Notes from 2 recent Geneology Seminars presented by The Society of Australian Geneologists (SAG).
"Researching and Understanding New South Wales Convicts" by Brian Walsh.
There are a lots of myths that have distorted our understanding of convicts. Contrary to popular belief the majority of convicts: did not "work in irons", were not "locked in at night", were not "rebels or political prisoners", were not "starving and just stole a loaf of bread" and did not "wear broad-arrow clothing" Also, they were mostly under 24 years and more often than not they were teenagers! I hope the following tips will be of assistance:
- Indentures or indents are the official list (originally handwritten and in later years printed) of convicts aboard a ship. For dates before the mid 1820's they usually include only name, trial date and place, and sentence. After this time more information is often recorded such as age, crime, marital status, trade, physical description (eg. initials on arm) and so on.
- We hold microfilm of indents and musters (lists made on ship) for 1790-1849 (See Sutherland Family History film cabinet R1.14: 2417-2428).
- NSW State Records holds an indexed, online and easily accessible collection of indents for 1788-1801. They also keep a variety of other useful indexes.
- Ancestory.com.au is a great source.
- Some of the codes found in indents and their meanings are s=single, ig=iron gang and do=ditto. Tickets of leave (TOL's) have no's in the form eg.56/1456, and certificates of freedom eg. c43/1837.
- Crimes are not always on indent. You can often try the "England & Wales criminal register" on Ancestory.com http://search.ancestrylibrary.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1590 or the Irish-Australia Transportation Database at http://findingaids.nationalarchives.ie/index.php?category=18&subcategory=147
- Beware that sometimes indexed indent searches by name do not pull up all records (if you get no results it is often still a good idea to search by eye)
- NSW convicts were 85% male, mostly single, Irish, skilled or semi-skilled and convicted of theft.
- The majority of convicts arrived between 1820 and 1830. Transportation continued in NSW until 1851 (with a suspension between 1840 and 49).
- Initally, on arrival convicts were assigned to government work gangs, sometimes to skilled positions (if qualified) and to settlers on rural estates or businessess. The nature and distribution of assignment often changed over time.
- Women's assignment experiences were different from mens, for instance, after dark men were free to go out and about their own business whereas women were restricted to the household and family duties eg. feeding, bathing and so on.
- Convicts sometimes ran small private businesses (for instance, makeing pre-fab fencing out of sticks)
- Being young, cashed up and able to aquire alcohol the convicts sometimes absconded from duties.
- Not all records still exist. It was recently discovered in old letters (1848) from the Colonial Secretary's Office that 2 deliberate destructions of many early convict records (including assignments) were carried out in 1863 and 1870. This is all the more reason to look for clues in a wide range of records.
- Surviving assignment records include: NSW Colonial Secretary assignment registers (1821-25) - found in http://search.ancestrylibrary.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1905 and indexed at http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/indexes-online/colonial-secretary/index-to-the-colonial-secretarys-papers-1788-1825/colonial-secretary-papers-1788-1825, shipping indents (1826-1831), records of NSW arrivals from the London Public Record Office (1828-34) as well as NSW Government Gazettes from 1832.
- Another source for assignment records is a publication called "The Guide to NSW State Archives relating to Convicts and Convict Administration".
Further useful sources include:
- The Joan Reese indexes (various) some of which are available at Sutherland (also see Trove).
- "Index to Irongangs" book at various libraries including NLA, State and Parramatta Lib.
- Court Records (through State Records).
- "The Sydney Gazzette" on Trove.
- "Colonial Convict Movements" (on CD, very useful).
- "Phoenix Hulk Entrance Books" in State Records.
- "Application to marry" index
- "Convict Death Register"
- Magistrates Bench books (at State and Mitchell Library).
- "Gaol Entrance Books" (n.b. not everyone that went through the gaol committed a crime).
- Ireland Australia Transportation Database
- "Freemasons Journal"
- British Newspapers (thru State Library)
- "The Convict Guide" index (some of which is on-line).
- The Parramatta index to Female Factory Workers 1826-1848
- Try England and Wales Criminal Register 1791-1892 in Ancestory.com, also Londons Old Bailey at http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/ and "Middlesex Gaol Delivery Records" thru UK National Archives.
- The "1826-1831 Index to Convicts" refers to State Records items and can be very important in a search.
- The 1828 Census, but contains plenty of errors due to low literacy - cross-check dates to be sure.
- The 1837 Musters were made from data refering to 1836-1837 (be careful, as some 1837 info has 1836 date). Also the back of the 1837 muster has some useful employers details.
For a final tip - If there are 2 copies of indents or musters, look at both. Sometimes even seemingly identical copies can differ by the additional notes left behind.
"Luck of the Irish" by Babette Smith
This seminar described the particular nature of the Irish convict experience. It was based in part on research Smith did on her book about the of the same name, (which we hold at Sutherland Library).
This fascinating book describes the misfortune of 250 male convicts from Ireland whose transport ship named "Hive" ran aground south of Jervis Bay in 1835. Some points of interest follow:
This fascinating book describes the misfortune of 250 male convicts from Ireland whose transport ship named "Hive" ran aground south of Jervis Bay in 1835. Some points of interest follow:
Irish convicts were sent to NSW from 1788-1840.
It has been suggested that the Irish covicts were "much more" violent than other convict nationalities. This assumption has its origins in what can only be described as an undoubtedly violent past. Curiously, for a very long time a kind of "tribal" violence had been a common aspect of Irish community life. Aspects of this violence include:
- Tithe wars (an example of which was the Dingle massacre in County Kerry).
- Ritualized fighting between villages with sticks and stones (women would load up the stones for the men to throw at the other men!)
- Sexual violence (rape).
- One ancient Gaelic tradition was the abduction of women to mary.
- Assault of habitation.
- Bashings and kidnappings.
However it has been subsequently discovered that much of this "Irish" violence was in fact diluted in the colony due to distance from the homeland, and more importantly, convict solidarity. So suggestions of excessive violence of an Irish nature seem mostly unwarranted.
Since 1691, Ireland had been controlled by the ruling class of the Protestant Church of Ireland loyal to the British Crown (or the "Protestant Ascendancy"). For the mostly Catholic population this meant being governed by a form of institutionalised sectarianism manifest in the "Penal Laws" which discriminated against both the majority Irish Catholic population and non-Anglican Protestants (for example Presbyterians) to restrict their religious, political and economic activities. Also, (subject to a land threshold) Catholic and Protestants were being disenfranchised from their right to vote. The ensuing discontent was expressed in the bloody Irish Rebellion against the British Loyalists of 1798. The ongoing repercussions of this strained period give context to the origins and plight of Irish convicts transported to Australia. (N.B. For further understanding of 17th and 18th century life in Ireland the speaker suggests reading old Irish newspapers).
The "Hive" - The convict transport "Hive" carried 250 convicts, 29 soldiers, and 8 wives/kids. It was captained by Henry Lugard. After an exhaustive examination of the background of this group, Smith concludes that they were mostly victims of poverty and hunger, caused by what she called "the pernicious system of landholding in Ireland and the threat of dispossession".
Curiously, after running aground and getting on to shore, the convicts of the "Hive" didn't flee their captors? They were helpfully guided to the nearest settlement by local indigenous people, and transfered to Governor Bourke (who was Irish).
More points about Irish convicts:
- Irish convicts encouraged a new ethos amongst settlers (they did not want to return to oppression).
- Settlers were generally afraid of convicts.
- Contrary to popular belief before 1841 there was no real sectarianism. Prejudice in the colony was based mainly on wealth, not race or religion.
- Interestingly, Australia is indebted to the Irish for its religious equality. - Through the efforts and influence of many Irishmen, including Governor Bourke and in particular attorney-general J.H. Plunkett, "The Constitution of the Commonwealth" came to have section 116, prohibiting Australia from having a state religion (previously C of E), and emerging as a nation which could accommodate religious diversity. (Meeting of Catholics in Maitland 1846?)
- Irish immigrants sometimes changed christian names.
- Brits immigrants sometimes changed surnames.
- The Irish Public Record Office was blown up during the Irish Civil War of 1922. Although this represents an invaluable loss of genealogical data, records that survive include non-Church of Ireland parish records, civil records of births, marriages and deaths, property records and later censuses. Also abstracts, transcripts and fragments of the original material are also accessible.
Assorted Genealogical links referred to in seminars :
A $ sign indicates a site that requires a paid subcription - or access via a society or library.
$ Ancestry.com.au
$ Convict indents
Early convict index (1788-1801)
$ England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892
NSW State Records Convict Indexes
The Old Bailey
Ireland-Australia transportation database
$ British Newpaper Archive
Trove digitised newspapers
Index to the Colonial Secretaries Papers 1788-1825
$ NSW Gaol Description and Entrance Books 188-1930
$ Registers of Convicts' Applications to Marry 1826-1851
$ Convict Applications for the Publication of Banns
$ NSW, Wives and Children of Irish Convicts, 1825-1840
$ NSW Convict Death Register, 1826-1879
NSW State Records Keyname Search
$ NSW Tickets of Leave 1824-1867
$ NSW Certificates of Freedom 1810-1814, 1827-1867
$ NSW Registers of Convict Pardons, 1788-1870
Convict records - general information (State Records NSW)
What happened to the NSW convict records?
Convict worksheet/checklist (State Records NSW)
Regards Guy.
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