Convicts

See also my talk handout 'Convicts: from trial to freedom'.

Convicts

About 152,000 convicts were sent to eastern colonies of Australia 1788-1853 (mostly to NSW or Tasmania / Van Diemen's Land) plus 9,700 convicts were sent to Western Australia 1850-1868

UK & Ireland (trial & voyage) | New South Wales | Queensland | South Australia |Tasmania | Victoria | Western Australia | General

UK & Ireland (Trial & voyage)

• Archives Wales – https://archives.wales    (See 'Find your Archive': archives repositories, including county record offices, holding Quarter Sessions records - other than Monmouthshire)
• Assize Court Records – https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Assize_Court_Records    (on FamilySearch Wiki, a description of these court records, their history and where they are now located)
• Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) – http://www.nla.gov.au/microform-australian-joint-copying-project    (microfilm of UK records likely to be of interest in Australia, NZ and Pacific)
• Bedfordshire Gaol Register – http://apps.bedford.gov.uk/grd/    (Gaol registers 1801 to 1879, contains personal descriptions)
• Britain sent Thousands of its Convicts to America, Not Just Australia – http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/britain-sent-thousands-of-its-convicts-to-america-not-1707458418    (article, with references)
• British convicts shipped to American colonies – https://www.jstor.org/stable/1833611?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents    (article, with references)
• Chartist Ancestors – http://www.chartists.net    (Wanted democratic reforms & some protesters were transported as convicts)
• Convict hulks – http://www.hotkey.net.au/~jwilliams4/hulks.htm    (includes hulks in Australia)
• Convict love tokens – http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibition/objectsthroughtime/convict-love-tokens/    (tokens made by convicts to leave behind with loved ones)
• Devon convicts transported to Australia – http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/DevonIndexes/LastFarewell.html   (1782-1821)
• Down County Museum convict transportation – http://www.downcountymuseum.com/About-Us/The-Gaol/Gaol_Convicts_Database    (Convicts sent from County Down to NSW)
• Dumfries Jail Books – http://info.dumgal.gov.uk/HistoricalIndexes/Home/IndexDescription/5    (Gaol registers 1714-1810)
• England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935 – http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/england-and-wales-crime-prisons-and-punishment-1770-1935    (findmypast, assorted crime records, costs)
• English and American attitudes towards Convict Transportation 1718-1775 – https://www.jstor.org/stable/24415748?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents    (article)
• Index of legal terms and offences – http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/research-guides/research-guides-a-z/court-and-legal-records/index-of-legal-terms    (National Records of Scotland)
• Inveraray Jail (Argyll, Scotland) prisoner records – http://www.inverarayjail.co.uk/our-history/    (See 'Prisoner Records', Gaol registers 1820 to 1889, contains personal descriptions)
• Ireland Prison Registers, 1790 to 1924 – https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ireland_Prison_Registers_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records)    (from National Archives of Ireland)
• Ireland-Australia transportation database – http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/ireland-australia-transportation-records-1791-1853//    (Convicts transported from Ireland to Australia, incomplete for transportations prior to 1836)
• Irish Chief Secretary's Correspondence – http://www.csorp.nationalarchives.ie/    (ongoing project digitising documents 1818-52)
• Irish convict transportation to Australia – https://independentaustralia.net/australia/australia-display/irish-convict-transportation-to-australia,3101    (article by Brad Webb)
• Irish Convicts to NSW 1788-1849 – http://members.pcug.org.au/~ppmay/convicts.htm    (Peter May)
• Kent Quarter Sessions Index – http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mrawson/sessions.html   (1657-1683)
• Lancashire Convict database – http://www.lancastercastle.com/convict-database   (People tried & sentenced at Lancaster Assize - not complete)
• Lincolnshire Convicts database – http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/convictssearch.aspx    (Convicts transported to Australia, Gibraltar & Bermuda)
• Newgate Calendar – http://www.exclassics.com/newgate/ngintro.htm    (digitised book)
• Newspapers – eResources on your national, state / provincial library website   (trial reports in eg Times Digital Archive 1785 to 1985, 19th century British Library Newspapers, British Newspapers 1600-1900)
• Nottingham Borough Quarter Session Transportations – http://cms.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/home/leisure/archives/archivescollections/summaryguide/archivescourt.htm    (Quarter Sessions courts tried non-capital offences, more serious crimes tried at Assizes, records held at The National Archives)
• Old Bailey Online – http://www.oldbaileyonline.org    (Trial records from London's Central Criminal Court, 1674 to 1913)
• Prison Hulk Registers & Letter Books – http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx?dbid=1989   (Ancestry.com, 1802-1840)
     also Prison Ship (Hulk) Registers – http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/prison-ship-hulk-registers    (findmypast.com, 1811-1843)
• Prison hulks on the River Thames – http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.56/chapterId/957/Prison-hulks-on-the-River-Thames.html    (article)
• Scottish convicts ('Crime and criminals') – http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/crime-and-criminals   (research guide)
• Scottish High Court criminal trials – http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/high-court-criminal-trials    (guide)
• Scottish Prison Register Search – http://www.maxwellancestry.com/prisonsearch.aspx
• The National Archives (UK, London) – http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk    (original trial, prison, hulk, transportation records & much more)
• The National Archives (UK, London) Discovery catalogue search – http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk    (catalogue search, including some name searches)
  (lesser crimes tried at Quarter Sessions courts, held at English county record offices, find via ‘Find an archive’)
• The National Archives (UK) Podcasts – http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/    (large files, audio lectures, some have transcripts)
     Catching Victorian and Edwardian criminals on paper
     Criminal ancestors: trial records at The National Archives
     From crime to punishment: criminal records of our ancestors from the 18th & 19th centuries
     Journeys of discovery: Surgeons at Sea
     Morbidity and mortality on convict voyages to 19th century Australia
     Prison hulks
     Prison: five hundred years behind bars
     Radicalism and unrest
     Reckless, rash and repentant: Convicts' petitions for mercy
     Transportation to Australia
• The National Archives (UK) Research guides – http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides-keywords/    ('C' for Crime and the law, courts, etc)
     Criminal transportation
     Prisoners & prison staff
• The National Archives (UK) Surgeons at Sea – http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/surgeonsatsea/    (Journals of surgeons who served on convict & emigrant ships 1793 to 1880)
• Victorian Crime & Punishment – http://vcp.e2bn.org/justice/page11382-sentencing-to-departure-prison-hulks-convict-gaols.html    (Teaching resources discussing 19th century justice)
• Wales' Court of Great Sessions ('Crime and Punishment') database – https://www.llgc.org.uk/sesiwn_fawr/index_s.htm    (National Library of Wales, holds church records, wills and Great Sessions (Assizes) court records)
• Warwickshire Calendar of Prisoners database – http://heritage.warwickshire.gov.uk/warwickshire-county-record-office/county-record-office-resources-and-catalogues/county-record-office-calendar-of-prisoners-database/    (criminals & victims)
• What happened to your ancestor after being convicted & sentenced to transportation – http://www.hotkey.net.au/~jwilliams4/cons1.htm    (an idealistic view)
• Wives & Children of Irish Convicts 1825 to 1840 (Ancestry.com.au) – http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx?dbid=2377    (costs)
• York Assizes 1785 to 1851 – http://www.yorkfamilyhistory.org.uk/resources/york-assizes/    (Assizes courts heard 'major' crimes)

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New South Wales

• NSW State Archives & Records
      Convict records – https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/convicts    
      Colonial Secretary's Correspondence Guide – https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/colonial-secretary/correspondence-guide
      Community Access Points – https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/community-access-points-0    (archives available at some libraries)
      Gaol inmates / Prisoners Guide – https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/gaol-inmates-prisoners-guide
      Supreme Court Guide – https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/supreme-court-guide
• NSW Transcription agents     (Obtain copies of records from NSW State Archives & Records, for those unable to visit themselves)
      Turtle Consolidated Services – http://home.iprimus.com.au/lturtle/
      Marilyn Rowan – http://www.nswtranscriptions.com.au/


• Aboriginal Convicts: Race, Law & Transportation – http://eprints.utas.edu.au/7467/2/Kris_Harman_PhD_Thesis.pdf    (Aboriginals tried & transported under colonial laws)
• Ancestry.com (Convict Collection) – http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/group/AUConvicts    (indents, musters, pardons, Colonial Secretary's Correspondence & much more, costs)
• Castle Hill Convict Rebellion 1804 – http://www.dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/castle_hill_convict_rebellion_1804    (article)
• Claim a Convict – http://www.hawkesbury.net.au/claimaconvict/    (contact other researchers)
• Cockatoo Island Convicts – http://www.cockatooisland.gov.au/about/history/convicts
  also Historical Analysis of the convict remains on Cockatoo Island – http://www.cockatooisland.gov.au/system/files/pages/1d843de2-ed47-4ed0-bccc-4160a05ed533/files/cmp-ci-historical-analysis-convict-buildings.pdf
• Convict and emancipist teachers of NSW 1789-1830 – http://dehanz.net.au/entries/convict-emancipist-teachers/    (details of teachers and their crimes)
• Convict Ships to New South Wales – http://www.jenwilletts.com/Convict%20Ships.htm    (Some lists of convicts, surgeon's journals & more)
• Convict Tickets of Leave – http://www.sag.org.au    (This index temporarily unavailable online while website being updated)
• Female Factory (Parramatta) – http://www.parragirls.org.au/    (Factory = 'Manufactory' - place of work & prison, information about institution, prison, orphanage)
• Female Factory (second factory at Parramatta) – http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jray/gordon/index.htm    (information, including about 1st matron)
• Female Orphan School, Parramatta – http://www.uws.edu.au/femaleorphanschool/home
• findmypast.com.au (costs)
     Convict Arrivals (indents) – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/new-south-wales-convict-arrivals
     Convict Conditional and Absolute Pardons 1791-1867 – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/australia-convict-conditional-and-absolute-pardons-1791-1867
     Convict Death Register 1828-1879 – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/new-south-wales-convict-death-register-1828-1879
     Convict Tickets of Leave 1824-1874 – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/australia-convict-tickets-of-leave-1824-1874
     Convicts' Certificates of Freedom 1827-1867 – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/new-south-wales-butts-of-convicts-certificates-of-freedom-1827-1867
     Registers of Convicts' Applications to Marry 1825-1851 – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/new-south-wales-registers-of-convicts-applications-to-marry-1825-1851
     Settlers and Convicts 1787-1859 – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/new-south-wales-and-tasmania-settlers-and-convicts-1787-1859
• First Fleet (Dictionary of Sydney) – http://dictionaryofsydney.org/artefact/first_fleet
• First Fleet Online – http://firstfleet.uow.edu.au/index.html   (information & database)
• First Fleeters – http://www.fellowshipfirstfleeters.org.au   (Fellowship of First Fleeters)
• Free Settler or Felon? – http://www.jenwilletts.com/    (Newcastle / Hunter Valley convicts, settlers, soldiers)
• 'From Terra Australis to Australia' – http://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/archive/discover_collections/history_nation/terra_australis/index.html    (animations & histories, State Library of NSW)
• Great North Road – http://greatnorthroad.com.au/    (Road between Sydney & Newcastle & database of convicts involved in its building)
     also Old Great North Road – http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/nswcultureheritage/TheOldGreatNorthRoad.htm
• Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney – http://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/hyde-park-barracks-museum/stories   (Convict barracks in Sydney)
• Irish convicts to NSW – http://members.pcug.org.au/~ppmay/   (Peter Mayberry)
• Newcastle Penal Settlement – https://downloads.newcastle.edu.au/library/cultural%20collections/pdf/1981-bramble-aborigines.pdf    (article on Aboriginal/ settler race relations)
• Parramatta's Old Government House – https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/old-government-house/
• Tocal's convicts 1822 to 1840 – http://www.tocal.com/homestead/vandv/index.html    (Hunter Valley NSW, info about individual convicts & convict life)

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Queensland (was NSW until 1859)

• Queensland State Archives records
     Moreton Bay Convicts – http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/Researchers/Indexes/Convicts/Pages/default.aspx
     Moreton Bay Convict Records – http://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/subsite.aspx?id=55417
     Pre Separation Resource Guide – https://publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/cb108214-87a3-44d8-b7a8-156d63db09bc/resource/85c1de52-f039-4073-80dd-841556721cf2/download/corpdfsuserqsagreyjydocumentspdfs-for-qsa-websitepre-separation-resource-guide.pdf    (records relating to Queensland when it was still part of NSW)


• findmypast.com.au    (costs)
     Queensland Convict Register Index 1824-1839 – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/queensland-convict-register-index-1824-1839
     St Helena Convict Index 1863-1936 – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/queensland-st-helena-convict-index-1863-1936
• Moreton Bay Convict Settlement and Penal Colony – http://www.brisbanehistory.com/convict_era.html    (article)
• Moreton Bay Penal Settlement 1824 to 1842 – http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/jol/2014/06/12/moreton-bay-penal-settlement-1824-to-1842/    (Blog article, John Oxley library)
• State Library of Queensland
     Convict Queenslanders – http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/resources/convict-queenslanders    (biographical information)
     Convict Transportation Database – http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/resources/family-history/convicts    (incomplete index of convicts transported to all colonies)
     How to trace a convict ancestor – http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/resources/family-history/convicts-research    (research guide)

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South Australia (no convicts sent directly to South Australia, although emancipists settled there from elsewhere)

• Convicts transported from South Australia – http://www.jaunay.com/convicts.html   (those tried in SA courts, see also findmypast)
• findmypast.com.au (costs)
     South Australia Convicts – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/south-australia-convicts    (South Australians sentenced to transportation + recaptured runaways)
     South Australian Ex-Convicts – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/south-australian-ex-convicts
• Persons Lost and Found 1838 to 1920 – http://www.familyhistorysa.info/sahistory/deserters.html    (includes convict expirees arriving in South Australia from other colonies)

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Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land till 1853, was NSW until 1825)

• Convict portal – http://www.linc.tas.gov.au/convict-portal   (follow links to 'Before Transportation', 'Convict Life', 'Freedom' and 'Founders & Survivors')
• Tasmanian Names Index – https://talis.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/names/   (includes index to convicts & convicts' permission to marry)


• Abbreviations and formats used in convict records – http://www.linc.tas.gov.au/family-history/Pages/Convict-abbreviations.aspx
• Abbreviations used in Tasmanian convict records – http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~austashs/convicts/conabbrev.html   (commonly used abbreviations)
• Ancestry.com.au    (costs)
     Baptisms of Children of Convicted Women, 1833-1854 – http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx?dbid=60750
     Despatches of the Governor's Office, 1823-1855 – http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx?dbid=60751
• Becoming Tasmania – http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/php/BecomingTasmania/BTMainPage.htm    (extracts from book primarily about convicts)
• Coal Mines historic site – http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/attraction/coalmineshistoricsite
• Convict Department guide – https://stors.tas.gov.au/au-7-0038-00120_1    (detailed guide to records)
• Convict Ships List – http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~austashs/convicts/conships.htm    (detailed but incomplete)
• Convict Voyages – http://convictvoyages.org/expert-essays/tasmania    (history)
• "Convicts' private lives discovered in Hobart" – http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2011/s3273291.htm   (news report)
• Convicts and the Colonial Period – http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/Images/Colonial%20period%202.htm   (many articles)
• Early Tasmanian government administration records – http://www.linc.tas.gov.au/archive-heritage/guides-records/Pages/government.aspx    (detailed guide to records)
• Female Convicts Research Centre – http://www.femaleconvicts.org.au/   (lists of female convicts, their children, and those who worked with them, also magistrates & convict ships)
• findmypast.com.au (costs)
     Settlers and Convicts 1787-1859 – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/new-south-wales-and-tasmania-settlers-and-convicts-1787-1859
     Tasmanian Convict Records 1800-1893 – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/tasmania-convict-records-1800-1893
• Founders & Survivors – http://foundersandsurvivors.org   (information about convicts & descendants)
• Maria Island: Darlington Probation Station – http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/about/world-heritage-areas/darlington-probation-station
• Orphan Schools & St John's Park Precinct – http://www.orphanschool.org.au   (information about Hobart institution & orphans)
• Port Arthur (Van Diemen's Land / Tasmania) – http://portarthur.org.au   (see under 'History', information about penal settlement)
• Port Arthur Life – http://tsammons.wix.com/convict-life-in-port-arthur#!__life-at-port-arthur   (history, video clips)
• Sorell, William: An examination of his convict settlement and establishment of free settlement – http://eprints.utas.edu.au/11816/1/Sorell_Thesis.pdf    (thesis)
• Tasmanian Convict List – http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~austashs/convicts/conintro.htm    (incomplete but with individual researchers' contacts)
• Transportation, Penal Ideology & the experience of juvenile offenders in England & Australia in the early 19th century – http://chs.revues.org/416    (select 'English')

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Victoria (was NSW until 1851)

• Courts and Criminal Justice - Convict Records – http://prov.vic.gov.au/provguide-57   (guide to Public Record Office Victoria)
• Justice, crime and law – https://www.prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/justice-crime-and-law    (gateway page)
• Register of Convicts c1842 to 1854 – https://www.prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/register-convicts-1842-1854
• Victoria, Convict Register 1842-1854 – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/victoria-convict-register-1842-1854    (on findmypast, costs)
• Victoria Government Gazette Online Archive 1836 to 1997 – http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au    (includes 'NSW Government Gazette' 1836 to 1851)
• Victoria's early history, 1803-1851: convicts – http://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/Victoriasearlyhistory/convicts    (State Library of Victoria guide)
• Westernport Settlement of 1826 to 28 – http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nswgdhs/westport.htm    (now Corinella, Victoria - convicts, military & settlers)

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Western Australia (received convicts 1850 to 1868)

• Convict database – http://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/history/convict-database/
• Convict records of Western Australia – http://www.friendsofbattyelibrary.org.au/PDF/Convict%20Records%20of%20Western%20Australia.pdf    (research guide published by Friends of Battye Library
• Western Australia Convict records, 1846-1930 – http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx?dbid=60668    (on Ancestry.com.au, costs)


• Colonial Secretary's Office Records – http://www.sro.wa.gov.au/archive-collection/collection/colonial-secretarys-office-records   (records at State Records Office of Western Australia)
• Convict Records – http://www.sro.wa.gov.au/archive-collection/collection/convict-records   (records at State Records Office of Western Australia)
• Convicts in Western Australia – http://slwa.wa.gov.au/dead_reckoning/indexes_and_catalogues/a-f2/convicts   (records about WA convicts in state library & elsewhere)
• Convicts to Australia – http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/   (Convict history, WA convicts & guards, all convict ships, NSW Convict women & bibliography)
     Parkhurst Boys – http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/park.html
• Dead Reckoning
     Convicts – http://cms.slwa.wa.gov.au/dead_reckoning/indexes_and_catalogues/a-f2/convicts
     Parkhurst Boys – http://cms.slwa.wa.gov.au/dead_reckoning/government_archival_records/n-s/parkhurst_boys
• Fremantle Prison – http://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/     (articles)
• Parkhurst Boys database – http://membership.wags.org.au/members-data/public-data/parkhurst-boys
• Police Gazettes of Western Australia – https://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/explore-discover/wa-heritage/police-gazettes   (police & criminals in WA - & some elsewhere)
• The Western Australian Convicts – http://honesthistory.net.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/712-Western-Australian-Convict-System.pdf   (article)

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General

• Australian convict colonies map – https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zBOxrQGsslek.kI_J9y8mX8KA&msa=0    (my map of convict colonies in Australia)
• Ancestry.com (Convict Collection) – http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/group/AUConvicts    (indents, musters, pardons & more, costs)
• Australian Royalty – http://australianroyalty.net.au   (information about convicts & their descendants)
• Biographical Database of Australia – http://www.bda-online.org.au/   (free to search, costs to see detailed results)
• Bushranging Act (1830) – http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/courses/lawdemo/DOCS/BUSH.htm   (law to suppress bushrangers, led to certificates of freedom for ex-convicts - & harassment of free settlers)
• Claim a Convict – http://www.hawkesbury.net.au/claimaconvict/   (contact other convict descendants)
• Convict Creations – http://www.convictcreations.com/   (information & interesting trivia about convicts)
• Convict Life – http://www.pilotguides.com/tv-shows/short-history-of-the-world/a-short-history-of-convict-australia/   (aspects of daily life for convicts)
• Convict Punishment – http://www.convictcreations.com/history/punishments.html   (article)
• Convict research: how to trace a convict ancestor – http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/resources/family-history/convicts-research    (guide)
     also Finding out further family history – http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/resources/family-history/convict2    (guide)
• Convict Transportation Registers Database – http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/resources/family-history/convicts    (index of convict transportation registers, incomplete)
      also http://www.convictrecords.com.au   (new website, users can contribute information)
• Convict Voyages - a global history of convicts & penal colonies – http://convictvoyages.org/expert-essays   ("expert essays on convicts around the world")
• Convict Women – http://bit.ly/WhoresDamnedWhores   ("Whores, damned whores and female convicts: Why our history does early Australian colonial women a grave injustice")
• Convicts and national character – https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2008/july/1277335186/john-hirst/oddity-start
• Convicts Australia – http://www.hotkey.net.au/~jwilliams4/cons.htm   (links to indexes such as Convict absconders)
• Cora Num's Convict Records – http://coraweb.com.au/categories/convicts    (gateway site, also excellent book on convict sources)
• Crime and Punishment – http://www.amw.org.au/sites/default/files/memory_of_the_world/index/crime-and-punishment.html   (detailed history, UNESCO Memory of the World Program)
• Fellowship of First Fleeters – http://www.fellowshipfirstfleeters.org.au   (for descendants of all those who came on First Fleet)
• 'Liberty or Life!': The Convict Pirates of the Wellington – http://www.darkmatter101.org/site/2009/12/20/%E2%80%98liberty-or-life%E2%80%99-the-convict-pirates-of-the-wellington/    (article about convict escapees, pirates & public sympathy)
• Miscellaneous digitised official 'convict system' documents – http://catalogue.slwa.wa.gov.au/search/?searchtype=X&SORT=D&searcharg=convict+system&searchscope=5&submit.x=33&submit.y=23&submit=Submit
• Trove – http://trove.nla.gov.au    (digitised newspapers, photos & much more)