Physical description

1 optical disc

Publication type

non-fiction

Summary

Free Railway Passes (NSW) Index 1880-1892
This index of 23,899 entries has been compiled from surviving registers of applications for free railway passes. The volumes were transferred from the Chief Secretary's Department to the Mitchell Library in June 1934 and they are now at State Records NSW. These passes were generally issued to those immigrants to the Colony (the "Colony" being NSW) seeking employment in country or outer metropolitan areas; although many were issued to men, women and children for charitable reasons. The date ranges of the registers is not indicative of how long the applicants were in the Colony with some being in the Colony for days or weeks while others were in the Colony for years, from a few to many. Most entries note the applicant's native place, age, married or single and how long in the Colony and include a great amount of other detail with the majority of the records, also ship of arrival in many cases. The passes were also available to those who were native to the Colony or other Australian States.