[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] help searching ship manifests

[Dave Obee]

Jerry Frank has suggested the indexes that are already available. If the family does not appear there, then at this point you will need to do the page-by-page work. If it's any consolation, most of us have had to do that.

If you can wait a bit, more comprehensive indexes are in the works and might be online in a year or so. That might speed things somewhat. If they came through England, be sure to watch ancestorsonboard.com, which covers outbound passengers from 1890 through 1899 but will soon be expanded to include later years.

If you can't wait, does the family appear in the 1901 census? If not, you can assume that they came after the census was taken. Also note that the 1900-1914 index on the Odessa site is for Halifax. If they do not appear in that index, then look at the records from Quebec, which was a busier port, in the summer at least. The idea is to aim for the records that are most likely to help you.

Beyond that, of course, it's amazing how often people gave the wrong year when asked when they arrived. Be warned.

Dave Obee


----- Original Message -----
From: Barbara Cooper <bdaelick at hotmail.com>
Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 9:49 am
Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] help searching ship manifests

> Hello all!
> 
> As I sit here scrolling through ships manifests on the Canada 
> archives site I wonder if someone might be able to offer me some 
> advice for narrowing down my search?  I have deduced that the 
> family I am looking for arrived in 1901 but that still leaves lots 
> and lots of ships to look through if don't know which port they 
> arrived at.  I also wonder just how badly the manifests can be 
> wrong?  I have come across family groups that include some of the 
> right names and close ages but then something in there will be way 
> off.  Like a married woman listed with what would be her maiden 
> name under the correct parents names but without her husband or her 
> children (I hope that makes sense).  Any guidance would be 
> appreciated or going through all these lists will take forever. 
> 
> Barbara Cooper
> 
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