Convicts

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Convict Sydney

James Hardy Vaux

Some convicts were transported more than once. Vaux was sent to the colony three times, each time arriving under a different name

St James’ Church Under Construction on Gadigal Country model
Convict Sydney

Pick of the crop

Convicts could earn good money doing private work, so many tried to conceal their skills during the initial muster to avoid being assigned to government projects

Letter containing a statement of absolute pardon for Samuel Henry Horn (more often known as  Horne), dated 1830 and signed by Governor Richard Bourke in 1832

Convict turned constable

A recently donated letter, signed by the governor of NSW in 1832, offers a tangible connection to the story of Samuel Horne, a convict who rose to the rank of district chief constable in the NSW Police

Convicts index 1791-1873

140,000+ entries of certificates of freedom, bank accounts, deaths, exemptions from Government Labor, pardons, tickets of leave & tickets of leave passports

Pencil drawing of Bathurst 1818, Plans of Government Buildings at Bathurst, Main series of letters received [Colonial Secretary], 1788–1826.

Convict farmer Antonio Roderigo and a ‘dastardly massacre’

A dispute over potatoes farmed by convict-settler Antonio Roderigo was one of many hostile events between colonists and Wiradyuri people that led to the Bathurst War of 1824

Vaucluse Bay, Port Jackson, NSW
Convict Sydney

Harbourside Gothic: The convict origins of Vaucluse House

Its architectural style is not all that is gothic about Vaucluse House. Discover the dark history of the house’s first owner, Henry Browne Hayes

A handwritten list of trades and crimes

Finding resources about convict history

This session presents some essential resources for researching convict history