New South Wales, Convict Death Register 1828-1879
Find out if your ancestor was among the convicts who died in the penal settlement in New South Wales between 1828 and 1879. This register of convict deaths records those who died while serving their sentences. You can find out your ancestor’s age and the ship they arrived on, used by the convict authorities in those early days to categorise the prisoners.
See description
Find out if your ancestor was among the convicts who died in the penal settlement in New South Wales between 1828 and 1879. This register of convict deaths records those who died while serving their sentences. You can find out your ancestor’s age and the ship they arrived on, used by the convict authorities in those early days to categorise the prisoners.
Learn about these records
Each record contains a transcript and black and white image of the original document. The amount of information can vary but you could find out the following about your ancestor:
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Name
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Age
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Ship arrived on name
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Date of burial
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Place of burial
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Remarks (usually whether died in a hospital or if held a ticket of leave)
Prior to 1828 there was no formal system of recording convict deaths. It would sometimes be noted on the convict indents. If a convict died on the voyage out then it may have been recorded in the surgeons’ journals. It was not until Governor Lachlan Macquarie arrived in 1811 that something was done but not until 1828 that the registers were finally kept.
The register records the names of convicts who died while serving their sentence as reported to the Principal Superintendent of Convicts (until 1855), and subsequently the Inspector General of Police.
These records correspond to the Government of New South Wales Archive reference NRS 12213, reel 690.
© the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales and is used under licence with the permission of the State Records Authority. The State of New South Wales gives no warranty regarding the data’s accuracy, completeness, currency or suitability for any particular purpose.