Victoria Convict Records

Victoria Wiki Topics
Beginning Research
Guided Research Research Strategies Record Finder
Record Types
Biographies Business and Occupation Records Cemeteries Census Church Records Civil Registration Convict Records Court & Criminal Records Directories Emigration & Immigration Genealogies Land and Property	Medical Records Military Records Naturalization & Citizenship Newspapers Obituaries Orphans & Orphanages Online Records Periodicals Probate Records Schools and Education Records Taxation Voting Records
Victoria Background
Cultural Groups	History Maps
Local Research Resources
Archives & Libraries Societies FamilySearch Centers

Australia

Victoria

Victoria Convict Records

Online Resources

Victoria

• Female Prisoners
• Male Prisoners By 1829, convicts or ex-convicts made up approximately 65 percent of the population of New South Wales. The ex-convicts had received either a ticket of leave, a certificate of freedom, or a pardon.
  
• 1842-1854 Victoria Register of convicts, 1842–1854
• 1842-1854 Register of convicts, 1842–1854, PRO Victoria, index.

Online Resources for New South Wales, Including Victoria Before 1851

• 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

Australia Records

• 1786-1849 Australia Convict Ships 1786-1849 at Findmypast - index & images ($)
• 1787-1867 Web: Australia, Convict Records Index, 1787-1867 at Ancestry - index ($)
• 1787-1788 Australian Convict Transportation Registers – First Fleet, 1787-1788 at Ancestry, Index ($)
• 1788-1842 Australia List of Convicts with Particulars, 1788-1842 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
• 1788-1868 Australia, Convict Index, 1788-1868 at Ancestry, Index ($)
• 1789-1790 Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Second Fleet, 1789-1790 at Ancestry, Index ($)
• 1791-1868 Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Other Fleets & Ships, 1791-1868 at Ancestry, Index ($)
• 1791-1867 Australia Convict Conditional and Absolute Pardons 1791-1867 at Findmypast, Index ($)
• 1791 Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Third Fleet, 1791 at Ancestry, Index ($)
• 1791-1867 Australia Convict Conditional and Absolute Pardons 1791-1867 at Findmypast - index & images ($)
• 1791-1868 Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Other Fleets & Ships, 1791-1868 at Ancestry, Index ($)
• 1824-1874 Australia Convict Tickets Of Leave 1824-1874(*) at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images; Also at: Findmypast($)
• 1829-1879 New South Wales, Australia, Sheriff's Papers, 1829-1879 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
• 1838-1912 Australia, South Australia, Prison Records, 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.

New South Wales Archive Resources Kit, Including Records for Victoria Prior to 1851

• 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.
• 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 (including Victoria) 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.

Types of Convict Records

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:

• Australia, Victoria - Convict records
• Australia, Victoria - Convict records - Indexes
• Australia, Victoria - Correctional institutions
• Australia, Victoria - Correctional institutions - Indexes
• Australia, Victoria - Court records
• Australia, Victoria - Court records - Indexes

This website requires a paid subscription for full access. Some subscription websites are available for free at your local FamilySearch Center or Affiliate Library.

To access available information, first log into FamilySearch.

Due to contractual agreements, some images and/or databases on FamilySearch.org may only be viewed at a FamilySearch Center or FamilySearch Affiliate Library.