Find out what types of prison records are available and how to access them
For over 100 years bushrangers roamed throughout the state of NSW. Their exploits entranced the public and names such as Ben Hall, Captain Thunderbolt and Ned Kelly became both heroes and villains for many.
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The Letters Patent (or Charter of Justice) provided that the Court should be a Court of Record presided over by the Judge Advocate of the Colony, together with six naval or military officers appointed by the Governor, with the authority to try all criminal causes which were offences under the...
The Quarter Sessions court was an intermediate court with greater powers than the local court or bench but not as great as the Supreme Court. It could hear all crimes and misdemeanours where the crime was not punishable by death. It met three times a year at various locations...
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As a result of the criticisms of the existing judicial arrangements in NSW by Commissioner Bigge, the existing Court of Criminal Jurisdiction and the Supreme Court of Civil Jurisdiction were abolished. The Supreme Court was established under the Third Charter of Justice (1823), operating with a...
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Fully digitised
The Gaol Photographic Description Books contain a photograph of each prisoner and personal and criminal history.
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This case study has been developed to show what types of records can be found in our collection. 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...
The convict James Freeman was found guilty in the Criminal Court on 29 February 1788 of stealing flour. The fledgling Colony was barely a month old, and supplies of food were limited. Theft of such items was therefore viewed with the utmost seriousness, hence the draconian death sentence that...
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These photos of prisoners were accompanied by the following details: name, aliases, date when portrait was taken, native place, year of birth, arrived in colony - ship and year, trade or occupation, religion, degree of education, height, weight (on committal, on discharge), colour of...
This is the Irish indent for the Blenheim, a ship which arrived in Australia carrying around 200 convicts in 1834. An Irish indent was basically the handing over to the authorities, from the Lieutenant-Governor of Ireland, of the custody of those convicts. It's a wonderful document that...
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Sarah Clifford, born in Jamaica c.1833, was a former convict and known pickpocket in both Tasmania and NSW. She was photographed numerous times at Darlinghurst and Biloela gaols between 1872 and 1910. Clifford was convicted and gaoled for scores of stealing and petty offences over a four decade...
Featuring extracts from the Registry of Flash Men narrated by 'William Augustus Miles' (aka Fabian LoSchiavo)
This is a unique insight into the criminal underworld in Sydney during the 1840s. The volume was kept as an official surveillance record by William Augustus Miles who was...
