Over recent years there has been a growing interest in searching for one's ancestors. Many have discovered they have links with a man, woman or child transported as a convict from Britain of one of a number of other countries. Convict records held in various archives or libraries throughout Australia are being accessed for information more frequently than ever before.
If your convict ancestors came to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), the convict records held at the Archives Office of Tasmania provide us with an extraordinary amount of detail, including: religion, literacy, trade, native place, age, and physical characteristics, as well as their transportation offence and sentence. In addition, they include any offences committed following their arrival in the colony, the places to which they were sent, and any freedoms gained.
Anyone who has ever tried to research a convict ancestor knows what a complicated business it is, with so many different records involved. Written in spidery nineteenth-century handwriting with many mysterious abbreviations, they all have to be looked up separately, and then you try to make head or tail of them. Naturally the administrators of the convict system kept records for their own convenience rather than to help family historians - but this research a complex task.
This publication is intended to assist those who have ever attempted to decipher and interpret Tasmanian convict records. It includes many helpful features such as an introduction to the records; a clear explanations of the convict system and its changes from 1803 to 1853; a guide to the physical task of transcribing your records, so that your transcription has maximum value; then a detailed explanation of the conduct records, the primary record for convicts.
Each section of the complex conduct records is clearly explained, so that researchers can understand the meaning of the smallest squiggle on the records. There is also information about other records - indents, description lists, appropriation lists, muster lists, surgeon's reports. The book includes an excellent glossary and this really is a gem. If you're puzzling over the letters CJ, DLn, FB, TR, NTFm, you can quickly find out what they mean (Court of Justiciary, Depot Launceston, Flinders Bay, Thomas Reiby and New Town Farm. Also mentioned are the meaning of such terms as government officials, penal stations, punishments and more. It concludes with a list of useful sources and a sample transcription.
Contents:
Introduction
1. How to Use This Guide
2. Transcribing Tasmanian Convict Records
3. Convict Conduct Records Explained
- Assignment Period Convict Records
- Probation Period Convict Records
4. Core Information
5. Offence and Freedom Details
6. Location and Comments Details
7. Additional Convict Records
8. Abbreviation and Commonly Used Terms
9. Glossary
10. Useful Resources
11. Sample Transcription
