Convicts, Prisoners and Courts

Australian convicts are some of the most well documented people in history. Follow their journeys here with this growing list of resources dedicated to our colonial convict history. 

There are also links to prison records for "non-convicts" (people who were not here by means of convict transportation from England.) Also, here you will find many links to databases of court records including both criminal and civil cases. 

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Australian Capital Territory

As the ACT was granted self-government in 1989, many useful files are still in the National Archives of Australia a preliminary check of RecordSearch at the National Archives will assist in refining your request by locating agencies that made the files or series information.

Queensland

Queensland Archives has compiled indexes of their archival records. Use these links to get to the page and search the index database by name.

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New South Wales

NSW State Archives - Records relating to convicts

  • Convicts Index 1791 to 1873  A single searchable database containing certificates of freedom; bank accounts; deaths; exemptions from Government Labor; pardons; tickets of leave; and, tickets of leave passports. There are 140,000+ entries to search.
  • Convict Indents (Digitised) Index 1788 to 1801 Fully digitised - Convict Indents list the convicts transported to NSW. Early indents provide name, date and place of trial and sentence; later indents usually contain more information such as a physical description, native place, age and crime. Search over 12,000 names and view digital versions online.
  • Convict Assignments 1821 to 1825 This index will be of interest to those researching the assignment of convicts for the period December 1821 to December 1825. The index records the convict’s name, ship, date of assignment, to whom assigned, residence and remarks
  • Convict Exiles Index - 1849 to 1850 Transportation to NSW effectively ceased in 1842 but between 1846-1850 exiles were transported. Exiles had served part of their sentence in a penitentiary in Britain and were granted a conditional pardon or ticket of leave on arrival in the Colony. This index covers 1849-50 only.
  • Convicts Applications to Marry - 1825 to 1851 These registers record key details about the parties applying for permission to marry including: their names; their ages; the date of permission or refusal; ship of arrival; sentence (for the party who was the convict); whether free or bond and the name of the clergyman. 

NSW State Archives - Records relating to courts

  • Bench of Magistrates Index 1788 to 1820  The index lists criminal and civil cases heard before the Judge Advocate's Bench of Magistrates 19 Feb 1788-25 Nov 1820. It includes meetings of the Rose Hill (Parramatta) bench from 7 October 1789.
  • Court of Civil Jurisdiction Index 1799 to 1814 Minutes of proceedings show date of sitting, members present, the nature of the action, and judgment of the Court. Arguments put forward by both parties are summarised. Where an action concerned a business document (eg. promissory note), tendered in evidence, a copy was normally entered up.
  • Criminal Court Records Index 1788 to 1833 This is a valuable resource relating to the New South Wales colonial justice system and will be of benefit to those of you researching criminals, convicts and crimes committed during the early years of the Colony.
  • Criminal Depositions (Deposition Books) Index 1849 to 1949  Includes criminal actions at country area Quarter Sessions relating to cases of a non-capital nature etc. The Index records: registration number, name of defendant, place and date of committal, offence and where committed for trial. 
  • Criminal Indictments Index 1863 to 1919 Includes criminal cases tried before the Supreme Court at Sydney and on the Circuit for the period 1863-1919. The Index records: trial number and where tried, name of defendant, offence, date of trial and Judge, verdict and sentence. 
  • Quarter sessions cases 1824–1837 The case papers are numbered and arranged chronologically and usually include the name of the of the person tried, date, place, verdict and sentence for the years 1824-37. They generally contain the indictment which gives a statement of the crime and circumstances.
  • Governor's Court Case Papers 1815 to 1824  This index includes cases relating to the payment of debts on promissory notes or goods, services, or for slander. The quantity of papers for each case varies and in some cases very little information is given.
  • Small Debts Registers Index
  • Indigenous Colonial Court Cases 1788 to 1838  There are approximately 250 entries in the index from the period 1788-1838.
  • Bankruptcy Index 1888 to 1929  Bankruptcy is a state in which a person is unable to pay creditors and is required to undergo a legal process that usually results in liquidation of his/her estate in order to meet expenses (at least in part). It is similar, but not identical to insolvency.
  • Insolvency Index 1842 to 1887 Insolvency is the inability to pay debts or meet expenses. Under early colonial law insolvency was treated as a different concept to bankruptcy (which involved an insolvents assets being administered and distributed to creditors).
  • Colonial Secretary Letters Received, 1826-1894
  • Colonial Secretay's papers 1788 - 1825
  • Governor's Court Case Papers 1815 to 1824  This index includes cases relating to the payment of debts on promissory notes or goods, services, or for slander. The quantity of papers for each case varies and in some cases very little information is given.
  • Irish Convicts to NSW 1788 - 1849  This database contains details of Irish convicts who were transported to New South Wales in the period 1788 - 1849.
  • Sentenced beyond the Seas Australia's early convict records - 1788-1801
  • Braidwood Gaol Entrance Book 1856 - 1899
  • Gaol inmates & prisoners photos index 1870-1930 Fully digitised - The Gaol Photographic Description Books contain a photograph of each prisoner and personal and criminal history.
  • Great Northern Road Convict Trail - Between 1804 and 1822 convicts who committed another crime after arriving in the Colony had been banished to the penal settlement at Newcastle, then only accessible by sea. In 1826 re-offending convicts were put to work on one of 19th century Australia's greatest engineering feats - the Great North Road.
  • Free Settler or Felon - convicts and settlers in the Newcastle and Hunter Valley region

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Victoria

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Western Australia

South Australia

Some useful websites dedicated to South Australian history are now defunct, making it difficult to search for records online.  The South Australian official archives are also not online however some of their records exist on third party sites such as FamilySearch and Ancestry (both require logins). We are endeavouring to expand our South Australian online records collection at our data site, Gendata.com.au - please visit regularly as we expand our SA collection - it's free and does not require an account. In the meantime you may find the following sites useful.

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Tasmania

Tasmanain government records are accesible via the LINC names index here: Names Index

  • Tasmanian Convicts 1804-1853
  • Arrivals (19th Century). Passengers and ships arriving, mainly in Hobart. Contains surnames A-N, O-Z to be added.
  • Bankruptcy (1821-1928). Documents from cases of bankruptcy and insolvency.
  • Births (1803-1933). People born in Tasmania including some baptisms collected by the Registrar General (1900-1933 baptisms only).
  • Census (1837-1857). Householders in the 1840s and 1850s, not complete for all districts.
  • Convict permissions to marry (1829-1857). Convicts applying to marry free people or other convicts.
  • Convicts (1803-1893). Convicts transported to Tasmania and those convicted locally through the convict system.
  • Court (1830-1845). Supreme Court. Minutes of proceedings in criminal cases
  • Deaths (1803-1933). People who died in Tasmania including some burial records collected by the Registrar General (1900-1933 burials only).
  • Departures (1817-1867). People leaving Tasmanian ports, mainly Launceston.
  • Divorces (1861-1920). Petitions for divorce in the Tasmanian Supreme Court.
  • Health & Welfare (1830-1873). Patients and attendants at the New Norfolk Colonial Hospital and applications to the Queens Orphan School.
  • Hotels & Properties (1818-1958). Hotel licensees, inquests into fires, Launceston buildings and demolished hotels.
  • Immigration (1912-1943). Nominations and arrivals of migrants under immigration schemes.
  • Inquests (1828-1930). Inquests into people’s deaths.
  • Marriages (1803-1899). People who married in Tasmania.
  • Miscellaneous (1838-1873). General correspondence of the Comptroller general of convicts and North Fleet shipwreck survivors.
  • Naturalisations (1835-1905). People applying to become citizens.
  • Prisoners (1895-1902). Prisoners in the Hobart gaol.
  • Wills (1824-1989). Wills and letters of administration of estates registered for probate.
  • WW1 photographs and articles from the Tasmanian Mail and Weekly Courier illustrated newspaper (1914-1919) and applications for Crown and leased land under the Soldier Settlement Act 1916.

Other datasets and sites

A number of useful Tasmanian datasets that were once freeely available on the Rootsweb website were lost in early 2016 due to technical issues experienced by the site owner, Ancestry.com. A significant number of pages are now inaccessible including those listed below. While disappointing for many genealogists - the hard work of dedicated researchers may be gone forever as Ancestry appears to have acknowledged that the information will never be retrieved. You may like to try Google to find related records to the following:

  • Port Arthur Convict Database
  • Tasmanian Convict Index
  • Tasman GenWeb convicts index
  • Asia 2 Convict List
  • Asia 8 Convict Assignment List
  • Convict Absconders
  • Prince of Orange Convict List
  • Harmony Female Convict List
  • Friendship Female Convict List
  • Kangaroo Female Convict shipping list 1814
  • Mermaid Female Convict shipping list 1828
  • Persian Female Convict list 1827
  • Woodford male Convict shipping list 1826
  • Convict Pardons 1851
  • Convict ticket of Leave February 1837
  • Convict Ticket of Leave Deprived February 1837
  • Archived Convicts Index A to K
  • Archived Convicts Index L to Z

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Northern Territory

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National

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[Last updated August 2024]


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