Advanced Genealogy
Emigration
It is estimated that during the nineteenth century 10 million people left Britain never to return. The United States, Australia or one of the other colonies of the British Empire were the most common places people chose – or were forced to ‘choose’ – to start a new life. Before then, of course, many of the first settlers in America were of English stock.
The best place to search for an ancestor who emigrated from Britain is in their country of destination, and some of the records held by the USA, for example, are better than those in the UK: passenger lists began in 1819 across the pond, compared to 1890 in Britain. You can look for your ancestor’s name on lists for ships bound for destinations outside Europe from 1890 on. However, because there are so many lists, it is essential to have some idea of which ship your forebear sailed on, from which port and in which year, unless you want to spend months hunting them down.