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 | Tasmania | Victoria | Western Australia | General

UK & Ireland (Trial & voyage)

• Archives Wales – http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/    (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.bedfordshire.gov.uk/grd/    (Gaol registers 1801 to 1879, contains personal descriptions)
• 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)
• Down County Museum convict transportation – http://www.downcountymuseum.com/About-Us/The-Gaol/Gaol_Convicts_Database    (Convicts sent from County Down to NSW)
• 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 prisoner records – http://www.inverarayjail.co.uk/our-history/prisoner-records/    (Gaol registers 1820 to 1890, contains personal descriptions)
• Ireland Prison Registers, 1790 to 1924 – https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2043780    (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)
• 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)
• 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, 1802 to 1849 – http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx?dbid=1989
• 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)
• 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    (new 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, London) Prisoners or prison staff – http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/prisoners-or-prison-staff/
• 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)
• 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 convicts and transportation)
• 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 Records Convict records – http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/research-topics/convicts/convicts    
      Archives In Brief 2 (Convict Records) – http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/archives-in-brief/archives-in-brief-2
      Archives In Brief 31 (Supreme Court of NSW Records) – http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/archives-in-brief/archives-in-brief-31
      Archives In Brief 82 (Records of gaol inmates) – http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/archives-in-brief/archives-in-brief-82
      Archives In Brief 100 (How to find a convict) – http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/files/archives-in-brief-100-how-to-find-a-convict-pdf
      Colonial Secretary's Correspondence – http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/colonial-secretarys-correspondence-guide/colonial-secretarys-correspondence
      Holders of part of the Archives Resources Kit (ARK) – http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/archives-in-brief/archives-in-brief-46    (archives available at some libraries)
      NSW Convict Records: 'Lost and Saved' – http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/research-topics/convicts/new-south-wales-convict-records-lost-and-saved    (article, myth about convict records lost)
• NSW Transcription agents     (Obtain copies of records from NSW State 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 & more, costs)
• Castle Hill Convict Rebellion 1804 – http://www.dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/castle_hill_convict_rebellion_1804    (article)
• 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 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)
• Convict Trail: Caring for the Great North Road – http://greatnorthroad.com.au/    (Road between Sydney & Newcastle & database of convicts involved in its building)
• 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
• First Fleet Online – http://firstfleet.uow.edu.au/index.html   (information & database)
• 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)
• 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 – http://www.newcastle.edu.au/Resources/Divisions/Academic/Library/Cultural%20Collections/pdf/1981-bramble-aborigines.pdf    (article on Aboriginal/ settler race relations)
• 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)

• Moreton Bay Convicts, Queensland State Archives – http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/Researchers/Indexes/Convicts/Pages/default.aspx
• Moreton Bay Convict Records, Redcliffe Museum – http://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/subsite.aspx?id=55417    (records held by Queensland State Archives)
• Pre Separation Resource Guide – http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/Researchers/CollectionsDownloads/Documents/Pre-Separation-Resource-Guide.pdf    (Records relating to Queensland when it was still part of NSW)

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Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land, 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)
• Becoming Tasmania – http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/php/BecomingTasmania/BTMainPage.htm    (extracts from book primarily about convicts)
• Convict Department guide – https://stors.tas.gov.au/au-7-0038-00120_1    (detailed guide to records, see 'Electronic resources' to view online)
• "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)
• Founders & Survivors – http://foundersandsurvivors.org   (information about convicts & descendants)
• Port Arthur (Van Diemen's Land / Tasmania) – http://portarthur.org.au/   (see under 'History', information about penal settlement)
• Queen's Orphanage, Tasmania – http://www.orphanschool.org.au   (information about Hobart institution & orphans)
• Transportation, Penal Ideology & the experience of juvenile offenders in England & Australia in the early 19th century – http://chs.revues.org/416

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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)
• Register of Convicts c1842 to 1854 – http://prov.vic.gov.au/research/prisoners-and-convicts    (large file)
• Victoria Government Gazette Online Archive 1836 to 1997 – http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au    (includes 'NSW Government Gazette' 1836 to 1851)
• 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://www.fremantleprison.com.au/Pages/Convict.aspx


• 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)
• Dead Reckoning: Convicts – http://slwa.wa.gov.au/dead_reckoning/government_archival_records/a-c/convicts
• Dead Reckoning: Parkhurst Boys – http://slwa.wa.gov.au/dead_reckoning/government_archival_records/n-s/parkhurst_boys
• Fremantle Prison – http://www.fremantleprison.com     (See also WA convict database & articles under 'History')
• Parkhurst Boys – http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/park.html
• Parkhurst Boys database – http://membership.wags.org.au/members-data/public-data/parkhurst-boys
• Police Gazettes of Western Australia – http://slwa.wa.gov.au/find/wa_resources/police_gazettes   (police & criminals in WA - & some elsewhere)

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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/search.php?ged=purnellmccord.ged   (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)
• 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)
• Convicts transported from South Australia – http://www.jaunay.com/convicts.html   (those tried in SA courts, see also subscription site findmypast.com.au)
• Cora Num's Convict Records – http://coraweb.com.au/categories/convicts    (gateway site, also excellent book on convict sources)
• 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)
• Persons Lost and Found 1838 to 1920 – http://www.familyhistorysa.info/sahistory/deserters.html    (includes convict expirees arriving in South Australia from other colonies)
• State Library of WA, digitised 'convict system' books – 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)