This guide provides an entry into a unique collection of records, created by both the British Government and the Colonial administration, covering the period 1788-1842 (plus the 'convict exiles' from the later 1840s and 1850s) that documents the 'convict careers' of these men and women.
Between 1788 and 1842 about 80,000 convicts were transported to New South Wales. Of these, approximately 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. 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.
This Guide lists the more significant State archives relating to population muster and census records, 1788-1901
The majority of women convicts were engaged in the manufacture of wool and linen at the Female Factory. A smaller number were employed as hospital nurses and midwives, as servants to officers, and in caring for orphans. This guide provides a brief historical overview of the Female Factory and a list of the main record series.
Hyde Park Barracks, deisgned by Francis Greenway, opened in 1819 as housing for convicts. This page include a brief overview and a list of the convict-related record series.
As well as being a penal establishment, one of the primary reasons for establishing the first settlement at Norfolk Island was economic: the Colonial Government had hoped to utilise the flax and pine trees on Norfolk Island.
Colour digitised images of early convict indents are available for the first time through 'Sentenced beyond the seas' - a project to digitise and index Australia's early convict records.
Muster and census records for Van Diemen's Land from 1811-1822. In 1856 Van Diemen's Land changed its name to Tasmania.