Convicts Transported to VDL
by Judy Hollingsworth
© Judy Hollingsworth 2005. All rights reserved
Main record series in the Archives Office of Tasmania
Introduction
- The record series listed below are the main ones to use for convicts who arrived in VDL directly from the UK in the period 1803-1853.
- I haven't included records that deal only with convicts transported within the Australian colonies.
- There are many other lists that can be consulted. Full details for all series are available in the book published by the Archives Office of Tasmania, Guide to the public records of Tasmania: The Convict Department. This is available online on the AOT website.
- From 1803 until 1825, Van Diemen's Land was part of the colony of New South Wales. So information for that period in VDL can be found in the NSW records. If your convict arrived before 1825, you need to check these records too. Some records for this period have been incorporated into the records held at the AOT. For more information about NSW records, go to the website of State Records NSW, which includes a very helpful article, 'Archives in brief: Convict records'.
- Before the arrival of Governor Sorell in 1817, record keeping in VDL was not systematic. Sorell started to build up proper records. A complete system was only set up after the arrival of Governor Arthur in 1825. So records for the pre-1825 period in VDL are much less complete than those after 1825. Some lists for the period were compiled retrospectively, and can be incomplete or erroneous, especially where there is duplication of personal or ships' names.
- There were two systems for managing the convicts:
- The Assignment system operated from 1803 until 1843. Convicts were assigned to work either for the government or for private citizens, until they got a ticket of leave. Then they could look for work independently, though required to report regularly to the local Police Office.
- The Probation system was implemented in 1840 and continued until the end of transportation in 1853. Convicts were assigned to Probation Stations all over the island, and had to work for the government until they had earned a ticket of leave.
Records created in UK
ASSIGNMENT LISTS (CON13): Lists of convicts to be transported on a particular ship. These were given to the ship's master, and carried on the ship to its destination. They were handed to the colonial authorities on arrival, and incorporated into the VDL records. Details given on the lists vary over time.
Records created during the voyage
SURGEON'S JOURNALS (ADM 101): The surgeon was appointed by the UK government to supervise the health and treatment of the convicts
during the voyage. Convicts who became ill or died are mentioned, as are those involved in any unusual events.
* The originals of these are part of the Admiralty records in the UK National Archives, but are available on microfilm through
the Australian Joint Copying Project. The AOT has these microfilms.
Records created in VDL
INDENTS (CON14, 15): Lists made by VDL officials of the Convict Department when the ship arrived in Hobart. They were compiled from information in the Assignment Lists, the Surgeon's Journals, and interviews with the individual convicts. There is thus much duplication between the Indents and the Assignment Lists, but both should be consulted, as they aren't identical. The indents in CON16 and CON17 are for convicts transferred within the Australian colonies..
COMPREHENSIVE REGISTERS OF CONVICTS (CON22): Like the Indents, these registers were created when the convict arrived, from the same sources. They are 'master lists' of all the convicts who arrived.
DESCRIPTION LISTS (CON18, 19): These contain a description of the physical appearance of the convict.
CONDUCT REGISTERS UNDER ASSIGNMENT SYSTEM 1803-1843 (CON31 - men; CON40 - women): Record of what happened to each convict after arrival. The information at the top of each convict's record was compiled from the same sources as CON22. The body of the record contains details of any colonial offences, punishments, extensions or commutations of sentences, tickets of leave, conditional pardons, full pardons and 'Free Certificates' (i.e. Certificates of Freedom. The last were the official notification to a convict on a finite sentence (7, 10, 14 years) that the sentence had been completed.
CONDUCT REGISTERS UNDER PROBATION SYSTEM 1840-1853 (CON 33 - men; CON41 - women): Information basically the same as for the Assignment system.
APPROPRIATION LISTS 1822-1846 (CON27): Lists of places to which convicts were assigned after arrival. Assignment lists are often confused with these. Very incomplete.
REGISTER OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF MALE CONVICTS TO PROBATION STATIONS 1842-1846 (CON28): Lists the probation station to which the convict was assigned. Only a small number of these lists has survived.
Location of records
- Not all records for all VDL convicts have survived. The vast majority of the surviving originals are in the Archives Office of Tasmania in Hobart.
- As mentioned above, State Records NSW has many VDL records for the years 1803-1825.
- Some records were taken from Tasmania in the 19th century, and ended up in the Mitchell Library at the State Library of NSW in Sydney, in its 'Tasmanian Papers'. The AOT has microfilm of these in its MM series. The films are also available in some other libraries, often listed as 'CY microfilms'.
- Consult the appendixes to the AOT Guide to the public records of Tasmania: The Convict Department (available on its website) for details of the records held in the Mitchell Library.
Indexes
- The most important AOT records are indexed in the CD-ROM index, Tasmanian convicts: the complete list from the original records, published by the AOT and the Genealogical Society of Victoria. It's important to note that this index doesn't cover every type of convict record. It is based on CON22, and the other main records listed above. Index references that give MM as a series code relate to the microfilms of the Mitchell Library 'Tasmanian Papers'.
- The Mitchell Library convict lists (and lots of other lists) are indexed in the microfiche and CD resources produced by the
Kiama Family History Group:
1. Tasmania collection of records 1830's to 1930's
2. Index to Tasmanian convicts: a miscellany 1821-1854
3. Index to more Tasmanian convicts : shipping lists from papers re convict ships 1814-1845
These indexes don't always tell what type of record the information comes from, and they only refer to the Mitchell Library films. It's better to use the AOT index and records first, and then the Kiama indexes and the Mitchel Library films. - Check TALIS, the online catalogue of the State Library of Tasmania, for index publication details.
Submitted to this site by Judy Hollingsworth
© Judy Hollingsworth 2005. All rights reserved
Submitted 21-Dec-2005
