THE RECORD REGISTER
Origins, destinations and what remains unknown
Queensland: 1863–1904. Fiji: 1864–1911. A dash means no row is provided in this table, not zero. Deaths and returns are not calculated by subtracting recruitment totals.
| Island / source category | Queensland contracts | Fiji entries | Deaths overseas / at sea | Return total |
|---|
Vessels in the collection
Twelve vessel-name records, including three Jason accounts whose hull identities remain unresolved. Names link to their documented roles; inclusion does not mean every vessel kidnapped people.
Dated evidence
EVIDENCE, NOT ASSUMPTIONS
Read the record with care
People and contracts
A person could be recruited more than once. Recruitment entries, contracts, voyage parties and individual lives are different units. The Queensland and Fiji figures must not be added as a count of unique people.
What “blackbirding” covers here
This atlas examines the wider labour-trade era, including kidnapping, deception, coercion and indentured recruitment. A recorded contract alone does not establish informed consent. The circumstances of each island’s aggregate entries remain unclassified.
Dates and boundaries
The coverage window is 1847–1922, reflecting the selected sources, not a universal start or end date for blackbirding. Year filters show records whose date ranges overlap that year; period totals are never redistributed into invented annual counts.
Unknown is not zero
Island-specific deaths and comprehensive return totals have not been established in this collection. The map separates deaths overseas from maritime incidents. A shipwreck report may include deaths ashore and is labelled accordingly.
Locations and route precision
Island pins and regional destination pins are approximate reference points. They are not embarkation beaches, plantations, burial sites or exact wreck coordinates. Landing locations and home islands are recorded separately where evidence allows. Unresolved places remain unpinned.
Ship encounters and resistance
Eight incident records cover abduction, resistance and colonial reprisals at island level. Each entry distinguishes the reported cause, source disagreements and unknowns. Attacks may involve boats or shore parties rather than a ship itself. Colonial claims are attributed, and unknown casualties are never counted as zero. For the Jason missionary account at Nguna, 1879 is the report year, not a confirmed incident year.
Source limitations
This is an initial sourced collection, not a complete census. Colonial records contain omissions, hostile language and contested claims. Documentary counts are attributed to their sources, not presented as independently verified totals. Community and family evidence can refine the record through future reviewed updates.
Coverage in this version
All 41 Queensland origin rows and all 29 Fiji origin categories from the workshop table are included. Their sums match 39,931 and 14,198 respectively. Fiji includes 5,228 entries with unknown island, 64 Banks-unspecified and 19 Torres-unspecified. These are not assigned to named islands. Evoso remains unresolved and unpinned. The 1873 return party is a single documented example, not a return census.
Source library
Research assembled 2 October 2026 · Nasoko Research
