Assisted Migration to Australia (Register)

This meeting is a hybrid meeting. Members and guests interested in attending should register for this event via Zoom or in person. After registering to attend via Zoom, you will receive an email with a link to the external Zoom website to complete the registration.

Topic "Assisted Passage - migration to Australia"

Join us for an engaging mini-conference exploring one of the most important themes in family history research — Assisted Migration to Australia.

Dr Richard Reid OAM will examine ten key documents relating to assisted immigration from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to the Australian colonies between 1830 and 1890, revealing the rich records that document our ancestors' journeys.

Amanda King-Hardie, Manager of Reference & Community Outreach at the National Archives of Australia, will guide us through twentieth-century immigration records and show how these valuable archives can help uncover more recent family stories.

Completing the programme, maritime educator Mike Traynor will bring the voyage itself to life in Bound for Australia: The Ocean Passage That Shaped Your Family Tree, exploring the experiences, challenges and realities faced by those who crossed the oceans to begin a new life in Australia.

Together, these three presentations offer a fascinating journey from departure to arrival and provide practical insights for anyone researching migrant ancestors.

The Early Bird Price of $50 is available until 19 July 2026.

Regular Price – $60 per person 

This Mini-Conference will be recorded.  Access to the recording will be available only to those who register prior to 8 August 2026 for one month after the Mini Conference via a dedicated link.

Group Bookings can be arranged for family history societies. To find out more and to make such an arrangement, please email secretary@familyhistoryact.org.au

More about our speakers: –

Dr Richard Reid OAM, Historian 

Richard is an Irish ‘assisted immigrant’ of the early 1970s. Appropriately, his Doctorate from the Australian National University focused on Irish assisted emigration to NSW between 1848 and 1870 … some 44,000 men and women from every county in Ireland. Research acquainted him with the abundant colonial, world-class material about ‘assisted’ emigration in general from Great Britain and Ireland in archival repositories in Australia, in state libraries and in the Australian National Library. Dr Reid’s thesis, ‘Aspects of Irish Assisted Emigration to NSW, 1848-1870’, was published as Farewell My Children: Irish Assisted Emigration to Australia, 1848-1870. He has also published and presented widely on Australians at war, the Irish in Australia and local history.

Amanda King-Hardie

Amanda is Manager, Reference and Community Outreach Services at the National Archives of Australia (NAA), and has worked at the NAA for almost two decades. Passionate about connecting people with historical records, she has extensive experience in archival reference services, public outreach, and helping researchers navigate the National Archival collection.

Mike Traynor

Mike navigated the oceans and seas of the world on merchant ships before becoming a maritime educator with NSW TAFE, the NSW Maritime Authority and Sydney Ferries. Mike stresses that he is neither an historian nor a genealogist.  However, the family history research that he has done combined with his experiences at sea has given him a fascination with the sea-going journeys that his forebears endured on their way to their new lives in Australia. He is the current president of U3A Wollongong and speaks regularly throughout the Illawarra to anyone who will listen to stories about ships, the seas and those who sail on them.    

Assisted Migration Mini-Conference Poster