Western Australia Convict Records

Western Australia
Printed list of convicts, 1852-1868 Probationer register, 1861-1863 Register of reconvicted prisoners, 1856-1859 Ticket of leave register, 1856-1861
 * Fremantle, Western Australia Prison Convict Database Index
 * Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930 at Ancestry, Index ($)
 * General register of convicts, 1848-1900 at FamilySeach, images.
 * [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/237829?availability=Family%20History%20Library Character book register, 1850-1862

Archives
State Records Office of Western Australia 25 Francis Street PERTH WA 6000 Australia Telephone: 61 8 9427 3600 Email: sro@sro.wa.gov.au
 * Research using State Archives


 * Convicts The State Records Office holds comprehensive sets of records relating to convicts transported to Western Australia between 1850 and 1868.

Tickets of Leave Butts

 * Tickets of leave were issued to convicts having served about half of their sentences with good behavior.
 * These tickets allowed convicts to seek employment as they wished but limited their movement to a certain district for the remainder of their sentences.
 * Prior to 1828, bench magistrates granted tickets of leave and approved applications for convicts to marry.
 * The actual ticket of leave was issued to the convict; the government retained the ticket of leave butts.
 * Ticket of leave butts listed the convict’s name, ship, and date of arrival, native place, trade or calling, date and place of trial and sentence, a physical description, and the district to which he or she was confined.

Certificates of Freedom

 * A certificate of freedom was a document stating that a convict's sentence had been served and was usually given to convicts with a 7, 10 or 14 year sentence or when they received a pardon.
 * Convicts with a life sentence could receive a Pardon, but not a Certificate of Freedom.
 * The Certificate of Freedom number was sometimes annotated on the indent or noted on a Ticket of Leave Butt.
 * The government retained certificates of freedom butts, which were similar to ticket of leave butts.

Pardons

 * Both conditional and absolute pardons were generally granted to convicts with life sentences.
 * Conditional pardons required that the ex-convict never return to the British Isles or his or her pardon would be void.
 * Absolute pardons allowed an ex-convict to return to the British Isles if he or she wished.
 * Pardon records contain information similar to tickets of leave: the convict’s name, ship, and date of arrival, native place, trade or calling, date and place of trial and sentence, a physical description, and the district to which he or she was confined.'''

Convict indents

 * Convict indents were lists that were made when convicts arrived on transport ships.
 * Information given in indents is similar to that in tickets of leave but also includes a convict’s marital status and number of children and whether the convict was literate.

FamilySearch Library
Additional sources are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog: