Quick CONVICT RESEARCH CHECKLIST

Transport

• Name of convict
• Which transport and voyage number
• Date of departure and date of arrival
• Obtain a copy of the ships Indent. It may contain some or all of the following information
• From port sailed
• Tons
• Master Surgeon
• Where tried and type of court i.e. Assizes / Quarter Session etc
• When tried
• Sentence received
• Offence
• Age
• Native Place
• Calling
• Remarks
• Physical Description eg hair colour, eye colour, complexion, height, scars, tattoos etc
• Marital Status
• Number of children
• Education eg could read &/or write
• Religion
• Number of previous convictions
• Ticket of Leave, Conditional Pardon : Absolute Pardon; Certificate of Freedom
• Assigned to, on arrival
• Is there a drawing of the convict transport available?
• How many other convicts on board?
• Did your convict (male or female) bring children with them ?
• Were both males and females transported on this ship?
• Was there sickness on board ?
• Any lost overboard?
• Type of trip eg was there a mutiny?
• Ships Log – Surgeons Report available
• Where built ?
• By whom owned ?
• Where registered?
• What else did it carry?
• Which route did the vessel take and which ports did it visit
• What did it carry on return voyage?
• Newspaper reports of transports arrival eg Sydney Gazette, Sydney Herald Is there a mention in the Historical Records of Australia Is there a mention in the Log of Logs

The Court and Crime

• Were other convicts tried at the same court on the same day for the same crime
• Did he/she spend time on a Hulk before embarkation?
• Are there Prison Hulk Records available?
• Is there a drawing or photograph of the court available?
• Are the prison records available?
• Obtain the Trial Records
• Did the convict Petition for clemency?

Assignment:

• On arrival to Government or private employer?
• If Government – how long, which department?
• If Private – to whom assigned? for how long? – What type of work did he/she perform?
• Other assignments – same as above

Ticket of Leave:

• Ticket of Leave. How many? For which districts?
• Obtain copy of the Butt
• Any interesting notations on these Butts?
• Did they lose the indulgence of a TOL? Why?

Passports

• Were they issued with a Passport to move temporarily to another district?
• Why and for what reason
• Obtain copy of the Butt

Certificate of Freedom:

• When obtained?
• Was it on completion of sentence or for some special assignment for the government?
• Obtain copy of the Butt

Certificate of Exemption

• Date?
• With whom were they allowed to reside?
• What was the relationship to the person they were allowed to reside?
• Obtain Butt of Certificate of Exemption

Absolute Pardon:

• Date received
• Why received?
• Recommended by ?

Conditional Pardon:

• Date of recommendation?
• Date of receipt?
• Recommended by ?
• Did he/she petition the Governor for a Pardon?

Colonial Secretary Letters:

• Any mentions? Why? What for? Obtain copies

Musters/Census:

• Follow through with each one available and if listed, and check under every spelling variation possible.
• Are the children also listed?
• Were they listed as being On/Off Stores?
• Are they listed as having property? Stock? Grain? Number of cattle etc

Good guy/bad guy:

• Any colonial crimes? For what? When? Where sent? Any newspaper reports?
• Any punishments received eg lash, solitary, death by hanging.
• Were they sent to another settlement eg Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Moreton Bay, Norfolk Island, VDL?
• Did they achieve anything remarkable? Any newspaper reports? Any citation from the Governor?
• Did they become Constables or join the Loyal Association or military?

Where born:

• Is native place mentioned on Indent, TOL or any Pardon received
• Country and County Birth certificate
• Parents names
• Siblings names
• Did parents, siblings or cousins arrive as convicts
• Did parents or siblings arrive as free settlers
• Did the convict or parents or siblings petition to travel to NSW
• What religion were they

Marriage:

• Prior marriage at home.
• Did that spouse join him/her?
• Marriage in Australia.
• Did he/she obtain permission?
• Was it by Banns or Licence? When, When and by whom married.
• Who acted as witness?
• If both still under Bond, were they both employed by the same Master?
• If living in a de facto relationship, why? For how long ?
• Did the convict have multiple partners?
• Did the husband or wife leave the marriage for any reason?
• Petition for family to join convict?

Children:

• Did they have children before they were transported?
• What happened to them?
• Children born in Australia. Name, date of birth, where born, Baptism record
• Were they all born to the same partner?
• Were they educated ? at home ? at school ? Sent back to the UK or elsewhere for their education?
• Who did the children marry
• Did the children marry someone within the same community or perhaps a child of a fellow convict ?
• Were the children sent to an orphanage at any stage?

Land Grants & Leases:

• Did they purchase or obtain their land through a free grant or lease ? Where, when, how?
• Were they squatters? Where? When? Why?

Residence:

• Did they own a house? From what was is made eg stone, timber, wattle and daub, mud?
• Location of residence / Farm
• Does it still exist?
• When did they live there from – to?
• Did they move around? Why?
• Did they own a farm? What did it produce? Who did they sell their produce to?
• Any major setbacks? Eg. floods, drought?

Money:

• Did they arrive with money that was deposited on arrival? How much? For how long?
• Did they acquire a bank account when free?
• Were they declared bankrupt?
• Were they wealthy or poor? Why?

Occupation:

• When tried When living in Australia
• Did they have any professional training ?
• Did they work in a trade or any specialised field ?
• What do the various musters and census state

Home life in general:

• Do you think they were successful?
• What did they do for leisure?
• Did they attend church?
• Who were their friends?
• Did either escape? abscond ?
• Did they travel back to their homeland? how, when, why and if so, did they return?

Death:

• When? Where? Why? Obtain death certificate if possible.
• Are they recorded in the Convict Death Index?
• Where buried? With whom? Anyone else in the grave?
• Was there a headstone? Does it still exist?
• Did they leave a Will? How was the property distributed & to whom
• Is there an Obituary available
• Did the children or parents die from any particular disease prevalent at the time?

Photographs / Portraits / Drawings:

• Any photographs available of person? Children? House? Grave/Headstone?

General

• Follow through – say each 5 or 10 years of the life of the convict
• What was going on in the colony during each of these time periods?
• How did the different Governors affect their lives?
• How did other things eg weather, impact on their lives?

Quick CONVICT RESEARCH CHECKLIST © Lesley Uebel 2003

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