General Information on Passenger Lists and Sources
For general information on available passenger lists to and from Cuba and other sources of information please visit our Passenger Lists page.
Progress Report
The following checklist provides a compact summary of the months transcribed from newspaper lists. This checklist will be updated periodically as we transcribe more dates. You can see that there is a very long way still to go!!!
Passenger Data Base
We have designed our data base to allow searching the entire database for a first or second surname and/or ship number in one step.
To search the passenger data base, first read the important notes and instructions below and then go to the search form using the following button:
Ships Data Base
Please first read the important notes and instructions via the following link and then go to the search form using the following button:
Important notes on the passenger data:
-
Names such as "de la Torre" or "del Sol" are listed by the surname as "Torre (de la)" or "Sol (del)" to facilitate searching and sorting. Exceptions to this rule are the german "Von" and the dutch "Van" which have been included in the surname.
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We have omitted the space that sometimes appears in surnames that start with "Mac" or "Mc" between this part and the rest of the surname.
-
All accents and the diaeresis over the letter "ü", for example in the surnames "Agüero", "Argüelles" and "Güell", have been removed to facilitate searching and sorting.
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Spelling errors were quite common in newspaper listings and that names have been transcribed as close as possible as they appeared (without correcting errors). Be sure to search for any obvious variations and also search for only the first few letters of the surname to make sure you don't miss any variations..
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Many first names in the newspaper listings were published in the Spanish equivalent. Thus "John" appears as "Juan", "Joseph" appears as "Jose", "James" appears as "Santiago", "Henry" appears as "Enrique", "William" appears as "Guillermo", "Walter" appears as "Gualterio", etc.
Please note that the following people are usually not named in the passenger lists:
- accompanying children
- accompanying family members (with some exceptions)
- accompanying servants and assistants.
- soldiers and sailors (with the exception of some high ranking officers).
- asiatics and people of color.
- prisoners and confined individuals.
- day labourers.
- survivors from shipwrecks picked up.
- passengers in transit.
Some passenger lists, particularly on French and British Ships, sometimes only list the surname and not the first name.
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Many passengers are listed with only the first initial(s) rather than the full first name. When the passenger is identified as female (by the prefix "doña") we have added "(Sra.)" after the first initials. When the passenger is identified as male (by the prefix "don" or "D.") we have not added anything after the first initials.
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All dates use the format "YYYY-MM-DD", where "YYYY" is the year, "MM" is the month and "DD" is the day.
The date indicated is the date when the passenger list was published. The actual ship arrival may have been 1 or 2 days prior to the indicated date.
Abreviations
The following common abbreviations appear frequently in the data:
Da. |
Doña |
Dr. |
Doctor |
Excmo. |
Excelentísimo (His Excellency) |
Illmo. |
Ilustrísimo (Illustrious) |
Lcdo. |
Licenciado (Licensed, i.e. attorney) |
Mad. |
Madame (Mrs.) |
Miss. |
Miss. |
Mme. |
Madame (Mrs.) |
Mr. |
Mister |
Mrs. |
Mrs. (wife) |
Pbro. |
Presbítero (Presbiter) |
Sr. |
Señor (Mr.) |
Sra. |
Señora (Mrs.) |
Srta. |
Señorita (Miss.) |
Sor |
Sister (religious person) |
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The following abbreviations sometimes appear in the first names:
Ch. |
Charles |
de D. |
de Dios |
de J. |
de Jesus |
de la C. |
de la Cruz (male or female), de la Caridad (female), de la Concepcion (female) |
de la M. |
? (male) |
de la P. |
? (male) |
de la R. |
? (male) |
Ma. |
Maria |
F. de P. |
Francisco de Paula |
Geo. |
George |
Ed. |
Eduardo / Edward |
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Translation of Common Terms
Here is a translation of some common terms appearing in the remarks column of the data:
- asistente
- assistant
- ayudante
- assistant / helper
- amigo / amiga
- friend (male) / friend (female)
- criado / criada
- servant (male) / servant (female)
- cuñado / cuñada
- brother-in-law / sister-in-law
- Excmo.
- His Excellency
- familia
- family
- hermano / hermana
- brother / sister
- hijo / hija
- son/daughter
- nieto / nieta
- grandson / granddaughter
- niño / niña
- child (male) / child (female)
- nodriza
- wet nurse
- secretario
- secretary (male)
- señora
- wife
- sobrino / sobrina
- nephew / niece
- suegro / suegra
- in-law (male) / in-law (female)
Ships List
For a listing of the transcribed ships with corresponding dates and source information visit our Ships List.
Additional Information on Passengers
We are often asked if there is any additional information about the passengers. Unfortunately, the newspaper lists only show the passenger names and sometimes a functional description of any acompanying person, such as "Sra." (spouse), "hijo" (son), "criado" (servant), etc. There are, however, some additinal steps you can take to search for additional information (it should be noted in passing that CubaGenWeb does not perform this type of investigations):
- Use the passenger search form to search for the ship number (the part before the dash such as "C1234"). This will list all the passengers on the ship. Look particularly at those listed next to the passenger of interest. Many times a relative or friend who was traveling together may appear next to the passenger.
- If the ship originates or terminates in New York, you can search for the ship's manifest at www.ellisisland.org. The manifest usually lists the person's age, occupation, country of residence and sometimes address where they will be staying in the USA. This is free of charge.
- If the ship originates or teminates at a US port, you can search for the ship's manifest at Ancestry.com. You will need a paid subscription to do this.
- Information from some ports, particularly in Europe, have been transcribed by the Immigrant Ancestors Project of Brigham Young University.
- We know of no way to search the inmigration records in Cuba. They are not available on-line and they do not reply to requests from abroad. If you have a contact in Cuba, you might ask them to investigate in person.
- You may be able to search the emigration records at the port of departure, but in general most of these are poorly kept and not available on-line.
- Check our page of links to other web sites to check for possible additional sources.
Curious Facts
For a number of curious facts about the ships and maritime commerce of the time visit our Curious Facts page.
Notes about the various sources used in our data base
NOTE
In this page we only describe what has
been transcribed to our data base. For a discussion of
other available passenger list sources, please visit our page dedicated to Passenger Lists. |
Our data base currently includes the following:
- 1205 passengers who sailed form Gijon, Asturias to Habana
and Matanzas in 1840-1871, contributed by Jorge Piñon
Cervera and D. Eduardo Nuñez Fernandez.
- 35 passengers who sailed from the Canary Islands to Habana in 1686,
contributed by Miriam Rivera and Dave Chudleigh.
- 706 passengers who arrived or departed Habana from/to various ports
of origin in Spain, Mexico and the US in 1842-1876, contributed by Lydia
Reyes.
- 228 passengers who were authorized by the Casa
de Contratación to travel to Cuba in 1567-1599.
- 1796 passengers who arrived in Habana (and a few to other ports in Cuba) from various ports of origin in Spain, England, Mexico and the US in 1848-1891.
- 1026 agricultural laborers and their family members who emigrated to Cuba in 1889-1890 from the Spanish provinces of: Granada, Malaga, Santander, Cadiz, Canaries, Coruña, and Madrid, taking advantage of a Royal Decree providing them with free passage and lands to work in the Island.
Please understand that the database represents only a miniscule fraction of the passengers arriving in Cuba. Only a few papers have been reviewed and only some of them carried passenger lists. Many newspapers ceased to publish passenger lists after about 1876, probably because of the advent of steamships carrying as many as 600 passengers in one trip. Please understand also that not all arriving passengers were immigrants. Many, specially after 1850, were visitors (tourists and business men) or military officers (soldiers names were usually not individually listed).
Please refer to our main Passenger Lists page for additional sources.
Passengers from Asturias to Cuba (ship # starting with "A")
by Jorge Piñón Cervera
Throughout the second half of the XIX century nearly one hundred thousand
Asturians departed their homeland bound for America in search of a better life
and employment opportunities, as well as a way of avoiding mandatory military
service. Most, four out of five, were bound for Cuba.
Between 1840 and 1870 a group of small shippers ran passenger service
between the port of Gijon and the Cuban ports of La Habana and Matanzas.
The crossing, a 40-50 days venture, was carried out in sail power vessels
such as corvettes, schooners and brigs. The brigs and schooners were
two masted sailboats which transported over two hundred passengers in
very difficult and crowded conditions. The two masted schooners, medium
sized vessels with an average weight of around 200 tons and about 40
meters in length, have their roots in the Antillean balahú and
in the North American schooners whose design migrated to Europe at the
end of the XVIII century.
Passenger lists from Galician and Asturian ports to Cuba are nearly
non existent, and very difficult to locate. Hard and tedious research,
along with the support of D. Eduardo Núñez Fernández,
Archivist of the Archivo Municipal de Gijón, help to locate passenger
lists for nine transatlantic voyages between 1858-1871 carrying over
1200 passengers. Some of the lists name the township of residence of
the passenger along with his passport number; others simply list the
individual’s name. There are three trips by the brig “Victoria”,
two trips by the corvette “Villa de Gijón”, and a
trip each by the brigs “Pepe” and “Habana”, a
well as a voyage by the schooner “Casualidad”.
Once again we will like to thank the Archivo Municipal de Gijón
for its support in this search, as well as the Vigil-Colunga family from
Noreña in transcribing the passengers names along with interpreting
the difficult calligraphy used during the period.
For the key to the numbers appearing in the first column
of the search form please visit our ships list.
To read further about the emigration from Asturias, Galicia and Cataluña
to Cuba we suggest the following references (all in Spanish):
- Anes Álvarez, Rafael; “La Emigración de Asturianos
a América”. Fundación Archivo de Indianos, Colombres,
Asturias, 1993.
- Gómez Gómez, Pedro; “De Asturias A América,
Cuba. (1850-1930) La Comunidad Asturiana de Cuba”. Fundación
Archivo de Indianos, Colombres, Asturias, 1996.
- Martínez Shaw, Carlos; “La Emigración Española
a América (1492-1824)”. Fundación Archivo de Indianos,
Colombres, Asturias, 1994.
- Rodríguez Galdo, Maria Xose; “Galicia, País
de Emigración”. Fundación Archivo de Indianos,
Colombres, Asturias, 1993.
- Segura Soriano, Isabel; “Viatgers Catalans al Carib: Cuba”.
Publicacions de L’Abadia de Montserrat, Barcelona, 1997.
- Sonesson, Birgit; “Catalanes en las Antillas; Un Estudio de
Casos”. Fundación Archivo de Indianos, Colombres, Asturias,
1995.
- Uria González, Jorge; “Asturias y Cuba en Torno al
98”. Editorial Labor, Barcelona, 1994.
- Villares, Ramón; “Historia da Emigración Galega
a América”. Xunta de Galica, Santiago de Compostela, 1996.
- Yáñez Gallardo, Cesar; “La Emigración
Española a América (Siglos XIX y XX). Fundación
Archivo de Indianos, Colombres, Asturias, 1994.
- Duque de Estrada, Dolores y de Als, Fernando, "Emigración
en el Oriente de Asturias (1845-1860) y Genealogías de Indianos",
Temas de Llanes n 59, Editorial el Oriente de Asturias, Llanes 1992.
(according to the author this book contains more complete information
on the voyages of the ship Villa de Gijón).
Passengers from Canary Islands to
Cuba (ship # starting with "B")
Thanks to the labor and courtesy of Miriam Rivera and Dave
Chudleigh, the names of 35 passengers
who sailed form the Port of Orotava (Puerto de la Cruz de Orotava), Tenerife,
Canary Islands to Habana (San Cristobal de La Habana) aboard the vessel
Nuestra Señora
de Guadalupe y San Juan (3 Mar 1686 to 12 Jun 1683) have been added to
the passenger data base.
For the key to the numbers appearing in the first column
of the search form please visit our ships list.
Miriam Rivera has posted on her web site a list of
sailing vessels that plied the route between the Canary Islands, Puerto
Rico and Cuba in the years 1756-1773. She has also posted a list of trips
in the years 1680-1687. You can reach these lists of ships and trips
by means of this link.
No passenger lists other than the above are available.
To read further about the emigration from the Canary Islands to the
New World we suggest the following reference (in Spanish):
- Manuel Hernández González; "La Emigración
Canaria a América (1765-1824)", Centro de la Cultura Popular Canaria,
Tenerife, 1996 - ISBN: 84-7926-223-0.
Newspaper Passenger Lists (ship # starting with "C", "G", "L", "M", "N" or "P")
During the 1800's many cargo and passenger ships arrived daily in Habana and other ports of Cuba. Ship arrivals were usually documented in various newspapers, notably the Diario de la Marina and the Gaceta de la Habana, both official newspapers of Havana. Sometimes, but not always, passenger lists were also published by the newspapers.
The Diario de la Marina was founded in 1844 as the "Organo Oficial del Apostadero de la Habana" (Official Organ of the Port of Havana). This title was suppressed in 19 Jan 1899, when the Diario became a regular newspaper with strong ties ot Spain. The Diario has become the source of most of the passenger lists to and from Havana in our database.
Please keep in mind that such newspaper lists often have typographical and transcription errors, so when you search for a particular name also search for possible variations. Also be aware that first names were commonly recorded in their Spanish version (Guillermo instead of William, Juan instead of John, etc.).
Be aware also of the customary ship routes. Ships saling from Spain, particularly Cadiz, usually stopped at the Canary Islands before crossing the Atlantic Ocean and stopped at Puerto Rico before proceeding to Cuba. Ships saling from England usually stopped at Nassau and/or San Tomas (Saint Thomas) before proceeding to Cuba.
The bulk of the newspaper transcriptions have been done with the valuable help of Mariela Fernandez and Lourdes del Pino, both active members of the Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami, who have generously taken much of their time to scan the microfilms of the newspapers into computer readable form at the libraries of the University of Miami and Florida International University.
The transcription from the computer files to our data base has been done primarily by your Webmaster (it's amazing how you start recognizing names of ships and of the "frequent flyers"). We have also had help from one of our readers in Spain, Ingrid Palica and from two members of the Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami, Conchita Gutierez and Juan Tamayo.
Thanks to the efforrts of the prolific Lydia
Reyes, the names of
706 passengers who arrived in La Habana in 1842-1876,
aboard 27 ships, are also included in the passenger data base.
Most of the newspaper sources are microfilms in special library collections at the University of Miami and Florida International University. Unfortunately, the microfilm collection at FIU was contaminated by mold and removed from circulation. In its stead we have been using the digitized version of the Diario de la Marina available at dloc, the Digital Library of the Caribeean. Unfortunately the quality and legibility of this source is not as good as the original microfilms we had been using.
Please note that our volunteers doing the transcription of newspaper passenger lists to the CubaGenWeb database may ocassionally make transcription errors. Also, the newspaper clerks may ocassionally have made errors when entering the names into the newspaper for publication. We recommend that, in case of any doubts, please search the original newspaper images. These are available on-line at:
A few of the newspapers form part of various dossiers in the Spain On-Line Archives (Archivos Españoles en la Red).
For the key to the numbers appearing in the first column
of the search form please visit our ships list.
The date shown on the ship list and on the entry in the database is the date of publication of the newspaper containing the passenger list. Actual ship arrival was either on the same date (usually for vapores or steamships) or 1 or 2 days before the publication of the passenger list (usually for sailing vessels). We have elected to list the publication date, rather than the arrival date, to facilitate the researcher retrieving the published information.
Prensa Historica (Historic Press)
We have been informed by Mariela Fernandez that the Prensa Historica (Historic Press) in Spain (part of the Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes) has now listed the issues of the Diario de la Marina which were previously missing. We are in process of transcribing them into our data base.
Libros de Asientos (Books of Seats)
- (ship # starting with "D")
On 20 Nov 1503, only 9 years after the discovery of America,
the Catholic Kings, Ferdinand and Isabella, created in Seville, by Royal
Decree the "Casa de Contratacion" (House of Contracting). To
this organization was given the exclusive right to control all movement
of people and goods to and from the new territories.
Along with the selection
of Seville as the home of the new organization, all ships were required
to sail from and terminate their travel in the port of Seville
(on the Guadalquivir river) as the only authorized point to transact
shipping to and from the Indies (as the territories of America were known).
Seville was home to this monopoly for more than 200 years (1503-1717).
There was only one period (1529-1573) where 8 spanish ports were authorized
to send ships directly ot the Indies, although still under the supervision
of the Casa and still with the obligation of terminating the return voyage
in Seville. The relatively shallow depth of the Guadalquivir river did
not permit all the ships to sail with all their cargo all the way to
Seville and, because of this reason, ships were eventually authorized
to load and unload cargo in the port of Cadiz. The Casa was eventually
moved to Cadiz in 1717 and the commerce laws were gradually opened until
in 1790 the Casa was terminated. For a good article on the Casa de Contratacion
(in Spanish) visit the web site of Julio
Dominguez Arjona.
During the period when the Casa was active, all persons
wishing to travel to and/or to settle in these overseas territories were
required to apply for and be granted a license. Sometimes these licenses
were granted for a limited period of time, perhaps a few years. All surviving
correspondence and records related to the Indies, including the licenses
and passenger lists, called "Libros
de Asientos" (Books
of Seats) are now kept in the Archivo General de Indias (AGI or General
Archive of the Indies) in Seville.
The AGI has published several books
which are compilations of the passenger lists in the Libro de Asientos.
We are fortunate in having three of these volumes and have transcribed
all the names of passengers whose destination is listed as either Cuba
or Habana. Note that there very few people travelling to Cuba in those
early years (only 228 out of 15,999 entries).
Please note that the actual lists do not include the name
of the ship or the port of departure, as the list just indicates that
a permit to travel was granted. The entries in the books sometimes have
some limited additional data, such as the names of the parents,
spouse, children or other accompanying persons. If you are really interestd
in a particular individual, please drop us an e-mail and we will try
to provide you with any additional information that appears in the entry
(please be sure to mention our complete reference number that appears
in the first column of the search form and note that this offer is limited
only to entries with a refernce number starting with "D05", "D06" or "D07", which are the
only ones in our possession.).
The following is the key to the numbers appearing
in the first column of the search form:
number |
ship |
date |
from |
to |
D01-xxx |
not specified |
1514-1534 |
not specified (probably Seville) |
Habana or Cuba |
D02-xxx |
not specified |
1535-1538 |
not specified (probably Seville) |
Habana or Cuba |
D03-xxx |
not specified |
1539-1559 |
not specified (probably Seville) |
Habana or Cuba |
D04-xxx |
not specified |
1560-1566 |
not specified (probably Seville) |
Habana or Cuba |
D05-xxx |
not specified |
1567-1577 |
not specified (probably Seville) |
Habana or Cuba |
D06-xxx |
not specified |
1578-1585 |
not specified (probably Seville) |
Habana or Cuba |
D07-xxx |
not specified |
1586-1599 |
not specified (probably Seville) |
Habana or Cuba |
The names in the above lists have been extracted from the
following references:
- The data correponding to the years 1514-1566 (References D01, D02,
D03 and D04) were extracted by Miguel Angel Fernandez Gonzalez from
Volumes I, II, III and IV of the "Catalogo
de Pasajeros a Indias" obtained in library loans
in Madrid (these rare volumes were never reissued).
- Luis Romera Iruela y Maria del Carmen Galbis Diez, "Catalogo
de Pasajeros a Indias, Siglos XVI, XVII y XVIII", Volumen V, tomos
I y II, (1567-1577), Archivo General de las Indias, Ministerio de Cultura
, 1980, ISBN 84-7483-185-7 (our Reference D05).
- Maria del Carmen Galbis Diez, "Catalogo de Pasajeros a Indias,
Siglos XVI, XVII y XVIII", Volumen VI (1578-1585), Archivo General
de las Indias, Ministerio de Cultura, 1986, ISBN 84-505-4357-6 (our
Reference D06).
- Maria del Carmen Galbis Diez, "Catalogo de Pasajeros a
Indias, Siglos XVI, XVII y XVIII", Volumen VII (1586-1599), Archivo
General de las Indias, Ministerio de Cultura, 1986, ISBN 84-505-4357-6
(our Reference D07).
Please note that the LDS Church has microfilmed the first 3 volumes
of the above Catalog and also the original Libros de Asientos for the
period 1509-1701. You can find a list of these microfilms by visiting
our web page dedicated to Passenger Lists
Licenses for Travel to the Island of Cuba (ship # starting with "E")
After 1800, licenses (passports) for travel to the Island of Cuba were
issued, first by the Council of the Indies (Consejo de las Indias) and
then by the Ministry of State (Secretaria de Estado), the Office
of Issuance of Grace and Justice (Despacho
de Gracia y Justicia), by the Office of Overseas Government (Despacho
de Gobernacion de Ultramar) and by Universal Office of the Indies
(Despacho Universal de las Indias).
The related files of application papers (expedientes) are kept in the Archive of the Indies (Archivo General de las Indias
or AGI) in Seville.
Some of the indices to these files are available at the on-line Spanish
Archives: Archivos
Españoles en Red (AER).
We are in process of transcribing
the passenger names appearing in these indices. Note that no additional
information appears in the indices, only the names and year of the application
file.
The following is the key to the numbers appearing in the first column
of the search form:
number |
date |
AGI reference code |
E326-xxx |
1801-1803 |
ES.41091.AGI/16411.327//ULTRAMAR,326 |
E327-xxx |
1804-1811 |
ES.41091.AGI/16411.328//ULTRAMAR,327 |
E328-xxx |
1812-1813 |
ES.41091.AGI/16411.329//ULTRAMAR,328 |
E329-xxx |
1814-1815 |
ES.41091.AGI/16411.330//ULTRAMAR,329 |
E340-xxx |
1821-1822 |
ES.41091.AGI/16411.341//ULTRAMAR,340 |
E364-xxx |
1833-1835 |
ES.41091.AGI/16411.365//ULTRAMAR,364 |
Additional lists of licenses can be found at the Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami web site.
White Colonization of the Island (ship # starting with "F")
To increase the population of whites on the Island, the Ministry of Ultramar issued a Royal Decree on 23 September 1889 and a Royal Order on 12 October 1898 (note 1) authorizing the transportation, free of charge, of 250 families of agricultural colonists from Spain to the Island of Cuba. Many families from all regions of Spain took advantage of this offer. Lists of the applications for emigration, as well as receipts for their food and lodging and telegrams to Cuban civil government officials advising them of the impending arrival of colonists, were generated by Spain civil government offices and can be found in the Spain Archives on the Web (Archivos Espanoles en la Red) or AER. Lydia Reyes has located these documents for us and we are in process of transcribing these lists into our passenger data base for your convenience.
In most cases, the ages of the indivuduals are given in the civil government lists and have been transcribed in the "remarks" column (it is remarkable how many small children accompanied this venture).
The following is the key to the numbers appearing in the first column
of the search form:
number |
AER location |
F174-14-bb-xxZ |
Ultramar,174,exp.14 Block bb |
F174-15-bb-xxZ |
Ultramar,174,exp.15 Block bb |
F174-16-bb-xxZ |
Ultramar,174,exp.16 Block bb |
F174-17-bb-xxZ |
Ultramar,174,exp.17 Block bb |
F174-18-bb-xxZ |
Ultramar,174,exp.18 Block bb |
The "xx" indicates the sequence of the family in the original document. The last letter "Z" indicates the members of a given family (where A= head of family, B= spouse, C-xxx = accompanying children or other adults). Please note that the spouse's surname is generally not the same as the head of household, so she may be listed in another data base file. This also may apply to any accompanying adults.
NOTES:
- Sometimes the dates of these documents are given as 20 September and 13, 17, 18 or 25 October respectively.
- Many names appearing in list F174-14-67 also appear in F174-14-37. Similarly list F174-15-59 repeats many names from list F174-015-38. We have used the clearest information and not transcribed the duplicates.
Thanks to the volunteer transcribers
We want to express our gratitude to all the volunteers who transcribed newspaper lists or supplied us with transcriptions from other sources. Our special thanks to:
- Jorge Piñon
- Ingrid Palica
- Mariela Fernandez
- Lourdes del Pino
- Conchita Gutierrez
- Juan Tamayo
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