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Between
1788 and 1842 approximately 80,0000 convicts were transported to
the penal settlement of New South Wales. Of these,
approximately 85% were men and 15% were women. Almost two thirds of
convicts were English, along with a small number of Scottish and
Welsh. Irish prisoners made up the remaining one third.
For the most part convicts sent to Australia were not violent
criminals. Many were supporters of Irish independence or victims
of social injustice.
ecor
Listed below
are databases and resources
pertaining to the convict heritage of Australia.
Databases and transcripts are FREE (F) to view unless otherwise
stated. Databases and transcripts that are FREE to view
but require payment for further information are marked (P).
Databases and transcripts requiring a fee to view are marked with a
dollar sign ($).
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A
convict grave unearthed beneath
Sydney Town Hall ©
during 1991
Size: 181 KB |
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 An
Australian Convict
Studio photograph of William Thompson
Tasmania, 1870s
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Online
Databases & Transcripts | Offline Resources
| Research Guides
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Australian Convict Transportation Registers: Third Fleet, 1791
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Australian Convict Transportation Registers: Other Fleets & Ships, 1791-1868
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Braidwood
Gaol Entrance Book, 1856-1899 |
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Certificates
of Freedom, 1823-69 |
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Convict
Bank Accounts, 1837-70
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Convict
Database, 1788-1849
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Convict
Deaths & Burials, 1828-1879
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Convict
Exiles, 1849-50
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Convict Workers on the Great North Road
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Convicts
of Devon, 1782-1821
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Convicts
of Lancaster
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Convicts
of York
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Convicts
Transported from India
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Deaths
& Burials NSW & Norfolk Island, 1788–1810
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Free
Settler or Felon
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Index
to Bench of Magistrates Cases, 1788-1820
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Ireland-Australia
Transportation Database
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Irish
Convicts to NSW 1791-1834
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List of Convicts on the First Fleet |
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List
of Convicts on the Second Fleet |
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List
of Convicts on the Third Fleet |
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NSW
& Tasmania Convict Musters, 1806-1849 |
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NSW
Convict Women on Ships arriving from England &
Ireland, 1788-1828 |
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Pardons,
1791-1825, 1837-47 |
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Proceedings
of the Old Bailey London, 1674-1834
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Queensland:
Prisoners
in Stewart's Creek Penal Establishment, 1893-1894
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Royal Admiral, 1792
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South
Australia: Transported Convicts
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Tasmania:
Convict Passengers and Sailors 1828-1823
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Tasmania: Convict Sailors, 1823-1828
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Tasmania:
Index to Convict Applications For Permissions to Marry, 1829-1857
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Tasmania:
Index to Tasmanian Convicts, 1804-1853
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Tickets of
Exemption from Government Labor, 1827-32 |
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Tickets
of Leave, Certificates of Emancipation and Pardons,
1810-19 |
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Tickets
of Leave, Passports, 1835-69 |
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Western
Australia: Convicts, 1850-1868 |
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Women
Convicts in Governor Hunter's Assignment Report,
1798 |
Online
Databases & Transcripts | Offline
Resources |
Research Guides
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Applications
for admission into the Orphan Schools, 1825-33
Petitions of parents (usually widows or widowers) or
guardians of destitute or orphaned children begging that
the child or children named in the petition be admitted
to the Orphan Schools.
Available
from:
State
Records NSW, Sydney Records Centre, 2 Globe Street, The Rocks, NSW 2001
REF: NRS 782, Reel 2776 part (Format: Microfilm)
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Applications
for children out of the Orphans Schools, 1825-33
Letters, memorials and petitions addressed to the Orphan
School committee by prospective employers wanting
apprentices, and by parents or guardians requesting that
children be returned to their custody.
Available
from:
State
Records NSW, Sydney Records Centre, 2 Globe Street, The Rocks, NSW 2001
REF: NRS 783, Reels 2776 part & 2777 part (Format:
Microfilm)
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Colonial Secretary Correspondence:
main series of letters received, 1788-1826
Includes letters and petitions received from officials
and private persons in the colony.
Available
from:
State
Records NSW, Sydney Records Centre, 2 Globe Street, The Rocks, NSW 2001
REF: NRS 897 (Format: Microfilm)
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Colonial Secretary Correspondence: petitions to
Governor from convicts for mitigations of sentences, 1810-26
Includes letters and
petitions received from officials and private persons in
the colony.
Available
from:
State
Records NSW, Sydney Records Centre, 2 Globe Street, The Rocks, NSW 2001
REF: NRS 900 (Format: Microfilm & Fiche)
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Colonial Secretary Correspondence:
special bundles, 1794-1825
Available
from:
State
Records NSW, Sydney Records Centre, 2 Globe Street, The Rocks, NSW 2001
(Format: Microfilm)
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Female
Orphan School Admission books, 1817-32
Contains name, age on admission, date admitted, time of
leaving the School, names of parents (where known),
parents' occupations, residence and remarks.
Available
from:
State
Records NSW, Sydney Records Centre, 2 Globe Street, The Rocks, NSW 2001
REF: NRS 793, Reel 2777 part (Format: Microfilm)
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From
Cook to Convicts
By John Darkin, Wollombi, Exisle Publishing Ltd, 2007
Available
from:
Mitchell Library,
State Library of New South Wales, Macquarie Street,
SYDNEY NSW 2000 Australia. Ref: 919.404/ 72 (Format:
Print)
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Guide to
Assigned Convicts of the Paterson, Gresford Area : 1821-1838
Researched and compiled by Donald A. Readford; refers to
convicts assigned to land owners in the Paterson, Vacy
and the Gresford.
Available
from:
Mitchell Library,
State Library of New South Wales, Macquarie Street,
SYDNEY NSW 2000 Australia. Q929.39442/ 35 (Format:
Print)
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Indexes
to Ships Arrived, 1837-1925
Records name and type of vessel, and date of its
arrival. They relate to vessels arriving in Sydney only.
Available
from:
State
Records NSW, Sydney Records Centre, 2 Globe Street, The Rocks, NSW 2001
REF: NRS 13277, Reels 2502-2503A (Format: Microfilm)
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Male
Orphan School Admission books, 1819-33
record the names of boys admitted from the date of
establishment of the School in January 1819.
Available
from:
State
Records NSW, Sydney Records Centre, 2 Globe Street, The Rocks, NSW 2001
REF: NRS 796, Reel 2777 part (Format: Microfilm)
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Masters
and Convicts: Murramarang and Ulladulla
By Cathy Dunn, Milton, 2006
Available
from:
Mitchell Library,
State Library of New South Wales, Macquarie Street,
SYDNEY NSW 2000 Australia. Q929.39447/ 29 (Format:
Print)
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NSW Colonial Convict Movements Index, 1827- 1853
Convict movements in the Colony of New South Wales
(encompassing New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and
Victoria).
Available
from:
Mitchell Library,
State Library of New South Wales, Macquarie Street,
SYDNEY NSW 2000 Australia. Ref: 1/MAV/DISC 10/358 (Format:
Networked CD-ROM)
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NSW
Convicts & Employers Index 1828, 1832-33, 1838 &
JAN 1844
Index of 22,574 records from the NSW Government
Gazette of assignments, absconders, absconders
apprehended and a small list of those with their Ticket
of Leave cancelled.
Available
from:
State Library of New South Wales, Macquarie Street,
SYDNEY NSW 2000. (Format: Networked CD-ROM) |
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NSW Convicts Permission To Marry Index,
1826-1852)
Alphabetical list of convicts including age, ship,
sentence and status, spouse, spouse's age, ship,
sentence, status, year, name of clergy and district of
the marriage.
Available
from:
State Library of New South Wales, Macquarie Street,
SYDNEY NSW 2000.
(Format: Networked CD-ROM) |
Collector
of Customs, Sydney/ New South Wales
Quarantine Station, North Head (New South Wales);
from 9 April 1827
Available
from:
National
Archives of Australia (NAA), 120 Miller Road,
Chester Hill, NSW 2162 REF: Sydney, CA 785 (Format:
Print) |
Register
of Ships: Arrivals & Departures, Port of Sydney
Contents date from 2 Jan 1841 to 28 Feb 1922
Available
from:
National
Archives of Australia (NAA), 120 Miller Road,
Chester Hill, NSW 2162 REF: Sydney, SP729/1 (Format:
Bound Volumes) |
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Tasmanian
Convicts Index
References to locally convicted individuals (up to 1893) who may have arrived free, were born in Tasmania or were former convicts whose original sentence had expired.
Available
from:
State Library of New South Wales, Macquarie Street,
SYDNEY NSW 2000. REF: (Format: Ask at the Family History
Desk) |
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The
Crimes and Lives of the Convicts arriving in Sydney on the Salamander, 1791
Compiled by Members of the Tomaree Family History Group,
Corlette, 2006.
Available
from:
Mitchell Library,
State Library of New South Wales, Macquarie Street,
SYDNEY NSW 2000 Australia. Q929.3944/ 58 (Format:
Print)
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Online
Databases & Transcripts | Offline
Resources
| Research
Guides
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Basics
on Australian Convict Records
Presented
by the Society of Australian Genealogists (SAG) |
Censuses
in Australian Colonies
Guide to
Australian Censuses and Musters from 1788 to 1901 |
Convict
Conditions in Colonial Australia
An account of penal administration and the
conditions endured by convicts. |
Convict Labour
& Assignment
An account of penal administration and conditions
of the assignment of convicts as servants.
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Convict
Records
Guide by NSW State Records Office. |
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Convict
Research: getting started [Document
Format]
Guide to basic records and general convict
history; QLD State Library |
Convict
Research: finding out even more [Document
Format]
Guide to finding additional information once a
convict has been identified; QLD State Library |
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Convicts
to Australia
Guide to researching convict ancestors
presented online by the Perth Dead Persons Society
(DPS). |
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Criminal
Trials At The Assizes
A Public
Record Office (UK) research guide. |
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Family
History in London
A
beginner’s guide to tracing your family history. |
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Irish
Convicts Transported to Australia
Background
information on Irish Convict Transportation. |
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Register
of Australian Archives and Manuscripts
Searchable
database of records pertaining to non-government
archives held in Australian archival repositories
and libraries. |
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Sources
for Convicts and Prisoners 1100-1986
A Public
Record Office (UK) research guide. |
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The
International Centre for Convict Studies
Trans-national and multi-disciplinary consortium of scholars engaged in research on penal transportation and convict experience within the British Empire from 1600-1940.
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The
Rule of Law in A Penal Colony: Law and Power in
Early New South Wales
By David
Neal, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1991,
Chapter I : Great Changes.
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Tracing 19th Century Criminals in the
Public Records Office (PRO)
Features Criminal Registers, Calendars of Prisoners, the Court, Prison Registers and
associated sources.
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Transportation
to Australia, 1787-1868
A Public Record Office (UK) research guide.
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