Convicts: Bound for Australia

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Key to library resources

Access anywhere with a library card In the Library (or anywhere with a Library card for NSW residents)
Available to access in the library Only in the Library
Publicly available online Publicly available

Criminal registers for Middlesex, 1791–1849 (HO 26 Series 1)

How to use Criminal registers for Middlesex, 1791–1849 (HO 26 Series 1)

Only in the Library You can use Criminal registers for Middlesex, 1791–1849 (HO 26 Series 1) when you are in the Library. Can't come to the Library? Contact us.

How to find a convict's date and place of confinement

STEP 1

Use the Australian Joint Copying Project Handbook Part 3: Home Office ('HO 26: Criminal registers' page 24) to find the microfilm reel number that covers the date of your convict's trial. Ask at the Special Collections desk in the Mitchell Library to view the handbook.

STEP 2

Complete a stack request slip (including the microfilm reel number) to have staff collect the reel for you.

STEP 3

Search through the indexes on the reel to find your convict's name. For later registers, you will need to search through the whole year of your convict's trial or search Ancestry Library Edition - England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892.

Earlier registers include indexes at the beginning of each reel. You will need to move forward carefully through the index as it may be arranged chronologically by the date and session or alphabetically by the name of the convict.

For later registers, each year is arranged alphabetically.

STEP 4

Once you have found your convict's name in the index, find the session your convict was tried at to find your convict's entry.

Not every register is set out in the same way. If you can't find what you are looking for, ask staff at the Special Collections desk in the Mitchell Library.

Didn't find your convict's name in the registers? Try another resource to help you find the date and place of your convict's trial.

Ancestry Library Edition

Also available on Ancestry Library Edition as England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892.

Ancestry Library Edition is only available in the Library.

What's in the registers?

These registers list all individuals in Middlesex that were charged with an indictable offence.