Where to find convict records
An easy to use table to see which government departments created and kept records pertaining to convicts.
| Records | Creating or responsible agency |
|---|---|
| Arrival - Convict indents | Colonial Secretary*, Principal Superintendent of Convicts |
| Arrival - Musters and other papers | Colonial Secretary |
| Parole - Tickets of leave, Tickets of leave passports | Colonial Secretary, from 1827 Principal Superintendent of Convicts, from 1856 Police, Convict Branch |
| Freedom - Certificates of Freedom | Colonial Secretary, from 1827 Principal Superintendent of Convicts, from 1856 Police, Convict Branch |
| Freedom - Pardons | Colonial Secretary. Some information may also be found in the records of the Governor and Executive Council |
| Correspondence - Assignment |
Colonial Secretary. The main correspondence series of the Principal Superintendent of Convicts has not survived. Also see Convict Classifcation Board 1849-67. |
| Correspondence - Mitigation of sentence | Colonial Secretary |
| Correspondence - Applications to bring families to NSW | Colonial Secretary |
| Correspondence - Applications from Clergy for marriages of convicts | Colonial Secretary |
| Correspondence - Other indulgences | Colonial Secretary |
| Correspondence - Land grants | Colonial Secretary |
| Assignment (few records have survived) | Colonial Secretary, Principal Superintendent of Convicts, Surveyor General |
| Tickets of exemption from Government labor | Principal Supintendent of Convicts |
| Population Musters and Census | Colonial Secretary |
| Convict permission to Marry | Colonial Secretary then Principal Superintendent of Convicts |
| Applications to have wives and families brought out to NSW | Colonial Secretary |
| Medical records | Colonial Secretary, from 1848 Government Medical Adviser, Health |
| Colonial Crime and punishment - Reports of crime | Few early Police records have survived |
| Colonial Crime and punishment -Trial | Benches of Magistrates/Courts of Petty Sessions, Quarter Sessions, Supreme Court (depending on severity), Clerk of the Peace (depositions), Colonial Secretary |
| Colonial Crime and punishment -Floggings | Benches of Magistrates/Courts of Petty Sessions |
| Colonial Crime and punishment - Sentence carried out | Sheriff |
| Colonial Crime and punishment - Gaol records | Prisons/Corrective Services |
| Colonial Crime and punishment -Executions | Sheriff, Prisons/Corrective Services |
| Colonial Crime and punishment - Secondary transport | Colonial Secretary, Sheriff |
| Penal Establishments | Colonial Secretary |
| Convict Death Register | From 1828 Principal Superintendent of Convicts, from 1856 Police, Convict Branch |
| Departure of former convicts as free people | Few records have survived. For the years 1816-mid 1820s see Colonial Secretary |
*The Office of the Colonial Secretary began as the Private Secretary to the Governor. In 1824 the two offices were separated as the work of administration of the Colony continued to grow.
