Over 160,000 convicts were transported to the Australian colonies over 80 years. That works out to around 20% of modern Australians having convict ancestry. If you’re one of the 20%, curious or wanting to broaden your genealogical skills, join us at August’s Family History Tips and Tools (FHTT).
On August 23rd at 10:30am Bronwyn Quint of the Descendants of Convicts Group will join FHTT to model how to uncover your convict ancestor’s history. There will be a brief overview of transportation to Australia to help you identify the information central to investigating a convict’s life. Then, using case studies from New South Wales and Tasmania, Bronwyn will show which sources to access to trace a convict’s life story. Resources on Western Australian convicts will be noted too.
Questions will be encouraged throughout the presentation. Bring along your convict related research puzzles or conundrums. During the discussion we also are keen to hear of any sources that you have found particularly helpful when researching your own convict forebears.
Members can register to attend here. Don’t forget to log in first.
Rebecca Landy
fhtt@gsv.org.au
References:
Convicts, National Library of Australia. Available at: https://www.nla.gov.au/research-guides/convicts
(Accessed: 02 August 2023)
Earle, Augustus. Views in New South Wales and Van Diemens Land: Australian scrap book 1830 - Government jail gang, London: J. Cross, 1830 , The Convict Experience, State Library of NSW https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/convict-experience
(Accessed: 01 August 2023)