestors included in this collection(1), which also includes records
for many vacationers and travellers, business people, crew members and
historical figures such as foreign leaders, scientists and celebrities.

The collection includes passenger lists from all the major ports of arrival
including Halifax, Saint John, North Sydney, Quebec City, Montreal,
Vancouver, Victoria and even east coast ports in the US where many arrived
before proceeding directly to Canada overland.

The main immigrant nationalities arriving in Canada during this period of
rapid growth were British, Irish, Ukrainian, Russian, German, Chinese and
Polish (the majority of French immigrants, the second largest Canadian
immigrant population, arrived prior to 1865).

Passengers from mainland Europe usually sailed to Great Britain where they
boarded trans-Atlantic ships at ports such as Liverpool, London and Glasgow.
Immigrants from Europe destined for western Canada landed at ports on the
east coast, then continued their journey by train. Ships arriving on the
west coast carried passengers from Asia, Australia and Honolulu.

Contained in the collection are records for a number of ships which
tragically never made it to their final Canadian destinations, including
that of RMS The Empress of Ireland, a passenger ship which was rammed in
dense fog on the St Lawrence River near Quebec on the 29th of May 1914 and
sank in just 14 minutes. 1,012 passengers and crew drowned - a larger loss
of life than when RMS Titanic sank.

Individual records include information such as the passenger's first and
last name, estimated birth year, year of arrival, port of arrival and
departure, ship name, occupation, final destination in Canada and other
family members listed with their relationship indicated.

Josh Hanna, Senior Vice President of Ancestry, International comments: "This
is the first time that these important records have been brought together in
one place online, making them accessible to so many; they will be of
significance to literally millions of Canadians who want to know when their
ancestors first came to Canada and how far they came."

(submitted by Aida)

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