The following links will provide access to some information on tracking convict ancestors in Australia. This set of links is not meant to be exhaustive but to provide some starting points for Australian convict information. One of your best resources is to use a very good search engine such as "Google"

First Fleet

• 1st Fleet Convict List - Convict ships in the 1st Fleet: "Alexander", "Charlotte", "Lady Penrhyn", "Friendship", "Prince of Wales", "Scarborough". Other ships were, "H.M.S. Sirius", "H.M.S. Supply", "Fishburn", "Borrowdale", "Golden Grove".
  
  
• Ships of the First Fleet - this page by Faye Guthrie has illustrations of the ships in the First Fleet.
  
  
• Australia's First Fleet - article by Cathy Dunn and Marion McCreadie
  
  
• First Fleet Online Database - First Fleet OnLine is a resource for students and teachers of any age, professional historians, family tree enthusiasts, descendants of the First Fleeters, and amateur researchers, anywhere in the world. It has been provided free of charge by the University of Wollongong as a community service.
  
  
• Fellowship of First Fleeters, Northcoast Chapter - a Chapter of the Fellowship of First Fleeters on the North Coast of NSW, with Coffs Harbour being the central point.
  
  
• First Fleet Fellowship - Welcome the the home page of the First Fleet Fellowship. Follow the links below to explore our site. General information about the First Fleet Fellowship. The story of the First Fleet. The ships of the First Fleet. List of Provisions and Livestock. First Fleet Fellowship Vic Inc., C/- Polly Woodside Maritime Park, Lorimer Street East, Southbank Victoria 3006, Australia. Ph: (03) 52 552 477. Mobile: 0402 045 636
  
  
• Convicts on the First Fleet - Transcribed Article from the "LONDON GAZETTE", October 1788.
  CONVICTS TRANSPORTED TO THE NEW COLONY
  Your Correspondent looks to our Readers and has ascertained as far as possible the names of those who have been convicted of crimes in the Country of England since 1783 and have been sentenced by His Majesty's Judges to be sent to that part of New Holland known as New South Wales. Your Correspondent looks to our Readers for their indulgence to involuntary errors and omissions, and trust general attention will secure us from trespassing on their kindness too often.
  
  

Second Fleet

• 2nd Fleet Convict List - Ships of the 2nd Fleet: "Guardian" (wrecked, did not arrive), "Justinian", "Lady Juliana", "Surprise", "Neptune", "Scarborough".
  
  
• Convicts of the Second Fleet - Newspaper article transcribed in 1992 by Barbara Turner from the "SYDNEY COVE CHRONICLE", 30th June, 1790.
  A second fleet of six ships left England - Guardian, Justinian, Lady Juliana, Surprize, Neptune, Scarborough. The Guardian struck ice, and was unable to complete the voyage. She was stocked with provisions. Only 48 people died in the first group of ships, but this time 278 died during the voyage. This time transporting the convicts was in the hands of private contractors.
  
  

Third Fleet

• 3rd Fleet Convict List - Ships of the 3rd Fleet: "Atlantic", "William and Ann", "Britannia", "Matilda", "Salamander", "Albemarle", "Mary Anne", "Admiral Barrington", "Active", "Gorgon", "Queen".
  
  
• Convicts on the Third Fleet - Transcribed Article from the "NEW HOLLAND MORNING POST", 18th October, 1791
  A list of criminals who have come to our shores in recent months
  Our readers will find hereunder a List of Persons transported as Criminals to New South Wales in the Ships as following, via: Atlantic, William and Ann, Britannia, Matilda, Salamander, Albemarle, Mary Anne, Admiral Barrington, Active and Gorgon.
  
  

General Convict Links

• Australian Convicts Email List [AUS-CONVICTS-L ] - join this Australian Convicts discussion list hosted at Rootsweb or you can search the archives for a specific message or browse them, going from one message to another.
  
  
• Convict Genealogy on Genseek - comprehensive set of pages relating to convict information and research by Jenny Fawcett.
  
  
• Patricia Downes Genealogy Pages - This page has links to the above lists of convicts on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Fleets as well as the Irish Convicts database.
  
  
• Convicts to Australia - EXCELLENT SITE from Perth DPS - "The definitive site for convict research on the WWW". A Guide to Researching your Convict Ancestors. Most family historians in Australia regard a convict in their ancestry as enormously desirable. "Convicts to Australia" is intended to guide, inform and entertain those just starting the hunt as well as the more experienced researcher.
  
  
• Descendants of Convicts Group - In early 1981, some members of the Genealogical Society of Victoria felt that as there was an increasing interest in convicts and the convict system of Australia, the formation of a group dedicated to the promotion of this interest would be beneficial.
  
  
• Convict Connections - an interest group of the Genealogical Society of Queensland Inc for people with a particular interest in convicts or our Colonial heritage.
  
  
• Links to Convict Resources - a range of links to convict information which can be located on the internet.
  
  
• National Archives of Ireland, Transportation Records Database - The National Archives of Ireland holds a wide range of records relating to transportation of convicts from Ireland to Australia covering the period 1788 to 1868. In some cases these include records of members of convicts' families transported as free settlers. To mark the Australian Bicentenary in 1988, the Taoiseach presented microfilms of the most important of these records to the Government and People of Australia as a gift from the Government and People of Ireland. A computerised index to the records was prepared with the help of IBM and is available for use at various locations in Australia.
  
  
• IFHAA Genealogy Course : Lesson No. 3 Convict Research. - this site has a number of links and list of useful references for convict research.
  
  

Convicts to New South Wales

• CD-ROM - Index of New South Wales Convict Indents - Index to convicts who arrived in New South Wales, 1788-1842 and an index to the ships that transported them. This recently released CD-ROM is available from the Genealogical Society of Victoria Bookshop. The CD ROM can be bought from the GSV for $70.20 (including GST). Price excluding GST is $63.20. Postage and packing is $3 for anywhere in Australia, $4.50 for the Asia Pacific region, and $6 for the rest of the world.
  
  
• Royal Admiral 1792 - the voyage to Port Jackson, article and lists by Cathy Dunn.
  
  
• Claim-A-Convict (NSW) - Convicts to Port Jackson. Index contains over 20,000 convicts arriving at Port Jackson, NSW from 1788 & includes most of those arriving 1788 until 1813 and then many thousands more.
  
  
• NSW Indexes to Certificates of Freedom 1823-1869 - Located under Publications from the main menu. This is the first of a range of indexes relating to convicts which will be progressively added to our Web site. It is a substantial index, covering over 40,000 entries.
  
  

Convicts to Norfolk Island

• Norfolk Island's History - The day after the First Fleet arrived in Botany Bay, Lieutenant Philip Gidley King began selecting the handful of men and women whose fate it would be to colonise Norfolk Island. Britain was then engaged in the American War of Independence and her supplies of timber for ship-building and flax for sails were almost exhausted.
  
  
• Norfolk Island : The Website - Welcome to Norfolk Island's Home on the Web. Norfolk Island is but a speck on the surrounding two million empty square miles of seascape. In the South Pacific Ocean, this three by five mile volcanic outcrop is a subtropical paradise - but a paradise which has known inhuman brutality.
  
  
• Convict Ships to Norfolk Island (1840-1847)
  
  
• Norfolk Island History & Culture - Norfolk Island is the site of one of the earliest European settlements in the Southwest Pacific. It is arguably the most famous place of secondary punishment for nineteenth century British Convicts. On the 6 March 1788, less than two months after the establishment of the colony of New South Wales, Lieutenant Philip Gidley King and 22 settlers (including 9 male and 6 female convicts) landed at what is now Kingston, Norfolk Island.
  
  
• Norfolk Island Email List [AUS-NORFOLK-IS-L ] - you can join this email discussion list or search the archives for a specific message or browse them, going from one message to another.
  
  

Convicts to Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land)

• Tasmanian Convicts CD-ROM from Tasmanian Archives - A comprehensive list of all convicts transported to Tasmania and those who were convicted in the colony was created by indexing all original records held in the Archives Office of Tasmania from the beginning of transportation in 1804 until 1853 when transportation officially ceased.
  
  
• Indexes to Tasmanian Convicts - Various indexes to Tasmanian convicts located on Rootsweb.
  
  
• Swing Rioters to Tasmania - Geoffrey Sharman has an interest in the SWING RIOTERS, about 475 of whom, convicted for ARSON, MACHINE BREAKING, RECEIVING, or RIOTING, were transported to Van Diemen's Land (VDL, now Tasmania) or New South Wales from 18 Counties of south east England 1831-33. The VDL contingent of 329 arrived in Hobart on Eliza (224 male), Mary (1 female) and Proteus (98 male) in 1831; Gilmore, Lord William Bentinck (1 male each), York (2 male) in 1832 and Lotus (2 male) in 1833. Three swing rioters, first transported to NSW per Eleanor, eventually became temporary or permanent Tasmanians bringing the total number of known VDL ex-Swing rioters to 332..
  
  
• Tasmanian Family History Service - Based in Launceston, Tasmania, the aim of this service is to provide useful information for people researching Tasmanian Family History. The site will continue to grow so please press reload/refresh each time you visit. My name is Meryl Yost and I would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions regarding information you would like to see included on this site. The e-mail address is tashistory@vision.net.au.
  
  
• Tasmania, History & Heritage - Ancient Aboriginal handprints stencilled on the rocks of a cave, colonial convicts' chisel marks in the stones of a cottage wall - Tasmanians treasure their heritage and wherever you go you'll find evidence of times past but not forgotten.
  
  
• Colonel Collins' Commission 14 January 1803 (NSW) - This document is the authority by Letters Patent from King George III to David Collins to take charge of 'a Settlement or Settlements to be formed on the southern coast of New South Wales'. Collins investigated sites at Port Phillip on the mainland and the Tamar River in northern Van Diemen's Land, before fixing on a site near the entrance to the Derwent River in the south of the Island.
  
  

Convicts to Victoria

• 1803, Sorrento, Vic. Collins First Settlement Site
  
  
• The Westernport Settlement, Victoria, 1826-1828 - Following are details of all those who can be identified as having spent some time at the Westernport Settlement (now the site of Corinella, Vic) between its establishment on November 24th, 1826 and its abandonment on February 27th, 1828.