State Records NSW - Convict records

Convict records

Overview

Our convict records were inscribed on the Australian UNESCO Memory of the World Project Register on 20 February 2006. The convict records archive is one of the most important and extensive penology archives in the world and covers the period 1787-1842.

Finding Aids

The Convict Guide should be consulted for more details on all the different types of records listed on this page and for references to the actual records, including microform reel and fiche numbers. The Convict Guide is available in State Record's reading rooms.

For more general information about convict records consult:

Archives in Brief No. 2 Convict records

Archives in Brief No. 34 Convict families

There are also a number of searchable convict indexes that are being updated regularly. An online copy order service is also available through these indexes.

A number of different types of convict records have been digitised so you can view real examples of the records you may find.

Convict Family History Worksheet

We have developed a Family History Convict Worksheet to help you keep track of your convict research. Simply print it off at home and bring it into the reading room with you.

Convicts worksheet

Historical background to convict transportation

Between 1788 and 1842 about 80,0000 convicts were transported to New South Wales. Of these, about 85% were men and 15% were women. Almost two thirds of convicts were English (along with a small number of Scottish and Welsh), with the Irish making up the remaining one third.

For a long time, Australian historians believed that the convicts were mainly part of a dangerous criminal class in their native towns, who were born and bred to a life of crime. This theory has been rejected by contemporary historians, who have proved that most of the offenders were ordinary working-class men and women. Most were first offenders and about 75% were convicted of petty larceny or receiving stolen goods.

Two-thirds of the English convicts arriving in Australia could read and write, a much higher percentage than free immigrants (58%). The proportion of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled convicts was roughly the same as it was for free immigrants.

Convicts were usually given sentences of transportation for seven, 14 years or life. Some convicts in the 1830s received ten-year sentences. About one quarter of the convicts were sentenced to 'the term of their natural lives', and a proportion of these had reprieves from the death sentence.

There are several different records that may indicate if a person was a convict:

A marriage certificate of the ancestor may state 'married with the permission of the Governor'. This indicates that one or both people were convicts.
A death certificate may state 'prisoner of the Crown'.
The person may be listed as a convict in population records such as musters and census records.
You may stumble across some correspondence or documentation that refers to your person as a convict.
There may be a suspicion in the family that the person was a convict.

John Knatchbull - a convict example

Handwritten name of 'John Knatchbull alias Fitch' from the Colonial Secretary's Correspondence 1832 [NRS 905, 32/6805]

John Knatchbull was born in Kent, England in about 1792. He served as a volunteer in the British Navy from 1804-1818, rising to the rank of captain. He seems to have then fallen on hard times and in August 1824 he was found guilty of stealing with force and arms at the Surrey Assizes. Knatchbull was given a 14 year sentence and transported to NSW on the Asia V.

References to John Knatchbull, alias John Fitch, turn up in a number of convict records, such as the convict indents, Tickets of Leave and Ticket of Leave Passports. What makes Knatchbull more intriguing is that he continues to get in trouble for the rest of his life, thereby leaving a steady stream of records about him. You will find examples of these records scattered throughout the page that detail the rest of Knatchbull's life, including his trial for forgery and seven year sentence to be served in Norfolk Island, where he took part in an mutiny on the convict colony before turning informer on his fellow mutineers. Knatchbull returned to Sydney in 1839 to serve out the remainder of his original sentence. In January 1844 he murdered shopkeeper Ellen Jamieson with a tomahawk while stealing money for his upcoming marriage. He was found guilty of murder and hanged on 13 February 1844.

References
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol 2 1788-1850, Douglas Pike (General Editor), Melbourne University Press, 1966
GD Woods, A History of Criminal Law in New South Wales: The Colonial Period 1788-1900, Federation Press, 2002

British & Irish trial records

If you have an Irish convict ancestor you can search for trial records in the Ireland-Australia Transportation Database, 1788-1868, available on the National Archives of Ireland website. For English convict ancestors you can search for transcribed trial records from the Old Bailey, 1788-1834 in London.

Journey to NSW

Ships musters and papers, 1790-1849

These papers usually came from England or the transport ship. The lists of convicts generally show only name, date, place of trial and sentence. There are sometimes copies of indentures with the owner of the ship contracting to transport convicts or a muster taken before embarkation or just before or after disembarkation in NSW.
The lists of free passengers on convict ships are included in the Index to Miscellaneous Assisted Immigrants, c.1828-53, which is available in the reading rooms.

Many of the original records are held by National Archives United Kingdom (formerly the Public Records Office or PRO) and have been copied as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP).

Surgeons journals

These journals record the names of the ailing on board the voyage, including the names of crew, free passengers and convicts. Often a list of the sick will include longer notes about each case. On occasion the surgeon may even have written a description of the voyage.

Not every convict transport has a surviving surgeons journal and the journals that have been filmed as part of the AJCP are often poorly filmed or the original is in bad condition.

Convict Indents

The records of a convict's arrival in the Colony is called a convict indent and these records were kept from 1788-1842. The indent was the most important convict document, as officials used the information found there to fill out other forms and they would often go back and update the indent with additional offences, ticket of leave, certificate of freedom and pardon numbers. Early indents only give name, place and date of trial and sentence. Later volumes record more details such as age, literacy, religion, marital status, former convictions and a detailed physical description.

Printed indents were distributed to magistrates and officials to enable them to identify individual convicts and to provide the magistrate with relevant facts on their history.

Convict transportation registers database

This is a new searchable database compiled by the State Library of Queensland. The convict details are taken from the British Home Office records, which are available as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP).

Assignment

On arrival in NSW, a convict was either retained by the Government for labour on public works or assigned to an individual. Very few records of assignment and employment of convicts have survived.

Most skilled workers were matched to the same types of jobs in NSW they had held at home. Women were usually assigned as laundresses, kitchen hands, needle workers or housemaids. Unskilled workers were often assigned as agricultural labourers to private settlers or were allocated jobs such as building and clearing land in labour gangs.

A convict's own disposition and willingness to work was important in determining their treatment. A reward system was used on government labourers to get them to work harder. The rewards included extra rations and indulgences such as tea, tobacco and rum.

Misdemeanours such as insolence, laziness, disobedience and absconding were punished by flogging, time on the treadmill or assignment to a road gang. For more serious or frequent offences the most severe punishment short of execution, was transportation to one of the penal settlements, such as Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Moreton Bay or Norfolk Island. Convicts who went to these settlements undoubtedly experienced the harsher side of the convict system, with hard labour, severe punishments and little or no attempt at rehabilitation.

Musters and Census

The Government conducted census and musters of the inhabitants of the colony. It was often voluntary to attend a muster so not everyone is included. There are several records covering the early years of the colony, and therefore people involved the convict sytem.

Transcribed musters include 1801-02, 1805-06, 1811, 1814, 1822 and 1823-25. The 1828 census is also useful for tracing residents in the colony. After 1828 there is an 1837 General Muster of Convicts. Other surviving census records include 1841, 1891 and 1901.

Tickets of Leave

After working for a specified number of years in the colony a convict was eligible for a ticket of leave (ToL). This allowed the convict to work for themselves on condition that they remained in a specified area, reported regularly to local authorities and if at all possible, attended divine worship every Sunday. A ToL had to be carried at all times.

In the early Colony, tickets could be granted at any time. The convict was only required to be sober, honest and industrious and the petition had to be endorsed by the local magistrate. From Macquarie's governorship, however, minimum time periods had to be served before the granting of a ticket. There were exceptions made for those with influential friends in Britain or who had performed amazing acts of heroism.

ToL are often annotated with references to Certificate of Freedom (CF) numbers, pardon numbers, correspondence or colonial trials. The correspondence numbers often relate to the Principal Superintendant of Convicts' correspondence which has not survived. You could also try searching the Colonial Secretary's correspondence or the local Bench of Magistrates for more information.

Certificates of Freedom & Pardons

A Certificate of Freedom was a document stating a convict's sentence had been served. It was only available to a convict with a finite sentence (seven, 10 or 14 years). Convicts with a life sentence would receive a pardon. In most cases claims to freedom were made without difficulty. A convict would declare himself or herself free and then his/her identity and sentence would be checked on the indent. They would then be issued with a certificate to denote they were free.

Convicts with life sentences generally received pardons. In the early years of the colony there was no limitation on the Governor's discretion to grant pardons. Later, the convict had to be in service for longer periods of time before obtaining a pardon, but there were exceptions for those who performed special duties or brought offenders to justice.

There were two types of pardons:

Conditional Pardons - the convict was free as long as they remained in the colony. The vast majority of convicts granted pardons were granted a CP.
Absolute Pardons - the convict's sentence was entirely remitted. That is, they were free both within and outside the colony and could return to Britain.

Colonial Convictions

Convicts who reoffended while still serving out their sentence in NSW could be tried in a colonial trial and if found guilty of a serious crime, retransported to another penal colony, such as Norfolk Island or Van Diemans Land. Most of the convict records of country Benches of Magistrates were destroyed in the nineteenth century. For surviving records consult the Convict Guide under colonial trials. For other records see:

Court of Criminal Jurisdiction

Index to Bench of Magistrates, 1788-1820

Index to Quarter Sessions Cases, 1824-1837

Criminal Division [Supreme Court NSW]

Clerk of the Peace

Researchers who believe a convict relative was retransported to Van Diemans Land (Tasmania) may like to search the Index to Tasmanian Convicts, available on the Archives Office of Tasmania website. Use the name search or in the remarks field enter any of the following terms for convicts retransported from NSW:

Berrima
Bathurst
Parramatta
Sydney
NSW
Tried Maitland
To Norfolk Island
Military convict

For details of the convicts time in Tasmania contact the Archives Office of Tasmania.

Petitions & Correspondence

A convict may have petitioned the government on a number of matters or may be mentioned in the Colonial Secretary's correspondence of another individual. Often these petitions, memorials and items of correspondence can provide valuable information about the convict, their family and circumstances

Bank accounts

Prior to 1822 convicts could retain money they brought with them for their own use. The money could purchase a more 'comfortable' life for them during their period of servitude. After 1822 any money a convict brought with them was entrusted to the Surgeon-Superintendent of the ship during the voyage out to NSW and these funds were then deposited in the Savings Bank on arrival. In addition, friends or relations could deposit money to be held in trust for a convict or a convict could earn money for extra work or duties performed.

The convict could not access the money until proof of reformation had been shown such as having a ToL, pardon or on completion of sentence. Extenuating circumstances, such as the money being required to pay for defence in a court trial, was also taken into consideration. Applications could be made to access the sums held to their credit and if approved a warrant was issued which authorised the money to be withdrawn.

Marriages & families

Another way you can track where convicts were assigned is by looking for their marriage details. Marriage was encouraged for convicts as the authorities believed that family life would make the Colony more 'moral' with new centres of order and responsibility. The governors were more likely to grant indulgences like ToL, pardons and land grants to those with who were married and had families. Convicts who had been in the colony for a period of time without getting into further trouble were eligible to have their families brought out at the expense of the Crown.

External links

State Library of Queensland - Convict transportation registers database