Western Australia Convict Records
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Online Resources
Western Australia
- Fremantle, Western Australia Prison Convict Database Index
- 1846-1930 Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930 at Ancestry, Index ($)
- 1848-1900 General register of convicts, 1848-1900 at FamilySearch, images.
- 1850-1862 Character book register, 1850-1862 at FamilySearch, images.
- 1852-1868 Printed list of convicts, 1852-1868 at FamilySearch, images.
- 1856-1858 Register of reconvicted prisoners, 1856-1859 at FamilySearch, images.
- 1856-1861 Ticket of leave register, 1856-1861 at FamilySearch, images.
- 1861-1863 Probationer register, 1861-1863 at FamilySearch, images.
Finding Records
Archives
State Records Office of Western Australia
25 Francis Street
PERTH WA 6000
Australia
Telephone: 61 8 9427 3600
Email: sro@sro.wa.gov.au
- Convicts The State Records Office holds comprehensive sets of records relating to convicts transported to Western Australia between 1850 and 1868.
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.
For Further Reading
FamilySearch Library
Additional sources are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog:
- Australia, Western Australia - Convict records
- Australia, Western Australia - Convict records - Indexes