Summary heading

PP93/6 – Correspondence files [nominal rolls], annual single number series with ‘W’ prefix 

Function and purpose

This series comprises correspondence files raised upon a vessels' departure from overseas ports to Australia for the year 1955.  The rolls were compiled by the Department of Immigration at overseas posts and master rolls were forwarded to the agency's central office with copies forwarded to the Commonwealth Migration Officer in each state.

In most cases, the files contain lists of assisted migrants in alphabetical order who disembarked at Western Australian ports. Some examples include refugees and permanent migrants, nominated by relatives or sponsors, to Australia. The roll generally includes name, age, religion, occupation, relevant file number and address of nominator.  Some nominal rolls simply contain a copy of the passenger list also found in CRS K269, however others only contain departmental correspondence and related documents.

Later records contain additional information as well as the passenger list, such as luggage lists, hospitalisation costs and charges incurred on disembarkation, accommodation arrangements and departmental reports. Also occasionally included are passports and Identity Documents with photographs attached.  In some cases, correspondence relating to migrant experiences during travel and in migrant camps, newspaper articles and irregularities such as illness or mechanical difficulties resulting in a change of vessel or aircraft were also documented.   

Physical characteristics

Records in this series comprise standard departmental files containing various documents as listed above. Each nominal roll 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), the appropriate port 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 arrivals are given, including pre-arrival arrangements, port checks and finalising reports.

In some cases, the files are very fragile and thermal paper has occasionally been used which is also fragile and faded. 

System of arrangement and control

The files in this accession were raised in chronological order as the vessels left their destination for the voyage to Australia. The agency controlled the files via an annual single number system, which was maintained upon transfer to Archives’ custody. From 1955 onwards, the agency allocated a block of file numbers to each different function each year under this 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. This system is identical to that used in CRS K47 – see CRS K47 series registration for more details. 

Relationships with other records

This accession forms part of a large collection of nominal rolls held by the Archives Perth Office for the period 1913 to 1986.

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, crew lists and passenger cards. Intellectual relationships have been documented via series links.

For the period 1913 to 1952, nominal rolls were transferred to Archives custody as two accessions – PP444/4 and PP482/1. For the period 1952 to 1979, nominal rolls for each year was controlled by an individual accession series (occasionally these cover a two year period) and linked to each other by previous and subsequent series links in RecordSearch. However, nominal rolls for the period 1955 onwards have also been transferred as individual consignments of the agency’s main record series CRS K47. Thus, there is a related K47 consignment for each accession of nominal rolls between 1955 and 1979 – see the related series link for K47 to see which consignment relates to this particular accession. 

Finding aids

As all nominal rolls have been entered into the RecordSearch database, a form relating to a particular vessel can be retrieved by keyword search in RecordSearch (limiting search by Series No PP93/6). 

Additional information

The following data was keyed from the paper transfer documentation:

Form number:                           CA 17

Creating department:                 IMMIGRATION (W.A.), BRANCH OFFICE, RECORDS

Transferring department:           IMMIGRATION, W.A. BRANCH OFFICE, REGISTRY

Date of transfer:                        29/09/1960

Archives file number:                 RWP28/1/23