This is a brief guide to help you research records of transportees. The National Archives holds records of criminal trials and convictions, including those of people sentenced to transportation, as well as of convict voyages, censuses and pardons. Many of these records are not indexed by name, so it may be difficult to find a particular person. It will be easier if you know the name of the ship or the date when it sailed. You may also find useful information in the related guides listed to the right.
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What do I need to know before I start?
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Try to find out:
- when and where the convict was tried
- the name of their ship
- the date on which their ship sailed
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What records can I see online?
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Records of transportees to Australia (1787-1879)
Search convict censuses, musters, pardons and tickets of leave (including HO 10, HO 11 and CO 209/7) on Ancestry.com.au (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.).
The 1828 New South Wales census, (HO 10/21-27), is the most complete. Often you can find:
- biographical information
- whether each settler came free or as a convict, or was born in the colony
- the ship name and the year of arrival
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HO 10 also contains material about convicts' pardons and tickets of leave from New South Wales and Tasmania, 1834-59.
Please note you can also download HO 10 and HO 11 free of charge from Discovery, our cataloguea search tool with descriptions of tens of millions of documents from the UK central government, law courts, and other national bodies. Please be aware that these are very large files and only suitable for download on a fast and unlimited broadband connection.
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Index to Tasmanian convicts (1804-1853)
Search the Index to Tasmanian convicts (Archives Office of Tasmania) by name to see some digitised records, including conduct records, indents, and descriptions.
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Criminal registers for England and Wales (1791-1892)
Search criminal registers for England and Wales (HO 26 and HO 27), 1791 to 1892, on Ancestry.co.uk (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.).
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Criminals, convicts and prisoners (1770-1934)
Search the assorted records of criminals, convicts and prisoners on Findmypast.co.uk (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) for records of transportees amongst these records. Many of these records, however, are not of transportees.
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What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?
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Prisoner and court records
Read the research guides on criminals and convicts, prisoners and Assizes: criminal trials 1559-1971.
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Judges' reports on criminals (1784-1830)
Search, by name or keyword, the judges' reports on criminals from 1784 to 1830, which include some transportees, in HO 47.
These can include an unofficial transcript of evidence (together with comments on the characters of witnesses and juries), as well as memorials and petitions from the accused's friends and relatives.
Narrow your search for a person's full name by using quotation marks, for example "John Williams".
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Wives' petitions (from c.1819)
Search petitions, in PC 1/67-92 and in HO 12, identified via the registers in HO 14 (under 'miscellaneous'). These are for the wives who applied to accompany their convicted husbands. These records contain additional material about transportation.
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Convict ship medical journals (c.1816-1856)
Search our catalogue, by ship's name or convict's name, in ADM 101 to find journals documenting convicts' illnesses during the voyage to Australia.
Search by ship name in MT 32 (1858-67) for further medical information.
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Administration relating to the transportation of convicts
Search, by name of ship, TS 18/460-515, TS 18/1308-1361 and PC 1/2715-2719 (1840-3) for the contracts with agents to transport the prisoners. These contain full lists of ships and convicts.
Search AO 3/291 (1789-1830) for accounts of legal expenses for transportation to New South Wales. These include convicts' names.
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Privy Council correspondence (1819-1844)
Search by date, PC 1/67-92 for additional material about transportation, and the Privy Council registers (PC 2), which also give lists of convicts transported for 14 years or less.
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New South Wales original correspondence, entry books and registers (c.1784-1900)
Search CO 201 and CO 207 for further lists of convicts, together with emigrant settlers. CO 207 is available in microfilm only: the originals are held in the State Archives of New South Wales.
Trace names in New South Wales registers (CO 360 and CO 369), from 1849, and entry books (CO 202), from 1786. Some of the lists from these records have been printed in L L Robson, The convict settlers of Australia.
Look in HO 7/2 for material on the deaths of convicts in New South Wales (1829-1834).
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To access these records you will either need to visit us, pay for research (£there will be a charge) or, where you can identify a specific record referencea unique set of letters and numbers identifying a document in The National Archives, order a copy (£there will be a charge).
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What records can I find in other archives and organisations?
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Records of convicts are held by Australian libraries and archives, including the State Library of Queensland, the State Library of New South Wales, and the Archives Office of Tasmania.
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What other resources will help me find information?
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Websites
Visit the Convicts to Australia website for lists of convicts, lists of convict ships with dates that they sailed and arrived and all sorts of other research tools and advice.
Search the Convict transportation registers database (State Library of Queensland) by name of convict.
Consult the section of The State Library of New South Wales' website called Family History: Convicts.
Consult the website Female Convicts Research Centre for information on female convicts transported to Tasmania from 1803.
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Books
Peter Wilson Coldham, The complete book of emigrants in bondage, 1614-1775. An alphabetical list of people including where each person was tried.
Peter Wilson Coldham, Bonded passengers to America. This provides a detailed overview of all the published sources of relevant records in The National Archives.
David T Hawkings, Bound for Australia and Criminal ancestors: a guide to historical criminal records in England and Wales (1987)
Use our library catalogue to find a recommended book list.
The books are all available in The National Archives' reference library. You may also be able to find them in a local library. You can buy from a wide range of history titles in our bookshop.
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Prisoners
Criminals and convicts
Prisons