The collection of maritime records held by the Archives in Hobart includes many records dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These records were created by the Tasmanian colonial government and the Commonwealth Government from 1901. They include records relating to functions such as customs administration, vessel registration, passenger arrivals and departures, lighthouses and navigation, and a range of other matters associated with shipping activities in and around the island State of Tasmania.

The records come in a variety of formats including individual documents, registers, maps and files.

Many of the famous vessels which plied (and in some cases still ply) Tasmanian waters are referred to in the records. Amongst the better known vessels are the Hobart ferries Cartela, Moonah, Togo, Endeavour and Derwent, the schooners Alma Doepel, Rooganah and Kermandi, the ketches May Queen, Huon Chief, Foam, Heather Belle and Good Intent and the barque James Craig.

The records relating to vessels include:

• Declarations of Ownership
• Certificates of Survey
• Certificates of British Registry
• British Shipping Register volumes
• Builder's Certificates

Examples of record series dealing with Tasmanian maritime vessels are listed below.

Also held are the registers and lists of passengers disembarking and embarking at Tasmanian ports in the early years of this century and lists of crew aboard the vessels. These are an invaluable aid to family historians as well as recalling an era when steam ships such as the SS Athenic, SS Corinthic and SS Arawa regularly paid visits to Tasmania.

Arrival and departure records of passenger and crew for the port of Hobart are listed below. Details of passenger arrival records held for other Tasmanian ports are provided in Fact Sheet 184 – Passenger records held in Hobart.

Records of passenger arrivals for the period before Federation are held by the Archives Office of Tasmania. Contact details are listed on Fact Sheet 2 – Addresses of other archival institutions.

A variety of other maritime-related records are also held. These include:

• registers of wrecks and disasters
• letter books
• Certificates of Competency
• some Admiralty charts
• inquiries into maritime related incidents (eg collisions, sinkings, shipwrecks)
• Antarctic voyage reports
• an extensive collection of material relating to Tasmanian lighthouses, such as logbooks, lighthouse service forms and correspondence files, see Fact Sheet 122 – Lighthouse records held in Hobart.

All the records described in this fact sheet which are more than 30 years old are available for public examination in our Hobart reading room.

Records may be examined in either original or microcopy format. Photocopies or microfiche printer copies of records can be purchased.

You can obtain more information about the record series listed above (and the items within the series) fromRecordSearch, the Archives database. Additional finding aids such as guides, indexes and item lists are available in the Hobart reading room. Reference staff are available to assist with inquiries. Follow the links in the series lists to go directly to information on that series. You can also use RecordSearch to find out about the agencies that created the records and to locate more records on your subject. You might also explore PhotoSearch to find out if there are photos pertaining to your subject.

RecordSearch and PhotoSearch are available online or in all Archives reading rooms. Reference staff are available in the reading rooms to help you, or email ref@naa.gov.au.

Comments or other feedback can be sent to archives@naa.gov.au

updated August 2000