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Frequently Asked Questions

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Question 1:
What was the transportation system and when did it commence?

Answer:
The exact origin of the use of transportation as a punishment for crime is obscure, but it seems to have developed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries from a need to avoid what were considered the destabilising influences of particular groups within society. When, during the course of the eighteenth century, the death penalty came to be regarded as too severe for certain capital offences, transportation to North America became popular as a means of mitigating the sentence. Except for very serious crimes, transportation came to largely replace capital punishment. After the American War of Independence, New South Wales replaced North America as a penal colony and transportation came to largely replace capital punishment.

Question 2:
What is the transportation database on the National Archives website?

Answer:
The transportation database is a database index to surviving records relating to the transportation of individual Irish convicts to penal colonies in Australia and elsewhere.

Question 3:
Does the National Archives hold records relating to the transportation of Irish convicts to other destinations?

Answer:
The surviving transportation records in the National Archives largely document the transportation of Irish convicts to penal colonies in Australia and Tasmania, and to the West Indies in the final years of the operation of the convict transportation system. However, one small series of documents, State Prisoners' Petitions, includes documents relating to persons who were transported or exiled to North America, or who opted to join foreign armies in Europe following their implication for involvement in events surrounding the Rebellion of 1798.

Question 4:
When did the transportation of convicts from Ireland to Australia begin and how for long did the system of transporting convicts last?

Answer:
The transportation of convicts from Ireland to Australia began when the first shipload of convicts left Ireland for New South Wales at the beginning of April 1791. Before this, convicts were transported to North America, but transportation to that destination ceased after the American War of Independence. The transportation of convicts from Ireland to Australia ceased in 1853, due largely to growing opposition of colonists, who regarded the continued use of Australia as a penal colony as a disincentive to the immigration of free settlers. The exception to this was the transportation of persons who were involved in the Fenian Rising of 1867.

Question 5:
I know that my ancestor was transported from Ireland as a convict, however, I can find no reference to him/her in the transportation database.

Answer:
The transportation database is an index to extant records relating to the transportation of convicts. Unfortunately, not all records have survived. Transportation registers and other records, such as convict lists and prisoners petitions, pre-dating 1836 were destroyed by fire and explosion in the former Public Record Office of Ireland at the commencement of the Irish Civil War in 1922. While some pre-1836 prisoners petitions have survived, they are by no means complete.

Question 6:
How can I get further information on my convict ancestor's trial and conviction?

Answer:
Trial records for the periods covered by our transportation records were largely destroyed by fire and explosion in the former Public Record Office of Ireland at the commencement of the Irish Civil War in 1922. However, some trials were reported in local newspapers and any enquiry in this regard should be directed to the National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2

Question 7:
Are there any police reports relating to the crime committed by my ancestor?

Answer:
The archives of the Chief Secretary's Office includes crime reports, some of which might document a convict's crime. However, locating information on a particular convict can require a level of research that the National Archives cannot undertake on behalf of correspondents and any research in these records must be undertaken personally or by a professional researcher commissioned to perform the work on your behalf. Please consult the list of professional researchers in our Genealogy section or visit our Genealogy Service in the National Archives, Bishop Street.

Question 8:
How can I get further information on my convict ancestor's imprisonment?

Answer:
Registers of local prisons, convict depots and convict prisons will contain details of convicts, varying in the level of detail recorded. For example, the register of Grangegorman female convict depot covering the period 11 July 1840 to 22 December 1853, contains some 3,500 entries. Registers of local prisons will include, among details of all prisoners, information relating to those sentenced to transportation. However, locating information on a particular convict can require a level of research that the National Archives cannot undertake on behalf of correspondents and any research in these records must be undertaken personally or by a professional researcher commissioned to perform the work on your behalf. Please consult the list of professional researchers in our Genealogy section or visit our Genealogy Service in the National Archives, Bishop Street.

Question 9:
How can I find out the name of the ship on which my convict ancestor was transported?

Answer:
The transportation register frequently records the name of the ship on which a convict was transported and, where recorded, such information has been included in the National Archives transportation database. Where such information is not recorded, determining the name of the ship can involve research in other sources. A good starting point for such research is a publication, The Convict Ships, by Charles Bateson (Glasgow, 1969), which lists ships departing from Great Britain and Ireland and records such information as dates of arrival in Australia and Tasmania.

Question 10:
From the database and other sources, I can identify my ancestor's native county. How can I get further information on my ancestor and his/her family?

Answer:
General information on the conduct of genealogical research from archival sources in the National Archives and elsewhere is available in the Genealogy section of our website.

Question 11:
Were children transported?

Answer:
There is evidence that children as young as 12 years were, on conviction, sentenced to a term of transportation. In addition, the children of female convicts were generally allowed to accompany their mothers as free settlers, and there are instances where the children of a male convict were also allowed to accompany him. Although there seems to have been no clear policy with respect to allowing children to accompany a convict parent, it is possible that the lack of any defined official policy may have been due to the fact that it was in the interest of the authorities to have as many children as possible sent with their convict parents in order to avoid their becoming a burden on the poor law. The main preoccupation of the authorities was to dispose of children in the cheapest way, whether on board ship or otherwise.

Question 12:
Did any convict transportation ships sink during the voyage?

Answer:
The Convict Ships by Charles Bateson (Glasgow, 1969), provides a comprehensive description of the voyages, including dates of departure and arrival of the convict transportation ships that sailed from Great Britain and Ireland.

Question 13:
Where can I find other information on the Irish convict transportation system?

Answer:
An overview of the system of transportation and descriptions of surviving archival sources that document the operation of the system and the transportation of individual convicts appears on the National Archives' transportation database.