Register of Convicts applications to marry

The Convict Records of Australia.

Registers of Convicts’ Applications to Marry, Dec 1825-Feb 1851.

In the early years of the Colony convicts were married by banns having first sought official permission. The Registers of convicts’ application to marry,1825-51 record key details about the parties applying including their names; ages; the date of permission or refusal and ship of arrival.

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.