Navigating the Ship Records — How to Trace Your Ancestry
The Hook: How do you find a needle in a historical haystack?
Tracing your roots requires looking at the "Manifests." In the 19th century, British and Portuguese naval records tracked the movement of ships across the Atlantic. For Nigerians with Brazilian origins, looking into the Manumission papers (documents of freedom) and the ship logs arriving in the Bight of Benin is the first step.
Pro Tip: Start by searching digital archives like SlaveVoyages.org or the National Archives in Ibadan for arrival records between 1830 and 1890.