Convict Indent - First Fleet indent Ganges

The Convict Records of Australia.

Convict Indents, 1788-1842.

Convict Indents are arranged by vessel and usually provide details of the prisoners’ name; age; marital status; ability to read and/or write; place and date of conviction; sentence and physical description. References to tickets of leave, pardons or certificates of freedom are frequently noted.

The Convict Records of Australia reflect the forced emigration to the continent of Australia of 165,000 people in the 180 years between 1788-1868, representing the beginning of the modern age of globalization by a government agency. These records contain information relating to all aspects of convicts’ lives, including: physical appearance, literacy level, trade or calling, crime and sentence, behavior in incarceration, further punishment, pardon, ticket of leave, and marriage. The forensic details about individual convicts have enabled historians to build a picture of the human capital that shaped the economy, demography, and culture of early colonial Australia.