Vandemonians in Victoria

Professor Janet McCalman will be the guest speaker at the next meeting of the Heidelberg Historical Society.  

Her talk is on The Vandemonians in Victoria: a hidden history.

Around 30,000 former and escaping convicts made their way to Victoria during the 1840s and 1850s.

Many were gold seekers who returned to Tasmania, others moved on.  But many stayed and played their part in Victoria’s colonial history.  What were they really like?  What happened to them and where did they settle?

The talk will report on the 7 years of work of the Founders & Survivor’s  project that has been reconstructing the life stories of the convicts transported to VanDiemen’s land between 1812 and 1853

Janet McCalman is the author of three award-winning social histories of Melbourne people: Struggletown, Journeyings: the biography of a middle-class generation (1993) and Sex and suffering: women’s health and a women’s hospital, 1856-1996 (1998).

She is a Professor in the Centre for Health and Society at the University of Melbourne and for  8 years wrote an opinion column in The Age.

The talk will be held at the Uniting Church Community Centre, Seddon Street, Ivanhoe at 8 pm on Tuesday 10th June.  All welcome. 

Hyde Park Barracks - Request for Reunion Photo

The Society of Australian Genealogists report in their most recent e-newsletter -

Hyde Park Barracks - Request for Reunion Photo

The Hyde Park Barracks is putting together a new semi-permanent exhibition about convicts in Sydney. A component of the exhibition discusses the legacy of convicts and the many descendants of convicts alive today who are very proud of their ancestry.

We are looking for a photograph of a large family reunion of people descended from a convict. It would be preferable to have descendants of a convict who resided in the Hyde Park Barracks, but any Sydney-based convict would be welcome.

If you recently had a family reunion of convict descendants, had a group photograph taken and are happy to have this on display in the Hyde Park Barracks, please contact Kate Bruxner at the Museum of Sydney on 02 9251 5988 or email kateb@hht.net.au.

Who's Hiding a convict will be presented at Eltham Library on Thursday 19 August

Convict research this Australia Day

This Australia Day is an opportunity to reflect on the lives of our ancestors who contributed to our growth and those pioneers who made a new life here wether by choice or not.

My earliest pioneer ancestor is Thomas Squires who arrived in Hobart, Tasmania in 1830 "transported for life" for picking pockets at age 18 years.

A member of "Australian Royalty" as actor Jack Thompson liked to put it. We don't know for sure if he spent time at Port Arthur or not, there were a number of convict settlements around Tasmania, but his records are held there.

Port Arthur Historic Site are currently undertaking a project to identify all those who came through Port Arthur between 1830 - 1877. 2010 marks the 170th anniversary of the Foundation of the the convict settlement.

This project includes both convicts and free people. An enquiry service is available for those who are researching their family history for a fee. A copy of a convict record can be supplied.

Ancestry have just announced new convict records available via their website and this is free to search till the end of January.

Another good website for researching your convict is the Old Bailey Online

On Australia Day I always like to listen to "I am Australian" - I especially like this version by Travis Collins. It was written by Bruce Woodley and Dobe Newton.

New databases on Ancestry

Some new updates to databases on Ancestry include the following with many images being added:

Australian Convict Transportation Registers – First Fleet, 1787-1788
Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Second Fleet, 1789-1790
Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Third Fleet, 1791
Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Other Fleets & Ships, 1791-1868


New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922
New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896
New South Wales, Australia Convict Ship Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1790-1849 -New South Wales, Australia, Certificates of Naturalization, 1849-1903
New South Wales, Australia Historical Electoral Rolls, 1842-1864
1841 New South Wales, Australia, Census
1828 New South Wales, Australia Census (Australian Copy)
New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Convicts' Applications to Marry, 1826-1851 -New South Wales, Australia, Convict Death Register, 1826-1879

A new database is the Port Phillip, Australia Directory, 1847 This directory contains the names, addresses, and occupations of almost 10,000 residents living in Port Philip, Victoria, Australia, in 1847. In addition to potentially finding your Australian ancestors in the directory, you will find interesting local facts about Port Philip that can give you a more detailed look at what life was like there. You’ll find members of the legislative council, local holidays, public works, custom import duties, what plants grew during each season, and more


England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index: 1837-1915
England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index: 1837-1915
England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1916-2005

Ancestry can be accessed via our website at www.yprl.vic.gov.au at any computer at any branch library.

Our proud convict past

Two websites have recently been launched which will be of value to historians researching their convict heritage.

Founders and Survivors is a national project funded by the Australian Research Council.
It seeks to record and study the founding population of 73,000 men women and children who were transported to Tasmania. Many survived their convict experience and went on to help build a new society. It is inviting submissions of names of convicts from the community.

You can read more about the project at The Age website.

Convict researchers will be aware of Old Bailey Online -the proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674 - 1913. An Old Bailey user wiki has been launched, allowing users to contribute information on people mentioned in the Proceedings, historical background, related source materials, and corrections. The wiki also includes the bibliography and school resources pages.

Prime Minister has convict heritage

A 12 year old convict who arrived in Australian on the Second Fleet, a coin forger, an Irish foundling and free settler farmers are among PM's Kevin Rudd's forebears. A recent report in "The Age" describes the research undertaken by The Church of Latter-Day Saints which was presented to the Prime Minister last month. Read about it here.

Many convict records can now be accessed via the Ancestry database. Visit your local branch library at YPRL where you can access Ancestry via the library website at any computer.

Launch of the Convict Transportation Registers database

The State Library of Queensland has launched a new resource to research convict ancestors. This database has been compiled from British Home Office (HO) records which are available on microfilm as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP). The HO 11 Criminal - Convict Transportation Registers series has been indexed by the State Library of Queensland and the index contains the following information:
- Name of convict, including any known aliases
- Place of trial *
- Term of years
- Name of ship and date of departure
- Place of arrival
- Miscellaneous notes e.g. Died at sea; Ticket of Leave, etc.
* The date of trial is recorded on the original registers and will be gradually added to this database
Over 123,000 out of the estimated 160,000 convicts transported to Australia are recorded in this database. These include prisoners sent to New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), Moreton Bay (Brisbane), Western Australia and Norfolk Island. Also recorded are some ships which were bound for Gibraltar. The records cover the period of 1787 to 1867.
These records mainly include those convicted in England and Scotland. Only a small number of Irish convicts appear in this series of the Home Office records. The database also includes soldiers who had been court-martialled and sentenced to transportation. These "soldier convicts" may have been convicted in various British colonies including the West Indies, India, Pakistan and Canada.
The site also features some well-known Queenslanders with convict backgrounds.

Resources for Researching your convict

Family History Fest sessions continue at Diamond Valley Library. This month Research your convict. Join us on Wednesday May 7 1.30 - 2.30 pm for an introduction to researching your "Australian Royalty".

There are a number of resources online that can assist with your research.
Convict records on Ancestry
Ancestrylibrary is accessed via any computer at all branch libraries via the genealogy link at http://www.yprl.vic.gov.au/

Guide to convict records (from Ancestry.com)
State Records NSW – Convicts
State Records Office of Western Australia – Convict records

Archives Office of Tasmania

Convict transportation registers database (State Library of Queensland)
Public Records Office of Victoria – Courts and criminal justice convict records
National Archives (UK known as TNA) Sources for convicts and prisoners
National Archives (UK known as TNA) Transportation to Australia

Old Bailey online : The Proceedings (trials) of the Old Bailey London’s central criminal court 1674 to 1913The Old Bailey Proceedings Online makes available a fully searchable,
digitised collection of all surviving editions of the Old Bailey Proceedings
from 1674 to 1913

Female Factory (provides a research service for a fee)

Port Arthur historic site research service
Convicts Australia

Mayberry – Irish convicts and databases
Basics on Convicts to NSW
Tasmanian Convicts – indexes
Descendants of Convicts groupIncludes names of convicts members are researching and links

Researching convicts in family history
Convict Trail Project (NSW)
Archives Office of Tasmania

Guide to resources for Tasmanian genealogy convicts and courts
Lady Juliana Convict Women

Rootsweb mailing lists. Search Convicts. 7 results

National Library of Australia
Scroll down to links on convicts

Convicts and the British colonies in Australia
Coraweb – Convicts (links)

Convict ships List of reading and links

Convicts (links)

First Fleet fellowship

Australia’s First Fleet

Transportation of convicts to Australia
Includes names of convicts tried at Nottigham Quarter Sessions Court and details of a convict researcher

Lincolnshire convicts transported to Australia, Gibraltar and BermudaNearly 2000 convicts are known to have been transported from Lincolnshire between 1788 and 1868. They are all listed in the Lincolnshire Archives on-line database

Cyndislist : Ships, convicts lists, passenger lists etc
Ireland-Australia Transportation database

Convicts transported to Australia: A guide to researching your convict ancestors
ReadingThe Convict probation system, Van Dieman’s Land 1839 by Ian Brand
The fatal shore: a history of the transportation of convicts to Australia 1787-1868 by Robert Hughes.
The second fleet: Britain’s grim convict armada of 1790 by Michael Flynn (Sydney Library of Australian History, 1993)
Pentonville to Pentridge
Irish women in colonial Australia by Trevor McLaughlin

More convict content on Ancestry

More Australian content on the Ancestry Database! This includes:
Australia, List of Convicts with Particulars, 1788-1842
Australia-Convict Savings Bank Books, 1824-1886

The Ancestry database is available at all branch libraries. Click on the Genealogy and Local History Link at Yarra Plenty Regional Library

Convict records on Ancestry

Wonderful to see more content on the Ancestry database.


New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia, Settler and Convict Lists, 1787-1834
New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia, Convict Pardons and Tickets of Leave, 1834-1859
New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849
Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Second Fleet, 1789-1790
Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Third Fleet, 1791
Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Other Fleets & Ships, 1791-1868
Australian Convict Transportation Registers – First Fleet, 1787-1788

It is estimated that an estimated four million Australians are related to convicts deported from Britain to Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Information that can now be accessed includes the names, dates and place of conviction, terms of sentence, names of ships, departure dates and colonies where most of the 163,021 people were sent. Details were taken from the British authorities' Convict Transportation Registers 1788-1868 and three other documents from Australia itself detailing the names of convicts and settlers.