New South Wales Convict Records

Online Resources

 * 1787-1834 - New South Wales, Australia, Settler and Convict Lists at Ancestry; images only ($)
 * 1787-1859 - New South Wales and Tasmania: Settlers and Convicts at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
 * 1787-1976 - New South Wales, Australia, Miscellaneous Records at Ancestry; images only ($)
 * 1788-1842 - New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents at Ancestry; index & images ($); Also at FindMyPast ($)
 * 1788-1849 - Irish Convicts to NSW 1788 - 1849, index
 * 1788-1856 - New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary's Papers at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1788-1870 - New South Wales, Australia, Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1788-1867 - Convict records for New South Wales and Tasmania, 1788-1867 at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1791-1873 - Australia, New South Wales Convicts Index, 1791-1873 at MyHeritage ($), index.
 * 1806-1849 - New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1806 - Muster of all females in the colony, August 1806, at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1810-1867 - New South Wales, Australia, Certificates of Freedom at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1810-1869 - New South Wales, Australia, Tickets of Leave at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1810-1891 - New South Wales, Australia, Convict Records at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1811-1813 - Convict records of Australia, 1811-1813 at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1821-1825 - Convict Assignments 1821 to 1825, NSW Archives, index
 * 1822-1825 - Certificates of application for tickets of leave, 1822-1825 - at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1823-1830 - Convict records, 1823-1830 - at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1824-1886 - New South Wales, Australia, Convict Savings Bank Books at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1825-1840 - New South Wales, Australia, Wives & Children of Irish Convicts at Ancestry; index only ($)
 * 1825-1851 - New South Wales Registers Of Convicts Applications To Marry at FindMyPast; index & images ($); Also at Ancestry ($). Also at NSW Archives, free.
 * 1826-1856 - New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary's Letters at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1826-1879 - New South Wales, Australia, Convict Death Register at Ancestry; index & images ($). Also at FindMyPast ($).
 * 1826-1827 - Convict records, 1826-1827 - at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1827-1867 - New South Wales, Butts Of Convicts' Certificates Of Freedom at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
 * 1828-1839 - New South Wales, Australia, Convict Applications for the Publication of Banns at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1829-1879 - New South Wales, Australia, Sheriff's Papers at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1830-1842 - Indents of convict ships, 1830-1842 at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1830-1842 - Convict Records, 1830-1842 at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1831-1853 - Convict records, 1831-1853 - at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1834-1859 - New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia, Convict Pardons and Tickets of Leave at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1838-1841 - Register of sentences remitted or commuted, 1838-1841, images.
 * 1849-1850 - Convict Exiles Index 1849-1850, NSW Archives, index
 * 1856-1891 - Convict returns, 1856-1891 at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1871-1969 - at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1880-1883 - Convict returns, 1880-1883 at FamilySearch, images.

Australia Records

 * 1786-1849 Australia Convict Ships 1786-1849 at FindMyPast - index & images ($)
 * 1787-1867 Web: Australia, Convict Records Index, 1787-1867 at Ancestry - index ($)
 * 1788-1842 Australia List of Convicts with Particulars, 1788-1842 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
 * 1791-1867 Australia Convict Conditional and Absolute Pardons 1791-1867 at FindMyPast - index & images ($)
 * 1791-1868 - Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Other Fleets & Ships, 1791-1868 at Ancestry, Index ($)
 * 1824-1874 (*) at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images; Also at: FindMyPast($)
 * 1829-1879 - New South Wales, Australia, Sheriff's Papers, 1829-1879 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
 * 1838-1912 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * Australia's First Fleet
 * First Fleet Online
 * Australia's Second Fleet
 * Australia's Third Fleet
 * Ireland-Australia transportation database, National Archives of Ireland
 * Convict Records of Australia
 * Library of Wales, Crime and Punishment database
 * Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674-1834 The punishment of transportation for a crime tried in London by the Old Bailey Court resulted in exile to Australia. The site can be search by several categories, including by name for the punishment resulting in transportation.

Archive Resources Kit

 * Community Access Points A list of libraries and archives which hold microcopies of the Archive Resource Kit records.
 * The Archive Resources Kit includes the following convict records:
 * Index to Convict Indents, 1837-42
 * Convict Indents, 1788-1842
 * Musters and other papers relating to convict ships, 1790-1849	NRS 1155
 * Registers of convicts' applications to marry, 1825-51
 * Assignment Registers, 1821-24
 * Register of Tickets of Leave, 1824-27
 * Ticket of Leave butts, 1827-67
 * Registers of Conditional Pardons, 1791-1825
 * Registers of convicts recommended for Conditional Pardons, 1826-56
 * Registers of Absolute Pardons, 1791-1843 and Registers of recommendations for Absolute Pardons, 1826-46
 * Convict Deaths, 1828-79

"The ARK is held by 40 community access points across NSW. The majority of access points are libraries. The ARK consists of microfilm copies of our most popular and heavily used colonial records. Included are records relating to convict arrivals, assisted immigrants, births, deaths and marriages, publicans' licences, electoral rolls, naturalisation, returns of the colony ('Blue Books'), land grants, and the wide range of functions of the Colonial Secretary (1788-1825). You may find that the ARK (or parts of it) are held at a library near you."

Historical Background

 * The British Government began transporting convicts overseas to American colonies in the early 18th century. When transportation ended with the start of the American Revolution, an alternative site was needed to relieve further overcrowding of British prisons and hulks.
 * Between 1788 and 1868, about 162,000 convicts were transported from Britain and Ireland to various penal colonies in Australia.
 * In January 1788 Arthur Phillip arrived in Botany Bay with the First Fleet of 11 vessels, which carried over a thousand settlers, including 736 convicts.
 * The settlement was initially planned to be a self-sufficient penal colony based on subsistence agriculture. Trade and ship building were banned in order to keep the convicts isolated.
 * Former convicts also farmed land granted to them and engaged in trade.
 * In March 1804, several hundred United Irish exiles in the Castle Hill area conspired to seize control of the colony and to capture ships for a return to Ireland. Poorly armed, the main body of insurgents were routed in an encounter. Fifteen were killed and nine executed.
 * Penal transportation to Australia peaked in the 1830s and dropped off significantly in the following decade, as protests against the convict system intensified throughout the colonies.
 * The transportation of convicts to New South Wales ended in 1840.
 * The majority of convicts were transported for petty crimes. More serious crimes, such as rape and murder, became transportable offences in the 1830s, but since they were also punishable by death, comparatively few convicts were transported for such crimes.
 * Approximately 1 in 7 convicts were women, while political prisoners, another minority group, comprise many of the best-known convicts.
 * Once emancipated, most ex-convicts stayed in Australia and joined the free settlers, with some rising to prominent positions in Australian society.

Tickets of Leave Butts

 * Tickets of leave were issued to convicts having served about half of their sentences with good behavior.
 * These tickets allowed convicts to seek employment as they wished but limited their movement to a certain district for the remainder of their sentences.
 * Prior to 1828, bench magistrates granted tickets of leave and approved applications for convicts to marry.
 * The actual ticket of leave was issued to the convict; the government retained the ticket of leave butts.
 * Ticket of leave butts listed the convict’s name, ship, and date of arrival, native place, trade or calling, date and place of trial and sentence, a physical description, and the district to which he or she was confined.

Certificates of Freedom

 * A certificate of freedom was a document stating that a convict's sentence had been served and was usually given to convicts with a 7, 10 or 14 year sentence or when they received a pardon.
 * Convicts with a life sentence could receive a Pardon, but not a Certificate of Freedom.
 * The Certificate of Freedom number was sometimes annotated on the indent or noted on a Ticket of Leave Butt.
 * The government retained certificates of freedom butts, which were similar to ticket of leave butts.

Pardons

 * Both conditional and absolute pardons were generally granted to convicts with life sentences.
 * Conditional pardons required that the ex-convict never return to the British Isles or his or her pardon would be void.
 * Absolute pardons allowed an ex-convict to return to the British Isles if he or she wished.
 * Pardon records contain information similar to tickets of leave: the convict’s name, ship, and date of arrival, native place, trade or calling, date and place of trial and sentence, a physical description, and the district to which he or she was confined.'''

Convict indents

 * Convict indents were lists that were made when convicts arrived on transport ships.
 * Information given in indents is similar to that in tickets of leave but also includes a convict’s marital status and number of children and whether the convict was literate.

FamilySearch Library
Additional sources are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog: