Records relating to Maltese migration to New South Wales.
The published report of the Census of the Colony of NSW taken in 1891 shows total numbers of natives of Russia as 1,176 of whom 987 were male and 189 female (the total number of Russian-born in New South Wales in the previous census of 1881 was 322).
A small number of Polish-born convicts were transported to New South Wales.
The earliest records held in the NSW State Archives Collection relating to the French are contained in the Colonial Secretary's Papers, 1788-1825. Included are letters that relate to a number of French vessels visiting Sydney, such as the Surprize asking for permission to go sealing in 1802.
The earliest records held by NSW State Archives relating to Greek people arriving in NSW are the convict indents for seven sailors from Hydra convicted at Malta in 1828 for piracy and transported for various terms.
Few Indians arrived and settled in the colony of NSW in the first half of the 19th century. Most were labourers who returned to India once they had completed their contracts. A small number of convicts were transported to NSW from India, including David Cusshon, who was tried at Bombay in 1828. The majority of convicts transported from India were tried by military courts.
The first time the number of Italian born immigrants in NSW was reported was in the 1871 Census, when 772 Italians were recorded.
The wreck of the Dunbar, with the loss of 121 passengers and crew, is one of Australia's worst maritime disasters in peacetime.
Lebanese migration and settlement in Australia commenced around 1880. There is a breakdown of the occupations of the ‘Syrian’ males in NSW at the time of the 1901 Census. These included: drapers (10); merchants (10); storekeeper, shopkeeper and relative assisting (16); hawker and relative assisting (20) scholars (16) and Maronite Priests (3).
A number of Germans, such as Augustus Alt (appointed the first Surveyor of Lands on May 1787), the astronomer Carl Ludwig Rümker and Phillip Schaffer who established one of the earliest vineyards in Australia, played key roles in the early development of New South Wales.
Chinese migration and settlement in New South Wales has a long history. Early musters and census include Chinese and although Chinese migration was being considered as a solution to the labour shortage in the Colony as early as 1828, the numbers remained low until the middle of the nineteenth century.
