Registers of Conditional Pardons

The Convict Records of Australia.

Registers of Conditional Pardons, 1791-1825.

Upon receiving a conditional pardon the convict was free as long as they remained in the Colony. These registers provide the number and date of pardon, name, ship and year of arrival, native place, trade and calling, offence, place and date of trial, sentence, year of birth, height, complexion and colour of hair and eyes.

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.