- About this Archives in Brief
- Online indexes
- Historical background
- Applications
- Responses to applications
- Passage to New South Wales
- After arrival
- Births deaths and marriages
- Children of convicts
- Other sources
About this Archives in Brief
This AIB provides a brief overview of the major sources held by State Records that relate to the families of convicts and their arrival in New South Wales.
Other records may be identified in Archives Investigator, and the Guide to Convict Records known as the Convict Guide which is available in the reading rooms.
This AIB can also be used in conjunction with Archives in Brief 1, Archives in Brief 2 and Archives in Brief 24.
Researchers should consult the Register of Access Directions to confirm the public availability of records. State Records' staff can advise you on the availability of records if they are not listed on the register.
Online indexes
A collection of indexes, including indexes to assisted immigrants and the Colonial Secretary's correspondence, 1788-1825, is available on our website. Indexes of particular note to the arrival of convict families are listed in this AIB. We are progressively adding new indexes to this collection.
Historical background
Wives and families of convicts sometimes accompanied their convict relations or came out later. Children were placed on board the convict transports with their parent(s) often with no official record of their transportation or arrival being recorded. The children were supported and fed at government expense and orphan homes were established to accommodate those deserted or separated from their parents. Young children were permitted to stay with their mothers in the Female Factory until they reached the age of four when they were sent to the Orphan Schools and returned to their mother when she left the Factory.
Convicts could apply to have their families brought out at the expense of the Crown. Applications had to show that a convict would be able to support his family upon their arrival and not incur any further expense to the Government. In general, families were not permitted to reunite in Australia unless the convict applying had a Ticket of Leave. This indulgence allowed a convict to work for himself, thereby providing a means for supporting his family.
After a convict had applied to have his family brought out to the Colony, the application was assessed by the Government. On arrival the spouse often applied to have the convict assigned to them. This allowed the convict to serve out his sentence while living with his family.
Applications
Colonial Secretary
| Title | Series | Copy | *ARK | ||
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Special bundles, 1826-1982 | |||||
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Applications for Free Passages for Wives and Children of Convicts, 1824-35 [4/1112.1A-B, 4/1111.3] |
Fiche 3285-3288, Reels 697-698 |
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Applications for free passages, 1832-4 [4/2188] |
Reels 698-699 |
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Applications, 1835-42 [4/2550.1] |
Reels 700-701 |
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List of convicts who have applied for their wives and families to be sent to New South Wales at the expense of the Government, 1 May 1843 |
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Responses to applications
Colonial Secretary
| Title | Series | Copy | *ARK |
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Special Bundles | |||
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Returns of petitions for free passages, 1828, 1834-35 [4/1112.2] |
Reel 697 |
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Returns of Convicts' applications for wives and families to be brought to New South Wales at Government expense, 1837-43, 20 October 1843-1 April 1850 |
Reel 699 |
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The Governor
| Title | Series | Copy | *ARK |
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Alphabetical list of 89 convicts recommended to have their families sent out at the expense of the Crown, 1823 [4/1637 pp.236-65] |
Reel 697 |
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Passage to New South Wales
Immigration
| Title | Series | Copy | *ARK |
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Index to bounty immigrants, 1828-42 |
Reels 30-37 |
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Wives and families of convicts on bounty ships, 1849-55 |
Reel 699, Fiche 837-838 |
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This series is indexed as part of the online Indexes to assisted immigrants. | |||
Colonial Secretary
| Title | Series | Copy | *ARK |
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Returns of the families of convicts on convict ships, and other papers, 1790-1849 |
Reels 2417-2428 |
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These documents form part of the series Musters and other papers relating to convict ships, 1790-1849. They are listed in the Convict Guide and in the Guide to using the Archives Resources Kit. | |||
After arrival
| Title | Series | Copy | *ARK |
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Female Factory Parramatta, 1826-48: Index to inmates |
Fiche 5290-5291 |
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This index was compiled by Joan Reese. | |||
Colonial Secretary
| Title | Series | Copy | *ARK |
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Special bundles | |||
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Petitions from wives of convicts for their husbands to be assigned to them, 1826-27 [4/7084] |
Reel 588 |
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Principal Superintendent of Convicts
| Title | Series | Copy | *ARK |
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Reel 589 |
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Births deaths and marriages
| Title | Series | Copy | *ARK |
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Indexes to Births, 1788-1918, and Deaths and Marriages, 1788-1945 |
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Microfiche copies of indexes are available in the reading rooms. See also the indexes on the NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages website. | |||
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TD Mutch Index to Births, Deaths and Marriages, 1787-1957 |
Reels 2125-2129 |
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Index to convict marriage banns, 1826-41 |
Fiche 5270-5277 |
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Compiled by Joan Reese and Norma M Tuck. | |||
Principal Superintendent of Convicts
| Title | Series | Copy | *ARK |
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Registers of convicts' applications to marry, 1825-51 |
Fiche 780-802 |
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These registers record the names of the parties applying for permission to marry, their ages, the date of permission or refusal, ship of arrival, sentence, whether free or bond, and the name of the clergyman. | |||
Children of convicts
Clergy and School Lands Corporation
| Title | Series | Copy | *ARK |
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Applications for admission into the Orphan Schools, 1825-33 Search the online index. |
Reel 2776 |
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Applications for children out of the Orphan Schools, 1825-33 Search the online index. |
Reels 2776-2777 |
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Female Orphan School Admission books, 1817-32 Search the online index. |
Reel 2777 |
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Male Orphan School Admission books, 1819-47 Search the online index. |
Fiche 3307, Reel 2777 |
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Protestant Orphan School
| Title | Series | Copy | *ARK |
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Admission book (female), 1827-86 Search the online index. |
COD 506 |
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Researchers should also consult the Male Orphan School admission register, 1850-86, on Reel 3702, COD 540.
The Female Factory, Parramatta: Index to inmates, 1826-41, and the Index to the Colonial Secretary's Correspondence may also be of interest when researching the children of convicts. Both indexes are listed elsewhere in this AIB.
Other sources
| Title | Series | Copy | *ARK |
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Index to Colonial Secretary's Correspondence, 1826+ |
Reels 1250-1251 |
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Index to the Colonial Secretary's Correspondence: Convicts and Others, 1826-88 |
Fiche 5557-5559, 5736-5738, 5907-5909, 5955-5957, 5966-5968, 6069-6074, 6127-6129, 6433-6435, 6448-6450 |
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Compiled by Joan Reese. | |||
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Index to the copies of letters sent re convicts by the Colonial Secretary, 1826-55 |
Fiche 5912-5914, 5921-5925 |
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Compiled by Joan Reese. | |||
*ARK signifies that a copy of the record or guide is part of the Archives Resources Kit and is held by the community access points.
© State of New South Wales through the State Records Authority, 2003.
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