Convicts
to New South Wales
and their convict indents
Why did Carol Baxter explore New South Wales convicts and convict indents?
While working for the Biographical Database of Australia, Carol edited the Convicts to New South Wales database for 1788-1812, published by the Society of Australian Genealogists on CD-ROM in 2002.
She compared every entry in the various "convict indents" and added into the database any additional (or contradictory) information. Thus, she gained an in-depth knowledge of the records themselves and of those that survived for each convict ship.
She kept a copy of her analysis, which has been published by Unlock the Past as the following two-part guide.
NB. While the CD-ROM is now "out of print", the entries themselves can be accessed through BDA-online.
Guide to Convict Transportation Lists
Part 1: 1788 - 1800
Australian purchases
RRP: $AUD14.00
Website price:
$AUD 13.00
Guide to Convict Transportation Lists
Part 1: 1788-1800
Part 2: 1801-1812
by Carol Baxter
Between 1787 and 1812, a total of 88 ships sailed for Australia carrying convicts sentenced to transportation. Between 1801 and 1812, another 44 ships carried convicts to Australia. Even though many different lists of transported convicts have survived, few actually identify all those who embarked, sailed, died, escaped, or disembarked in Australia.
So how do researchers know who actually came to Australia? And if different lists contain different trial or personal details or even ship of arrival for a transportee, how do researchers know which is more likely to be accurate?
Carol Baxter's Guide to Convict Transportation Lists Part 1: 1787-1800 and Part 2 1801-1812 were prepared while she was editing the convict indents database "Convicts to New South Wales 1787-1812", which was published on CD-ROM for the Society of Australian Genealogists in 2002.
These guides, however, have never previously been published. Both parts of this guide contain a ship-by-ship analysis of the surviving transportation lists as well as her conclusions regarding the preparation of the lists and the likely number of transportees on each vessel.
These are important resources for those interested in the early years of convict transportation to Australia.
Guide to Convict Transportation Lists
Part 2: 1801 - 1812
Australian purchases
RRP: $AUD12.00
Website price:
$AUD 11.00
Other links
