1946-1960 State Immigration Office – Migrant files (M1 – M7371) Files of British migrants arriving under the Joint Agreement between the United Kingdom and the Australian Government

This series comprises files of nominated migrants, their nominators, general enquiries from prospective settlers and occasional subject files. The series has been culled. Files containing letters of enquiry only with no further action other than notification of the despatch of standard literature on Tasmania, or referral to the Commonwealth, have been destroyed. Despite its ‘case file’ appearance, the series illustrates the administrative processes of the agency and provides an insight into the state of land settlement, housing, employment and general living standards from the 1940s to the 1970s. For this reason, some prospective settler files have been retained, even if there is no evidence of the person or family having arrived in the state. Some nominations may have been cancelled, deferred or unsuccessful. The files indicate the government’s policy and preference for various ‘qualities’ in settlers and settler families. As well as individual files, there are group nominations, e.g. Department of Education recruitment of teachers. In this case, individual migrant names are not listed in the file title and the controlling series of cards (AA60) should be consulted. These records are part of the holdings of the Tasmanian Archives