Convicts to Australia
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Transportation to Australia began in 1787 when the first fleet set sail. It was seen as a solution to the overcrowding of prisons and hulks and as a temporary measure. Transportation reached a peak in the 1830's and continued for 70 years until 1857, by which time new prisons were opening, many of which are still in use today. Transportation wasn't formally abolished until 1868.
 

  • National Archives of Ireland - Transport Records
    The National Archives of Ireland holds a wide range of records relating to transportation of convicts from Ireland to Australia covering the period 1788 to 1868. In some cases these include records of members of convicts' families transported as free settlers.

  • Lancaster Castle
    Lancaster Castle is still used today as a Crown Court. It deals with trials of the more serious criminal offences, the sentencing of offenders committed for sentence by magistrates' courts, and appeals from lower courts.

  • Nottingham Borough Quarter Session Transportations
    The convicts on this list were tried at Nottingham Borough Quarter Sessions Court which tried less serious offences . The Quarter Sessions minute books are at Nottingham Archives . Offences deemed to be more serious were tried at the Assizes Court . These records are at the Public Record Office, Kew, London. Both Assizes and Quarter Sessions trials were reported in local papers of the era . These are available at Nottingham Central Library and the National Newspaper Library, Colindale, London

  • Lincolnshire Archives
    Much of the basic information in this database has been taken from the book 'Lincolnshire Convicts to Australia, Bermuda and Gibraltar: A Study of 2000 Convicts' by CL Anderson

  • Devon Convicts Transported to Australia 1782 - 1821
    This specialist work details the economic conditions in rural Devon at that time and connects the impact of unemployment with crime in that county, with descriptions of the courts and their processes, the prison system and the details of several voyages. The book also describes the life of some of these convicts in New South Wales and Tasmania.

  • Cape Banks Family History Society Inc
    Details of prisoners including sentence, offence, ship, year.

  • Inverary Jail
    Search the database, by entering Prisoners' names, dates imprisoned or the town of origin. Results can be further sorted by Prisoners who were transported and those who were not.

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