Summary heading

PP818/1 – Correspondence files [crew lists], annual single number series with ‘W’ prefix 

Function and purpose

The series consists of correspondence files dealing with crew lists. The shipping crew lists consist of details such as full name of crew member, rank or rating, date and place of birth, nationality, Department, Port at which articles signed, and they are forwarded with a statement by the master listing the name of the ship, port of registry, official number, port of arrival, commencement of voyage (with date), place and last port of call. The aircraft lists include the name of the airline, nationality and registration, date of arrival, origin of crews (ie. where their previous flight had come from), names of crew, number of passengers (embarking, going through on same flight), disembarking and final destination of flight.

For both shipping and aircraft crew lists there is a certification by Customs officials that the vessel or flight departed, and an indication of any crew changes prior to departure. The majority of the files simply consist of the lists and the Customs certification; where members of a crew are absent on departure of Report of Absent Members of Crew (Form M25) is also included, and in a small number of cases there is a limited amount of correspondence about missing members.

Physical characteristics

Records in this series comprise standard departmental files containing various documents as listed above. Each crew list file is stamped on the cover with a stamp titled 'Ships Voyages' and lists the following : Nominal Roll, Boarding Report, Crew List (with the inappropriate entries struck through), whether the point of entry is Fremantle, ex Perth or Kwinana, and date of entry. In addition the name of the ship or flight number of the aircraft is written on the file cover. In the inside cover of each file details of aircraft arrivals are given, including pre-arrival arrangements, airport checks and finalizing reports.

System of arrangement and control

This series is controlled by an annual single number series with a ‘W’ prefix – stands for Western Australia. From 1955 onwards, the agency allocated a block of file numbers to each different function each year under their annual single number record-keeping system. Nominal rolls received a block for themselves and the numerical range of each block allocation varied each year, however the first group (file numbers from 1 onwards) always comprised crew lists, with nominal rolls next and general correspondence files last. See CRS K47 for more details. 

Relationships with other records

This accession forms part of a large collection of crew lists for passenger ships (crew lists for merchant/cargo ships were controlled separately by the agency) held by the Archives Perth Office for the period 1897 to 1984. For the period 1897 to 1923, crew lists for passenger ships are controlled by CRS K271 and K270, with all crew lists from 1923 to 1980 being controlled by multiple accession series. From 1981 onwards, crew lists have been transferred to Archives custody as part of CRS K47 as follows:

K47/15 (1981)

K47/18 (1982)

K47/19 (1983)

K47/22 (1984)

These records also relate to a larger body of records that document the movement of people into and out of Western Australia comprising incoming and outgoing passenger lists, nominal rolls and passenger cards. Intellectual relationships have been documented via series links.

Finding aids

Subject to further research. 

Additional information

The following data was keyed from the paper transfer documentation:

Form number:              CA 11 and NAS 39P