Further research

This page provides some selected links to external websites which may help you in your research. No responsibility is taken for the content of these external sites.

Note that the links here are to general subject areas. Links to websites which are about specific ships or people are listed on the individual pages relating to them.

The East India Company

The records of the company are in the India Office Records which forms part of the Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections (APAC) held at the British Library.

It is a very rich and varied collection, including the private papers of key individuals and office holders. There is also useful historical background and help on how to go about research. Full details of the arrangement of the records, as well as a glossary of terms, and a list of occupations are available here.

Family History & Genealogy

The best place to start for family history resources is the Families in British India Society (FIBIS) which has a website with many links to useful resources.

A good place to start is their Beginners' Guide.

Members of the society have access to their online searchable database which has thousands of entries for births, baptisms, marriages and deaths, as well as embarkation records for soldiers.

Shipping

The Immigrant Ship Transcribers Guild contains a wealth of information, especially passenger lists for numerous ships which carried immigrants, especially to the New World and Australia. This is a massive undertaking, relying on the efforts of many volunteers worldwide.

Lloyd's Register of Shipping has a selection of useful leaflets about sources for mercantile shipping worldwide. They also offer a paid historical research service.

Other East India Companies

There are numerous websites relating to the VOC (the Dutch East India Company). A good starting point is VOC links, which is a portal site with over 250 sites listed.

For France, visit the Compagnie des Indes museum website.

Miscellaneous

East India Company Medals is a site by Ed Haines which has details of all the medals awarded by the company but note that this does not include any names or information about the recipients of the medals.

East India Company Flags has details of all the various versions of the company's flag over the period of its history.