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Convict Records 

Web Sites for Genealogists - An Australian gateway site for tracing your family history by Cora Num

Need Help with your Convict Research? See Convict Records in Australia Click here for details.  See also Criminal and Court Records

General
Ancestry.com.au. This commercial site offers access to the Convict Transportation Registers 1788-1868 . These are arranged by First Fleet 1787-1788, Second Fleet 1789-1790, Third Fleet 1791 and other fleets, and ships 1791-1868. Convict musters 1806-1849, convict pardons 1834-1859, convict lists 1787-1834 and the 1828 census are also available. The records are fully indexed with a free surname search. A variety of subscription options offer access to digitised copies of the original records.

State Library of Queensland - Convict Transportation Registers Database 1787-1867. This database, compiled from British Home Office (HO11) records, details over 123,000 of the estimated 160,000 convicts to Australia. It lists name, sentence details, ship, departure date, arrival date and place for those convicted in England, Wales and Scotland, not Ireland. Court-martialled soldiers from British colonies (West Indies, India, Pakistan and Canada.) sentenced to transportation are also included.  It also offers the facility to post comments on the convict records as a way of sharing information. The dates of conviction are being added to each record as an ongoing project. This site also includes an extensive list of convict resources including websites, books and more.

ConvictRecords.com.au is based on the British Convict transportation register, compiled by the State Library of Queensland. This site can be searched by name or browsed by surname, year or ship. Information available includes name of convict, known aliases, place convicted, port of departure, date of departure, port of arrival and source data. Users can contribute extra information that is linked to individual convicts.

Convicts to Australia A Guide to Researching your Convict Ancestors by the Perth DPS. This site contains information on many aspects of the convict system and includes a glossary, bibliography and extensive online convict databases. 

The National Archives (UK) Digital Microfilm allows you to search and download some of the most popular records. These files are large (some up to 800 pages) so a broadband connection is essential. These documents are currently free of charge to download. These records have not been indexed and so you will need to scroll through the pdfs, much as you would when using a microfilm. The following series of records on microfilm have been digitised and are available to download as pdf files.
•  HO 9: Registers of the convicts in the hulks and a letter book relating to the establishment of the hulks, 1847 to 1849. Registers of the convicts in the hulks and a letter book relating to the establishment of the hulks, 1847 to 1849.
• HO 10: Home Office: Settlers and Convicts, New South Wales and Tasmania: Records. Lists of the male and female convicts and former convicts in the colonies.
• HO 11: Home Office: Convict Transportation Registers. Lists of convicts transported in various ships, giving the dates of their convictions.
• HO 40: Home Office: Disturbances Correspondence. Home Office original correspondence, military and other reports, precis of information, impounded pamphlets and other papers relating to riots, disturbances, and political activities and writings.

Convict Ships – Medical Journals 1816-1867. This index by Graham Thom is designed to help you access medical journals that were kept by surgeons on convict ships, 1816-1856 (mostly to Australia) and on emigrant ships 1825-1853 bound for Australia and New Zealand. The original records are held by the National Archives (Kew) at Admiralty 101 and Ministry of Transport 32. They are available on film through the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP). For details of the AJCP and how to access these records see www.nla.gov.au/collect/ajcp.html.  For further details see the following site. There are 671 journals for, mostly convict ship, voyages to Australia available on Ancestry.com (see below).

Surgeons at Sea - Royal Navy Medical Officers' Journals (ADM 101). This project is indexing all the names mentioned in the journals and diaries compiled by Royal Navy surgeons and assistant surgeons who served on HM ships, hospitals, naval brigades, shore parties and on emigrant and convict ships 1793 to 1880. Digital copies of some of the journals are available online (free) and include these convict ships to New South Wales: Albion 1828, Eliza 1822, John Barry 1821 Ocean 1817/1818 and Juliana 1838/1839 (emigrant ship). There are 671 journals for, mostly convict ship, voyages to Australia available on Ancestry.com New

Ancestry.com has two collections of Ship's Medical Journals available. Both contain indexed images of the original journals and there are a variety of subscription options available to access these images. New
• UK Royal Navy Medical Journals, 1817-1857 (ADM 101). ). Ships' medical officers were required to keep a record of patients, treatments and outcomes during a voyage. The 671 journals record patient details but they can also include details of other passengers, crew and day to day happenings on board. Most of the journals are for convict ship voyages to Australia but there are 29 journals for emigrant ships 1825-1853.
• UK Surgeon Superintendents' Journals of Convict Ships, 1858-1867 (MT32). There are 11 journals for convict ship voyages to Western Australia 1858-1867. The information varies from journal to journal but can include name, age, crime, sentence, point of embarkation, native country, education, death date, cause of death, sick lists, lists of ship's stores, and day-to-day happenings aboard ship. Crew members may also be mentioned.

Note: You will find an index to these ships from both these series on Graham Thom's site listed above.


Convicts Australia by Jenny Fawcett offers access to many useful online convict indexes. It is no longer being maintained as it was superseded by the Genseek Genealogy site which is currently not available.

Swing Riots & Rioters.com by Jill Chambers includes detailed information on the Swing Riots of 1830 and 1831. There are details on the machine breakers, rioters and protestors many of whom were transported to Australia. The site also includes the name, age, place & date of trial, and sentence of those on board the Eliza to Tasmania 1831, the Eleanor to New South Wales 1831 and the Proteus to Tasmania 1831.

John Owen Smith's site details some of the personalities associated with the Selborne & Headley (Hampshire) Workhouse Riots  in 1830. Over 345 men were tried for disturbances in Hampshire before a Special Commission at Winchester 20th-30th December 1830. This site details the 22 who were committed for troubles in and around Selborne and Headley.

To the Outskirts of Habitable Creation - 1837 Rebellion American and Canadian Transportees are listed on this page plus links to other useful information and databases.

Trial, Gaol and Transportation Records
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey London 1674 to 1913.  A free searchable digital collection of 197,745+ trials held at London's central criminal court. All names are indexed including victims, witnesses and jurors.  

Ancestry.com. This commercial site offers access to the England and Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892. These registers list those charged with a crime and provide details of the charge, trial, and sentence (if convicted) and other outcomes such as transportation or execution. These records are fully indexed and the original images are available. There is a variety of subscription options available. 

Use the National Archives (UK) Catalogue to search the Judges' Reports on Criminals (1783-1830) which include original letters and reports from judges on cases and criminals plus petitions for commutation of sentence or free pardon. Enter a surname, place or crime committed plus HO47 for access. Detailed information on a case is available from the catalogue file description. 

Ireland-Australia Transportation Database (1791-1868) is an online index to a series of records held by the National Archives of Ireland. In 1988 the Archives presented Australia with a set of these records, on 105 reels of microfilm, as Ireland's Bicentennial gift to Australia. This set of records is held by the National Library of Australia, State Library New South Wales, Society of Australian Genealogists and the Kiama Family History Centre. Note: The Ireland-Australia transportation database  is currently available to search .csv files pending the completion of a more accessible solution. Updated

Bedfordshire Gaol Register 1801-1901. This ongoing project currently has 1801-1879 (with gaps)  available.  New updates are added on a weekly basis. Details given vary but can include name, age, hair colour, height, crime, dates of commital and trial, sentence and means of disposal e.g. release, death, transportation etc.

Access to Archives. Use this site for details of those who appeared before the Cornwall Court of Quarter Sessions 1736-1852.  From the Homepage select the Search these Catalogues option and on the next page select Cornwall Record Office under the Location of Archives option and click on Search. The Cornwall Record Office records are listed including the Quarter Sessions Records [QS/1/1-QS/1/12]. Select the View button on the right hand side of the screen to go to the full transcript of the original volumes for the time period you require.

Index to The Last Farewell: Devon Convicts Transported to Australia 1782-1821 by Jack Walton. This list includes names of 574 Devon convicts.

Down County Museum's online database of 400+ prisoners  held in Down gaol plus the details of 1300+ convicts from County Down who were transported to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land.

Inveraray Jail, Argyll, Scotland. The Prison Database provides extensive details on those who were transported.

Kent Genealogy by Maureen Rawson includes indexes to East Kent (1682-1701) and West Kent (1734-1746; 1758-1804) quarter sessions; Maidstone gaol records and prisoners transported from Kent (1851-1852), listed under Miscellaneous.

Lancaster Castle Convict Database  lists those tried and sentenced at Lancaster Assizes including those transported to Australia. The database lists name, age, trial date, offence and sentence.

Lincolnshire Convicts to Australia, Gibraltar and Bermuda. This site has an online database which details all Lincolnshire convicts known to have been transported between 1788-1868.

Transportation of Convicts from Nottingham by Philip Westwood. This site has an alphabetical list of convicts tried at Nottingham Borough Quarter Sessions Court and transported to Australia.

Warwickshire County Council. Select the letter R, then Record Office, then Online Catalogue and Databases for access to the Calendars of Prisoners Database.  It lists prisoners held at Warwick, Birmingham and Coventry awaiting trial at the Courts of Assize and Quarter Sessions courts held in Warwick 1800-1900. Search by surname, crime, year of crime, location of crime and residence.

City of York & District Family History Society - York Assizes 1785-1851. An index to records held in York Reference library of prisoners brought to trial at York Assizes.

National Library of Wales - Crime and Punishment Database with data about crimes, criminals and punishments included in the gaol files of the Court of Great Sessions in Wales (1730-1830).

Hulks
A List of Known Hulks for Ireland, Australia and England by Jenny Fawcett. It details hulk name, year, situated at and period of time. Jenny's main site Genseek Genealogy is no longer available.

The Intolerable Hulks: British Shipboard Confinement, 1776-1857. This site offers detailed information and illustrations of the York, Discovery, Warrior, Success, Defense and Bellerophon hulks.

Society of Australian Genealogists online Research Guides includes Convict Hulks.

Australian Capital Territory
Canberra History Web - List of Convicts Canberra and District . This list includes those known to have been assigned to the Canbera district while either serving their sentence, or after gaining their ticket-of-leave. This developing site has individual convict profiles online where available and contributions are welcome.  

New South Wales
State Records New South Wales - Indexes Online - Convicts includes a combined convict database search (120,000+ entries) which currently includes:
• Certificates of Freedom, 1823-1869
• Convict bank Accounts, 1837-1870
• Tickets of Exemption from Government Labor, 1827-1832
• Tickets of Leave, Certificates of Emancipation and Pardons, 1810-1819
• Tickets of Leave, 1810-1875
• Ticket of Leave Passports, 1835-1869
Other indexes available include Convict exiles (1846-1850) and Pardons (1791-1825, 1837-1841). Other indexes that may relate to convicts include Bench of Magistrates (1788-1820) and the Colonial Secretary Index (1788-1825). 

Society of Australian Genealogist's online databases include an Index to NSW Convict Tickets of Leave, 1810-1875. This index can be searched on last name, first name, ship, year, trade or calling, or district.

The Mayberry Homepage by Peter Mayberry. This site features an Irish Convicts to NSW (1791-1849) Database which provides full details from the convict indents held by SRNSW. There is also information on Irish rebel convicts.

Ancestry.com offers access to an index to Wives and Children of Irish Convicts, 1825-1840. This index was originally published on CD-ROM by the Central Coast Family History Society Inc., East Gosford and was titled Wives & Children of Irish Convicts Petitioned by Husbands and Fathers. This index contains lists of wives and children of convicts transported to New South Wales who, at their husband's or father’s request, were brought to New South Wales at the government's expense to join their spouse or parent. The index also includes female convicts whose children were transported with them. This index was compiled from musters and other New South Wales records.

Claim-a-Convict by Lesley Uebel details over 21,000 convicts arriving at Port Jackson from 1788. This site enables descendants of convicts to make contact and share information. The FAQs page has a lot of useful information for researching a convict.  

Free Settler or Felon is a searchable database of 140,000+ references to convicts, settlers, townsfolk, bushrangers, innkeepers, soldiers and land owners. Areas covered include Newcastle, Maitland, Paterson, Muswellbrook, Singleton, Raymond Terrace, Dungog, Morpeth, Wollombi, Central Coast, Murrurundi and Scone and more. 

Tocal’s Convicts 1822-1840. This extensive site provides detailed information on 142 convicts who were assigned to the Tocal estate in the Hunter Valley of NSW at some stage during their sentence. It also details Tocal's Irish rebels and English rioters plus much more.

State Library of New South Wales - From Terra Australis to Australia. This online collection of the library's First Fleet archive includes access to over 450 original documents and illustrations.  

First Fleet Online has a searchable database of 780 First Fleet convicts plus many other resources. 

Patricia Downes' Australian Pioneers site lists Arrivals in Sydney on the First, Second and Third Fleets.

Convict Trail Caring for the Great North Road includes a detailed history of the road built (1826-1836) to connect Sydney with Newcastle and the Upper Hunter Valley. There is a database of convicts who worked on the road plus a location list of the road gangs and details of the overseers.

South Australia
Graham Jaunay's South Australian Transported Convicts, (1837-1851). Lists convict's name, crime, date and sentence.

Family History South Australia's Persons Lost and Found by M Leadbeater. This database (1838-1915), compiled from South Australian Police Gazettes and early SA Government Gazettes, lists (amongst others) Convict Expirees arriving from other colonies. Updated

Tasmania
LINC Tasmania  brings together the State Library of Tasmania, the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO) and others. TAHO online name indexes include:
• Convict applications for permission to marry - index of convicts applying to marry free people or other convicts (1829-1857)
• Tasmanian convicts - index of all convicts transported to Tasmania and those convicted locally through the convict system 
Most of the convict records for Tasmania have now been digitised and are available online (free). This ongoing project will place any remaining records online as they become available. Further information about these records and how to view them online is available at this site.

Founders & Survivors is a partnership between historians, genealogists, demographers and population health researchers. It seeks to record and study the founding population of 73,000 men women and children who were transported to Tasmania. The site is searchable by name with links to digital images if available. 

Female Convicts Research Group maintains theFemale Convicts of Van Dieman's Land Database which aims to record all female convicts who spent time in Van Diemen's Land. This site also offers access to an extensive collection of lists relating to female convicts.

Tasmanian Convict Record Abbreviations by Maree Ring includes names, occupations and place names plus other useful information.

Convict Ships List by M Yost. An alphabetical list (incomplete) of ships to Tasmania with departure and arrival details convict numbers, remarks and sources. Convicts listed by researchers on the Tasmanian Convict Index are also listed with their ship's voyage in this index, plus contact details.

Sue Wyatt's site details the Convicts who Settled in the Sorell Area of Van Diemen's Land.

Indexes of Tasmanian Convicts  includes a Tasmanian Convict Index, permission to marry; conditional pardons; free males who became prisoners and assignment lists.

Port Arthur Historic Site details the convict research project to identify the Port Arthur convicts.

The Cascades Female Factory Historic Site. The Cascades Female Factory was officially opened in 1828. It was the female equivalent of Port Arthur housing female convicts and children.

Parks & Wildlife Service Tasmania - Guide to Tasmania's Historic Places - Ross Female Factory.

Victoria
Public Record Office Victoria Online Digitised Records include the Register of Convicts, 1838-1852, with details of convicts in the Port Phillip District. The Register, Police Magistrate, Portland, 1840-1853 includes, amongst other things, particulars of Ticket of Leave holders and a list of convicts who had obtained their freedom.

The Westernport Settlement 1826-1828 (Corinella VIC). John Graham's list of military personnel, convicts and civilians involved in this experimental settlement. Includes biographical information.

Western Australia
Convicts to Australia by Perth DPS for detailed information on transportation to Western Australia. Full Convict Lists for all the convict transports to WA are available online. These include physical descriptions and trial details for the convicts.

Fremantle Prison. This site has an online convict database which is searchable by surname or ship. A search returns detailed information on the convict including ship and arrival date, alias, birth date, marital status, occupation, literacy, religion, sentence details, crime and ticket of leave date.

State Records Office of Western Australia online Collection Guides include Convict Records which details the downloadable indexes, by Anne and Bruce Buchanan, to a series of convict related letters in the correspondence of the Governor of Western Australia 1851-1868.

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© Cora Num 1997-2012 Last updated 3 Febuary 2012