Find your ancestors in Convict Transportation Registers 1787-1870

Convict Transportation Registers 1787-1870

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These records contain details of over 125,000 convicts tried in England, Scotland, and Wales, as well as a small number of Irish convicts, between the years of 1787 and 1867.

The amount of information listed varies, but the convict transportation registers usually include a combination of the following information about your ancestor:

  • Name
  • Arrival year
  • Ship name
  • Year of conviction
  • Place of conviction
  • Length of sentence
  • Country
  • Folio and page number

It should be noted that not all of this information may be listed on every record, and in some cases, fields may be blank or missing. The amount of information varies depending on the level of detail recorded in the original source document from which it was derived.

Images are provided by The National Archives.

Discover more about these records

Although it is not an exhaustive list of every convict sent to Australia, this collection is nevertheless a good place to start searching for your convict ancestors. It comprises both indexes and images of the original handwritten records themselves.

However, these records mainly include convicts who were convicted in England, Scotland and Wales, with a small number of Irish convicts listed.

Between 1787 and 1867, convicts were transported to Australia and Tasmania. Prior to that time, transportation was to America and the West Indies. In the years following 1615, it became more common for convicts’ death sentences to be stayed contingent upon transportation.