Researching Convicts

Did you know that the designer of the Yan Yean Reservoir was a convict? His name was James Blackburn. If you have an ancestor who arrived in Australia between 1788 and 1868 then he or she may have been a convict.

South Australia did not have convicts. Western Australia was the last of the Australian Colonies to receive transported criminals.

Family Historians are fortunate that records were kept and survive. Significant collections, such as Convict Records: archives of transportation and the Convict System, 1788-1842 and Records of the Tasmanian Convict Department 1803-1893 among others are listed on The UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Program. 

The eleven ships of the First Fleet (1788) carried about 1500 convicts, passengers, crew and marines, some of whom produced letters, journals or published books documenting their experiences.

Convicts are traditionally identified as first name, last name, per name of ship they arrived on. (You will find examples of this in the newspapers.)

Specific information on individuals can be obtained. Details such as name and alias, the crime transported for, place of trial, marital status at transportation sentence, education, religion, trade, age, native place and physical description, the name of the ship they are arrived on, ticket of leave date and more.

Visit Sydney Living Museums online to learn more about the day in the life of a convict.

There are excellent guides and resources online for convict research. Along the way use this research checklist as a guide to research your convict. 

Resources

Digital Panopticon: Tracing London convicts in Britain & Australia, 1780-1925

Convict Research Guide via the National Library of Australia

Australia Convicts via Cyndi’s List of genealogy sites on the Internet

Claim a Convict

Convict Records

United Kingdom

The proceedings of the Old Bailey, London’s Central Criminal Court, 1674 to 1913

Criminals and Convicts Research Guide via The National Archives UK

First Fleet

First Fleet Ships

A Journey through the journals

NSW

Convicts Archives and Records via NSW State Archives and Records

Convict transportation to NSW via NSW State Archives and Records

Queensland

Convict Queenslanders via State Library of Queensland

VIC

Register of Convicts, 1842-1854 via Public Record Office Victoria

WA

Convicts via State Records Office of Western Australia

Tasmania

Convict Landscapes

Before transportation

Tasmania Names Index

Convict portraits, Port Arthur, 1874 via National Library of Australia

Ireland

Penal transportation records: Ireland to Australia 1788-1868 via National Archives of Ireland

eResources

Explore convict records on Ancestry (England Wales Criminal registers 1791-1892 and others), Find My Past, (Convict transportation Registers, 1787-1870) British Newspapers Archives and Gale Primary Sources.

Collaboration

Collaborate with others on your convict research. Join Facebook’s Convict Speciality Research Australia

Listen

Convict Australia. A podcast about the convicts that were transported to Australia