Transmigration via British Ports in the 19th Century

Many emigrants did not depart directly from their homelands to the Americas or Australasia. Instead, they would first take a smaller steamer, referred to as a "Feeder ship" to a British port, then by train to larger emigration ports such as Liverpool, Glasgow or London, to embark on a transatlantic steamship. The emigrants who traveled by this "indirect" route were referred to as transmigrants. There was also significant transmigration via Altona - Hamburg.
 

Transmigrants arrived via several British ports, most importantly from the point of view for our family being that of Hull. Over two million pioneers passed through the port of Hull on historic journeys from Europe to new lives in America. The University of Hull has one of the world’s largest research archives of genealogical material relating to this epic transmigration.

Links to Online Resources:

To learn more about transmigration, visit these off-site webpages. The articles have a great deal of information regarding the emigration trends of transmigrants, their departure ports per nationality, and time-frames involved. NOTE: The off-site links provided will open in a new browser window, so to return you will need to use your "back" button.

"BBC - Legacies - Immigration and Emigration - England - Humber - A Piece of Britain that Shall Forever Remain Foreign" (by Nicholas J. Evans, with illustrations)

"Indirect Passage from Europe. Transmigration via the UK, 1836-1914" in the Journal for Maritime Research (by Nicholas J. Evans, with illustrations)

"Migration from Northern Europe to America via the Port of Hull, 1848-1914" (another excellent illustrated article by Nicholas J. Evans)

NOTE: Nicholas J. Evans has lived in Hull for most of his life. He is a research fellow at The AHRB Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen. He is currently engaged in a project with Dr. Marjory Harper that will facilitate comparative investigations into the Irish and Scottish diaspora through the compilation of a database examining outward-bound passenger manifests between 1890 and 1960. He gained his BA (Hons) Degree at the University of Leicester and is currently writing his Ph.D. based at the Maritime Historical Studies Centre, University of Hull that examines the neglected subject of European transmigration through Britain between 1836 and 1914. He is the former Caird Fellow of the National Maritime Museum, London and the Kaarle Hjalmar Lehtisen Researcher of the Institute of Migration, Finland. He can be contacted at the following address: Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies, Humanity Manse, 19 College Bounds, Aberdeen AB24 3UG, Scotland. His emails are n.evans@abdn.ac.uk and nicholasjevans@hotmail.com.

• For more information on Mormon Transmigration through Britain see Fred E. Woods and Nicholas J. Evans, "Latter-day Saint Scandinavian Migration through Hull, England, 1852-1894" in Volume 41, no. 4, 2002, BYU Studies. Fred E. Woods can be contacted at the Department of Church History & Doctrine at Brigham Young University, Fred_Woods@byu.edu and few2@email.byu.edu, phone: 801-422-3366.
•  

The Great Central Railway (Migration from Europe to North America by Chis Tolley)

"Trains and Shelters and Ships" (a paper presented by Aubrey Newman at a seminar under the auspices of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain, April 2000)

East Yorkshire Family History Society - the local society covering Hull and District:
http://www.eyfhs.org.uk

The Hull Local History Unit - for local history courses, publications and meetings:
http://www.historyofhull.co.uk

East Yorkshire Bibliography - online catalogue of published works on Hull and East Yorkshire:
http://library.hull.ac.uk:81/

Hull Maps, Hull Churches, Hull Parishes:
http://www.dixon115.freeserve.co.uk/boundaries.htm

Plans of Hull (and of all the UK) in 1856. For the Hull section select "Yorkshire" and then "K" for Kingston upon Hull:
http://www.old-maps.co.uk

Images of Hull - online listings of the main collections of photographic and pictorial images held by various institutions within the city of Kingston upon Hull:
http://www.hullcc.gov.uk/libraries/images_of_hull/

Hull's Magnificent Museums:
http://www.hullcc.gov.uk/museums/

The Hull Virtual Book - Maps and descriptions of Hull throughout history.
(site under development, may not work with some browsers):
http://www.virtualbook.hull.ac.uk/

Hull City Archives:
http://www.hullcc.gov.uk/libraries/hull_city_archives

Hull University Archives - with online guide to the collections:
http://www.hull.ac.uk/arc/ 

A2A - Access to Archives: the UK archives network
http://www.a2a.pro.gov.uk 

The Archives Hub - collections in UK universities and colleges:
http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk

The National Archives - includes the Public Record Office (Kew) and the Historic Manuscripts Commission:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

The Danish Emigration Archives:

http://www.emiarch.dk/info.php3?l=en

Emigration from Hamburg - Lists are now available 1890-1902, Commercial site:
http://www.hamburg.de/fhh/behoerden/staatsarchiv/link_to_your_roots/english/index.htm

This is Sweden (about the content of the Göteborgs-Emigranten CD (for sale):

http://www.goteborgs-emigranten.com/ (then clickon In English The database - CD Emigranten)

Swedish Archives:

http://longstrom.com/sweden_archives.htm

The Ships List - information on vessels and passengers:
http://www.theshipslist.com/

Shipping Company Websites Ted Finch:

National Maritime Museum - Greenwich:
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/ 

PORT - gateway to maritime information and resources:
http://www.port.nmm.ac.uk

 Return to Forsgren Company Danish Emigration in 1853, Part 1

                   Return to Forsgren Company Danish Emigration in 1853, Part 2

                   Return to Forsgren Company Narratives (1852-1853)