NSW Archives Convict Records


23rd January 2022
By Michele Rainger
Finding Convicts at the NSW State Archives & Records - including a Question & Answer session

Join Martyn Killion, Director of Collections, Access and Engagement from NSW State Archives and Records at our next meeting of the Convict Special Interest Group on Wednesday 9 February 2022 to discuss the convict-related records held by the Archives and to learn how to get the most from these records.

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.

Records held by the NSW Archives include Musters and Censuses; Convict Assignment Records; Tickets of Leave; and Certificates of Freedom.

These records also cover the settlements on Norfolk Island and the early years of Van Diemen’s Land, Port Phillip and Moreton Bay before the separation of the States of Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland from New South Wales.

This session will also include a Question and Answer segment where Martyn and his team will try to answer questions from FHACT members. Please submit your questions to the Convict SIG Convenor prior to the meeting.

Attendance at this, and all meetings of Special Interest Groups, are open to ALL members of Family History ACT.

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