See also my talk handout 'Convicts: from trial to freedom'.
Convicts
About 152,000 convicts were sent to eastern colonies of Australia 1788-1853 (mostly to NSW or Tasmania / Van Diemen's Land) plus 9,700 convicts were sent to Western Australia 1850-1868
UK & Ireland (trial & voyage) | New South Wales | Norfolk Island | Queensland | South Australia |Tasmania | Victoria | Western Australia | General
UK & Ireland (Trial & voyage)
- Archives Hub – https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/discoveringarchivesonline/ (Search across archives held in UK)
- Archives Wales – https://archives.wales (See 'Find your Archive': archives repositories, including county record offices, holding Quarter Sessions records - other than Monmouthshire)
- Assize Court Records – https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Assize_Court_Records (on FamilySearch Wiki, a description of these court records, their history and where they are now located)
- Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) – https://www.nla.gov.au/using-library/research-tools-and-resources/australian-joint-copying-project (microfilm of UK records likely to be of interest in Australia, NZ and Pacific)
AJCP handbook – https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-396880406/view?partId=nla.obj-396998862#page/n0/mode/1up (handbook of material copied) - Bedfordshire Gaol Register – http://apps.bedford.gov.uk/grd/ (gaol registers 1801 to 1879, contains personal descriptions)
- Before Transportation – https://libraries.tas.gov.au/family-history/convicts-in-van-diemens-land-now-tasmania/before-transportation/ (Libraries Tasmania)
- Britain sent Thousands of its Convicts to America, Not Just Australia – http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/britain-sent-thousands-of-its-convicts-to-america-not-1707458418 (article, with references)
- British convicts shipped to American colonies – https://www.jstor.org/stable/1833611?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents (article, with references)
- British Library
Juvenile crime in the 19th century – https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/juvenile-crime-in-the-19th-century (article by Liza Picard)
Victorian prisons and punishments – https://www.bl.uk/victorian-britain/articles/victorian-prisons-and-punishments (article by Matthew White) - Capital Punishment U.K. – http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org (History of death penalty in Britain)
History of Newgate prison – http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/newgate.html - Conditions in Britain & Ireland – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZS6mFMuny4 (YouTube video by A/P Hamish Maxwell-Stewart)
- Chartist Ancestors – https://www.chartistancestors.co.uk (chartists wanted democratic reforms & some protesters were transported as convicts)
- Convict love tokens – http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibition/objectsthroughtime/convict-love-tokens/ (tokens made by convicts to leave behind with loved ones)
- Convict prison hulks – https://mhnsw.au/stories/general/convict-hulks/ (Sydney's Hyde Park Barracks exhibition)
British prison hulks – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_prison_hulks (includes ships' names & years in service)
Prison Hulk Registers & Letter Books – http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx?dbid=1989 (Ancestry.com, 1802-1840, costs)
Prison Ship (Hulk) Registers – http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/prison-ship-hulk-registers (findmypast.com, 1811-1843, images cost)
Prison hulks on the River Thames – https://exploring-london.com/2021/10/29/lost-london-prison-hulks-on-the-thames/ (article) - Devon convicts transported to Australia 1782-1821 – https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/Emigration/LastFarewell ('The Last Farewell')
- digital panopticon – https://www.digitalpanopticon.org ('Tracing London Convicts in Britain & Australia, 1780-1925')
Convict hulks – https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/Convict_Hulks#:~:text=In%20August%201776%2C%20the%20Justicia,the%20Thames%20held%20510%20prisoners.
Convict Records – https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/Records (information articles and sources)
Criminal Justice, 1780-1925 – https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/Criminal_Justice,_1780-1925
Petitions for Pardon, 1797-1858 – https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/Petitions_for_Pardon_1797-1858
Transportation Under the Macroscope – https://blog.digitalpanopticon.org/transportation-under-the-macroscope/ - Down County Museum convict transportation – https://www.visitmournemountains.co.uk/museums/down-county-museum/history/gaol-convicts-database (convicts sent from County Down to NSW)
- Dumfries Jail Books – https://info.dumgal.gov.uk/HistoricalIndexes/Home/IndexDescription/5 (gaol registers 1714-1810)
- England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935 – http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/england-and-wales-crime-prisons-and-punishment-1770-1935 (findmypast, assorted crime records, costs)
- English and American attitudes towards Convict Transportation 1718-1775 – https://www.jstor.org/stable/24415748?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents (article)
- FamilySearch Wiki
Assize Records – https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Assize_Court_Records (Assizes tried cases that could result in capital punishment)
Ireland Prison Registers, 1790 to 1924 – https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ireland_Prison_Registers_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records) (describes records held by National Archives of Ireland)
Kent Quarter Sessions Index – https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/England,_Kent,_Quarter_Sessions_and_Court_Files_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records) (1558-1899)
London Crime and Punishment – https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/London_Crime_and_Punishment
(England) Quarter Session Records – https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/England_Quarter_Session_Records (lesser crimes were tried in Quarter Sessions courts)
Shropshire Court Records – https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/England_Quarter_Session_Records
Warwickshire Court Records – https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Warwickshire_Court_Records - From Across the Seas: The Diverse Origins of Australia's Convicts – https://adb.anu.edu.au/essay/23 (Australian Dictionary of Biography essay)
- From Convicts to Colonists: the Health of Prisoners and the Voyage to Australia, 1823-1853 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3407954/ (National Library of Medicine article)
- Inveraray Jail (Argyll, Scotland) prisoner records – http://www.inverarayjail.co.uk/our-history/ (see 'Prisoner Records', Gaol registers 1820 to 1889, contains personal descriptions)
- Ireland-Australia transportation database – https://www.nationalarchives.ie/article/penal-transportation-records-ireland-australia-1788-1868-2/ (convicts transported from Ireland to Australia, incomplete for transportations prior to 1836)
- Irish Chief Secretary's Correspondence – https://csorp.nationalarchives.ie (ongoing project digitising documents 1818-52)
- Irish convict transportation to Australia – https://independentaustralia.net/australia/australia-display/irish-convict-transportation-to-australia,3101 (article by Brad Webb)
- Irish Convicts to NSW 1788-1849 – http://members.pcug.org.au/~ppmay/convicts.htm (Peter Mayberry)
- Irish Rebellions of the 1800s – https://www.thoughtco.com/irish-rebellions-of-the-1800s-1774018 (Robert McNamara)
- Kent Quarter Sessions Index – http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~mrawson/genealogy/sessions.html (1657-1804)
- Lancaster Castle – https://www.lancastercastle.com/history-heritage/a-dark-history/
- National Library of Wales – https://www.library.wales
Court of Great Sessions ('Crime and Punishment') database – https://crimeandpunishment.library.wales (index to gaol records from Court of Great Sessions 1730-1830)
Records of the Court of Great Sessions – https://www.library.wales/fileadmin/docs_gwefan/new_structure/catalogues/help_to_search/information_leaflets/dar_taf_Great_Sessions2_150330D.pdf - Newgate Calendar – http://www.exclassics.com/newgate/ngintro.htm (digitised book)
- Newspapers – eResources on your national, state / provincial library website (trial reports in eg Times Digital Archive 1785 to 1985, 19th century British Library Newspapers, British Newspapers 1600-1900)
- Old Bailey Online – http://www.oldbaileyonline.org (trial records from London's Central Criminal Court, 1674 to 1913)
Tracing London Convicts in Britain & Australia 1780-1925 – https://www.digitalpanopticon.org (Digital Panopticon) - Prison History – https://www.prisonhistory.org (prisons in British Isles)
Why were Victorian Prisons so tough? – https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/victorian-prison/ (classroom resources) - Scottish convicts (National Records of Scotland)
Crime & criminals – http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/crime-and-criminals (research guide)
High Court criminal trials – https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/research-guides/research-guides-a-z/high-court-criminal-trials (research guide)
Index of legal terms & offences – http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/research-guides/research-guides-a-z/court-and-legal-records/index-of-legal-terms - Scottish Prison Register Search – https://www.scottishindexes.com/learningprison.aspx
- The National Archives (UK, London) – http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk (original trial, prison, hulk, transportation records & much more)
Discovery catalogue search – http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk (catalogue search, including some name searches)
(lesser crimes tried at Quarter Sessions courts, held at English county record offices, find via ‘Find an archive’) - The National Archives (UK) Podcasts – https://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk (large files, audio lectures, some have transcripts)
Catching Victorian and Edwardian criminals on paper
Criminal ancestors: trial records at The National Archives
From crime to punishment: criminal records of our ancestors from the 18th & 19th centuries
Journeys of discovery: Surgeons at Sea
Morbidity and mortality on convict voyages to 19th century Australia
Prison hulks
Prison: five hundred years behind bars
Radicalism and unrest
Reckless, rash and repentant: Convicts' petitions for mercy
Transportation to Australia - The National Archives (UK) Research guides – http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides-keywords/ ('C' for Crime and the law, courts, etc)
Criminal transportation
Prisoners & prison staff
Surgeons at Sea (includes links to journals of surgeons who served on convict & emigrant ships 1793 to 1880)
Victorian children in trouble with the law (educational resource) - Warwickshire Calendar of Prisoners database – https://apps.warwickshire.gov.uk/prisonersdb/prisoners/indexes (criminals & victims)
- Wives & Children of Irish Convicts 1825 to 1840 (Ancestry.com.au) – http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx?dbid=2377 (costs)
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New South Wales
- Museums of History NSW – https://mhnsw.au
Convict records (& guides) – https://mhnsw.au/archive/subjects/convicts/
Colonial Secretary's Correspondence – https://mhnsw.au/archive/subjects/colonial-secretary/
Courts (higher) – https://mhnsw.au/archive/subjects/criminal-courts/
Courts (lower) – https://mhnsw.au/archive/subjects/courts-lower/
Female Factory – https://mhnsw.au/archive/subjects/female-factory/
Gaol inmates & prisoners – https://mhnsw.au/archive/subjects/gaol-inmates-and-prisoners/ - NSW Transcription agents (obtain copies of records from State Archives Reading Room, for those unable to visit themselves)
Marilyn Rowan – http://www.nswtranscriptions.com.au/
Turtle Consolidated Services – http://home.iprimus.com.au/lturtle/ - Aboriginal Convicts: Race, Law & Transportation – http://eprints.utas.edu.au/7467/2/Kris_Harman_PhD_Thesis.pdf (aboriginals tried & transported under colonial laws)
- Ancestry.com (Convict Collection) – http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/group/AUConvicts (indents, musters, pardons, Colonial Secretary's Correspondence & much more, costs)
- Claim a Convict – http://www.hawkesbury.net.au/claimaconvict/ (contact other researchers)
- Cockatoo Island Convicts – https://www.cockatooisland.gov.au/en/learn/island-history/convict-penal-establishment/
- Convict and emancipist teachers of NSW 1789-1830 – http://dehanz.net.au/entries/convict-emancipist-teachers/ (details of teachers and their crimes)
- Dictionary of Sydney (articles)
Castle Hill Convict Rebellion 1804 – http://www.dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/castle_hill_convict_rebellion_1804
Female Factory (second factory at Parramatta) – https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/parramatta_female_factory
First Fleet – https://dictionaryofsydney.org/artefact/first_fleet - Female Factory (Parramatta) – http://www.parragirls.org.au (Factory = 'Manufactory' - place of work & prison, information about institution, prison, orphanage)
- Female Orphan School, Parramatta – https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/femaleorphanschool/home
- findmypast.com.au (costs)
Convict Arrivals (indents) – https://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/new-south-wales-convict-arrivals
Convict Conditional and Absolute Pardons 1791-1867 – https://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/australia-convict-conditional-and-absolute-pardons-1791-1867
Convict Death Register 1828-1879 – https://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/new-south-wales-convict-death-register-1828-1879
Convict Tickets of Leave 1824-1874 – https://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/australia-convict-tickets-of-leave-1824-1874
Convicts' Certificates of Freedom 1827-1867 – https://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/new-south-wales-butts-of-convicts-certificates-of-freedom-1827-1867
Registers of Convicts' Applications to Marry 1825-1851 – https://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/new-south-wales-registers-of-convicts-applications-to-marry-1825-1851
Settlers and Convicts 1787-1859 – https://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/new-south-wales-and-tasmania-settlers-and-convicts-1787-1859 - First Fleet Online – http://firstfleet.uow.edu.au/index.html (information & database)
- First Fleeters – http://www.fellowshipfirstfleeters.org.au (Fellowship of First Fleeters)
- Free Settler or Felon? – http://www.jenwilletts.com (Newcastle / Hunter Valley convicts, settlers, soldiers)
- 'From Terra Australis to Australia' – http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/terra-australis-australia (animations & histories, State Library of NSW)
- Great North Road – https://roads-waterways.transport.nsw.gov.au/about/environment/protecting-heritage/documents/self_guided_tours/the_convict_trail_the_great_north_road.pdf (convict built)
- Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney – https://mhnsw.au/tags/convicts/ (convict barracks in Sydney)
- Irish convicts to NSW – http://members.pcug.org.au/~ppmay/ (Peter Mayberry)
- Newcastle Penal Settlement – https://downloads.newcastle.edu.au/library/cultural%20collections/pdf/1981-bramble-aborigines.pdf (article on Aboriginal/ settler race relations)
- Parramatta's Old Government House – https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/old-government-house/
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Norfolk Island
- Australian History Research (Cathy Dunn)
Norfolk Island Deaths – http://www.australianhistoryresearch.info/category/resources/norfolk-island-deaths/
Norfolk Island Shipping – http://www.australianhistoryresearch.info/category/resources/shipping-records/ - 'Mutiny on the Bounty': the genetic history of Norfolk Island reveals extreme gender-biased admixture – https://investigativegenetics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13323-015-0028-9 (Investigative Genetics, BioMed Central)
- Norfolk Island Guide – https://mhnsw.au/archive/subjects/norfolk-island/ (Museums of History NSW)
- Norfolk Island Penal Settlement – https://researchdata.edu.au/norfolk-island-penal-establishment/165732 (State Records Authority of NSW)
- Norfolk Island Settlement – https://firstfleetfellowship.org.au/convicts/norfolk-island-settlement/ (First Fleet Fellowship Victoria Inc)
- Norfolk Island, the website – https://www.pitcairners.org/settlements.html
- (The) Prosecution Project – https://dataverse.ada.edu.au/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.26193/RR82PE (Australian Historical Criminal Justice Data Dataverse)
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Queensland (was NSW until 1859)
- Queensland State Archives
Moreton Bay Convicts – https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/arts/heritage/archives/collection/convicts - findmypast.com.au (images cost)
Queensland Convict Register Index 1824-1839 – https://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/queensland-convict-register-index-1824-1839
St Helena Convict Index 1863-1936 – https://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/queensland-st-helena-convict-index-1863-1936 - Moreton Bay Penal Settlement 1824 to 1842 – http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/jol/2014/06/12/moreton-bay-penal-settlement-1824-to-1842/ (blog article, John Oxley library)
- State Library of Queensland
Convict Queenslanders – http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/resources/convict-queenslanders (biographical information)
Convict research guide – https://content.slq.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/State%20Library%20of%20Queensland%20research%20guide%20-%20Convict%20records%20getting%20started%20-%202023%2001_0.pdf
Convict Transportation Database – https://convictrecords.com.au (incomplete index of convicts transported to all colonies)
Moreton Bay Penal Settlement 1824-1842 – https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/moreton-bay-penal-settlement-1824-1842
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South Australia (no convicts sent directly to South Australia, although emancipists settled there from elsewhere)
- Convicts transported from South Australia – http://www.jaunay.com/convicts.html (those tried in SA courts, see also findmypast)
- findmypast.com.au (images cost)
South Australia Convicts – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/south-australia-convicts (South Australians sentenced to transportation + recaptured runaways)
South Australian Ex-Convicts – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/south-australian-ex-convicts
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Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land till 1853, was NSW until 1825)
- Convict portal – https://libraries.tas.gov.au/family-history/convicts-in-van-diemens-land-now-tasmania/
- Tasmanian Names Index – https://talis.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/names/ (includes index to convicts & convicts' permission to marry)
- Abbreviations and formats used in convict records – https://libraries.tas.gov.au/family-history/convict-abbreviations/conduct-records-con31-con40/
- Ancestry.com.au (costs)
Baptisms of Children of Convicted Women, 1833-1854 – http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx?dbid=60750
Despatches of the Governor's Office, 1823-1855 – http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx?dbid=60751 - Coal Mines historic site – http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/attraction/coalmineshistoricsite
- Convict Department guide – https://stors.tas.gov.au/au-7-0038-00120_1 (detailed guide to records)
- Convicts and the Colonial Period – http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/Images/Colonial%20period%202.htm (many articles)
- Female Convicts Research Centre – http://www.femaleconvicts.org.au (lists of female convicts, their children, and those who worked with them, also magistrates & convict ships)
- findmypast.com.au (images cost)
Settlers and Convicts 1787-1859 – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/new-south-wales-and-tasmania-settlers-and-convicts-1787-1859
Tasmanian Convict Records 1800-1893 – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/tasmania-convict-records-1800-1893 - Founders & Survivors - digitising Tasmania's past – https://foundersandsurvivors.com/ (see especially Projects & Visualisations)
- Maria Island: Darlington Probation Station – http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/about/world-heritage-areas/darlington-probation-station
- Orphan Schools & St John's Park Precinct – http://www.orphanschool.org.au (information about Hobart institution & orphans)
- Port Arthur (Van Diemen's Land / Tasmania) – http://portarthur.org.au (see under 'History', information about penal settlement)
- Sorell, William: An examination of his convict settlement and establishment of free settlement – http://eprints.utas.edu.au/11816/1/Sorell_Thesis.pdf (thesis)
- Transportation, Penal Ideology & the experience of juvenile offenders in England & Australia in the early 19th century – https://journals.openedition.org/chs/416 (select 'English')
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Victoria (was NSW until 1851)
- Public Record Office Victoria
Justice, crime and law – https://www.prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/justice-crime-and-law (gateway page)
Register of Convicts c1842 to 1854 – https://www.prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/register-convicts-1842-1854 - Victoria, Convict Register 1842-1854 – http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-Records/victoria-convict-register-1842-1854 (images cost)
- Victoria Government Gazette Online Archive 1836 to 1997 – http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au (includes 'NSW Government Gazette' 1836 to 1851)
- Victoria's early history, 1803-1851: convicts – http://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/Victoriasearlyhistory/convicts (State Library of Victoria guide)
- Western Port settlement – http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/explore-history/colonial-melbourne/convicts/settlement-western-port (now Corinella, Victoria - convicts, military & settlers)
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Western Australia (received convicts 1850 to 1868)
- Convict database – http://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/history/convict-database/
- Convict records of Western Australia – http://www.friendsofbattyelibrary.org.au/convict-records-of-western-australia.html (research guide published by Friends of Battye Library
- Western Australia Convict records, 1846-1930 – http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx?dbid=60668 (on Ancestry.com.au, costs)
- Colonial Secretary's Office Records – https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/state-records-office-of-western-australia/colonial-secretarys-office (records at State Records Office of Western Australia)
- Convict Records – https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/state-records-office-of-western-australia/convicts#:~:text=The%20State%20Records%20Office%20holds,Australia%20between%201850%20and%201868.&text=The%20Swan%20River%20Settlement%20had,British%20penal%20settlement%20in%201849. (records at State Records Office of Western Australia)
- Dead Reckoning
Convicts – https://slwa.wa.gov.au/dead_reckoning/indexes_and_catalogues/a-f2/convicts
Parkhurst Boys – https://slwa.wa.gov.au/dead_reckoning/indexes_and_catalogues/n-s/parkhurst_boys - Family History WA – https://www.fhwa.org.au (has many resources & datasets, some for members only)
- Fremantle Prison – http://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/ (articles)
- Parkhurst Boys 1842-1862 – https://perthdps.com/convicts/park.html (Perth DPS)
- Police Gazettes of Western Australia – https://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/explore-discover/wa-heritage/police-gazettes (police & criminals in WA - & some elsewhere)
- Western Australian Convicts – http://honesthistory.net.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/712-Western-Australian-Convict-System.pdf (article)
- Western Australian Government Gazette – https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/gazettes.html
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General
- Ancestry.com (Australian Convict Collection) – http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/group/AUConvicts (indents, musters, pardons & more, costs)
- Australian convict colonies (map) – https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zBOxrQGsslek.kI_J9y8mX8KA&msa=0 (my map of convict colonies in Australia)
- Australian Convict Sites – https://www.australianconvictsites.org.au (Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Property)
- Australian Joint Copying Project (NLA) – https://www.nla.gov.au/content/australian-joint-copying-project (UK government documents copied because of interest to Australia, NZ & Pacific, in state and national libraries)
- Australian Royalty – http://australianroyalty.net.au (information about convicts & their descendants)
- Biographical Database of Australia – https://www.bda-online.org.au (free to search, costs to see detailed results)
- Bushranging Act (1830) – http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/courses/lawdemo/DOCS/BUSH.htm (law to suppress bushrangers, led to certificates of freedom for ex-convicts - & harassment of free settlers)
- Claim a Convict – http://www.hawkesbury.net.au/claimaconvict/ (contact other convict descendants)
- Convict Creations – http://www.convictcreations.com/ (information & interesting trivia about convicts)
- Convict Life – http://www.pilotguides.com/tv-shows/short-history-of-the-world/a-short-history-of-convict-australia/ (aspects of daily life for convicts)
- Convict Punishment – http://www.convictcreations.com/history/punishments.html (article)
- Convict Transportation Registers Database – http://www.convictrecords.com.au
- Convict Women – http://bit.ly/WhoresDamnedWhores ("Whores, damned whores and female convicts: Why our history does early Australian colonial women a grave injustice")
- Convicts guide – https://www.nla.gov.au/research-guides/convicts (National Library of Australia guide)
- Convicts and national character – https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2008/july/1277335186/john-hirst/oddity-start
- Convicts to Australia – https://perthdps.com/convicts/park.html (Perth DPS)
- Cora Num's Convict Records – https://coraweb.com.au/websites/convicts/ (gateway site, also excellent book on convict sources)
- Crime and Punishment – http://www.amw.org.au/sites/default/files/memory_of_the_world/index/crime-and-punishment.html (detailed history, UNESCO Memory of the World Program)
- Digital Panopticon – https://www.digitalpanopticon.org (Tracing London Convicts in Britain & Australia, 1780-1925)
Transportation Under the Macroscope – https://blog.digitalpanopticon.org/transportation-under-the-macroscope/ (graphs analysing aspects of transportation) - Fellowship of First Fleeters – http://www.fellowshipfirstfleeters.org.au (for descendants of all those who came on First Fleet)
- From Terra Australis to Australia – https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/terra-australis-australia (State Library NSW)
- Pirates of the Pacific: The Convict Seizure of the Wellington – https://www.jstor.org/stable/41563257 (JSTOR article)
- Secondary Punishment in the Penal Period in Australia – http://www.barrow-lousada.org/PDFdocs/28th-May-1977-Secondary-Punishment-in-the-Penal-Period-in-Australia-By-Professor-Bryan-Gandevia-.pdf (Medico-Legal Society paper)
- Trove – http://trove.nla.gov.au (digitised newspapers, photos & much more)