There are six volumes in the series of indexes for the 1830-1840 period, which have been compiled from the shipping and news columns of at least two and often as many as four Sydney newspapers. The entries are compared for the most informative. If the spelling of the surname does not agree in the sources, all spellings of the surname are included. The newspapers used are the Aydney Gazette, The Australian, The Herald, and The Monitor.

Incoming passengers- Although shipping passenger lists have survived for incoming passengers into Sydney, for this period, and can be consulted at the State Records of New South Wales, they are thought to be incomplete. Many names can be found on these indexes which do not appear on the State Records lists.

Outgoing passengers- There are no outgoing passenger lists at the State Records office for this period. This the first known index to fill this important gap.

Incoming Crew- Although there is at the State Records, an unpublished card index for ship's captains arriving in Sydney in this period, there are no lists for crew. All mention of members of any ship's crew through newspaper items such as wrecks, inquests, death reports and court cases are listed in these indexes.

Outgoing Crew- This is the only known list for ship's captains and crew leaving Sydney at this time. Again these lists have been compiled from all sections of the newspapers.

The indexes are set out to include-Surname, Christian name or initial; Title; Ship; Date of Arrival in Sydney; Date of departure from original port and other ports of call; Date of departure from Sydney and destination port; ship's status of person named; remarks and notes as well as full references.

A seventh volume for 1841 has been produced to fill a gap in the records and to meet up with the privately produced indexes by Pastkeys for 1842+.

Volume 1: 1830-1832

Volume 2: 1833-1835

Volume 3: 1836-1837

Volume 4: 1838

Volume 5: 1839

Volume 6: 1840

Volume 7: 1841