Ships from UK & Ireland

The ships in this index were mostly used to transport the half million immigrants to New Zealand from the United Kingdom and Ireland, during the period 1835 to 1910. The data used in this index was gathered from many sources. The major ones are acknowledged below. If you have any information regarding any errors, a ship visit that appears to be missing, or small notes of interest, I would appreciate it greatly, if you could e-mail me with the details so that we can have a more complete and informative index.
I do not consider the index to be definitive, but it does list approximately 4600 ship visits to the ports of New Zealand. Be aware though, that some of these ships did not carry passengers. This index gives the name of the ship, the port it left from, the date it left, the port it arrived at, the date it arrived, the Captain of the ship, how long the voyage took (where known) and sometimes some notes and a URL to a passenger list or other pertinent information.

It is also worth noting, that the time taken for the voyage is not always very accurate. This is due to whether it is from port to port, land to land, a combination of those or various other factors. Often the criteria used is not given, but even when it is, it can be suspect. So use the time taken for the voyage as a guide only. Likewise the departure date and arrival date of a particular voyage, are often suspect, so once again, treat as a guide only. In some cases the official passenger list and the local newspapers can all be different.

The ports visited are set out below in alphabetical order, with the ships to each port in chronological order of arrival.

AUCKLAND	BAY OF ISLANDS
BLUFF	LYTTELTON
NAPIER	NELSON
NEW PLYMOUTH	PICTON
PORT CHALMERS	TAURANGA
TIMARU	WANGANUI
WELLINGTON

         Ahuriri in New Zealand, is now known as the Port of Napier.
          Christiania in Norway, is now known as Oslo.
           Invercargill - NZ - ships use to call at New River.
           Lambton Harbour, Wellington NZ, is now Port Nicholson, Wellington, NZ.
   Queenstown in County Cork, Ireland is now known as Cobh (pronounced 'Cove'). It was originally know as Cove, but was changed to Queenstown in 1850 to commemerate a visit by Queen Victoria. It remained as            Queenstown until 1920, when it was renamed Cobh with the founding of the Irish Free State.
           Victoria Harbour or Port Cooper in New Zealand, is now known as Lyttelton Harbour.

I wish to acknowledge the following sources from which some details were obtained:

1.    "White Wings", Vol. 1 & 2, by Sir Henry Brett. The Brett Printing Co. Auckland, 1924 and 1928. Lists of the ships mentioned in the two volumes. "White Wings" Vol 1, can be viewed here and
    Vol 2, can be viewed here .
2.    "Graham Jaunay" Ancestral & Local History Research - 19th century shipping & migration to South Australia for family history research.
3.    "Shaw Savill & Co. Fleet List " web site.
4.    "Settlement By Sail" - 19th Century Immigration to New Zealand. Text and original paintings by Gainor W
       Jackson.
5.    "Shipping to New Zealand" - 1839 to 1889. This is a card index compiled by the Rev. William Charles Comber. See sample of cards on microfiche.