Ship to shore

ANCESTOR-HUNTING may be about to become a little easier thanks to a new online service. Ancestry.co.uk has launched the set of passenger lists of those who sailed from the UK and Ireland to the United States between 1820 and 1960.

With 100 million immigrants entering various US ports, these lists will prove invaluable for anyone trying to trace names missing from their family tree.

The information has also revealed a UK or Irish heritage for a number of famous Americans. Tycoon Donald Trump's mother Mary MacLeod is shown to have travelled from the Isle of Lewis to America on the Transylvania in 1935.

Giants of American industry like Buick, Campbell's Soups and US Steel are also found to have been begun by Scots who travelled to the US in search of a better life.

Simon Harper, Ancestry.co.uk's managing director says:

"Without question, the millions of names in the Ancestry Passenger Lists represent brave and colourful individuals who played a significant role in shaping what has become modern America."

Hundreds and thousands of immigrants crossed the ocean to escape hunger and poverty, settling across the US.

"The fact that one in five Americas alive today is a descendent of the English, Irish, Scots or Welsh is testament to the survival and success of many of these passengers," says Harper.

For the first time the passenger records can be searched by name, giving the details of date, departure port and destination of travel. They also record age, nationality, occupation, accompanying family members, name of ship, purpose of travel and even reveal who paid for the journey.

Access to the lists will be free until 30 November.