Usually the material for this series is compiled from Register of British Ships at the various ports but, in the main, those records prior to the 1830s are not available in Australia and this book have been put together from other sources.
Registers of Shipping: 'Plantation Registers' appear to have been commenced with the establishment of a Customs department that was called into being, by regulations, in 1826 and began operating with the arrival of senior officials in 1827. Previously some record was kept by different government officers and some of them have survived--but many are apparently lost for all time.
Some of the material included here has been taken from later Customs records, but mostly it has been culled from the contemporary press 'Sydney Gazette' from 1803 being an important source -- but including the various Sydney papers such as the 'Monitor' and the 'Australian' and later the 'Herald' (eventually the 'Sydney Morning Herald') as well at the earlier 'Hobart Town' papers.
Contents:
Early Australian Owners
Foreword
Details of Colonial Government Ships
Whalers
Index
