Queensland Convict Register Index 1824-1839

Search Queensland Convict register index 1824 – 1839

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Find out if your ancestor was listed as a convict in Queensland between 1824 and 1839. Discover whether they were transported to the Moreton Bay convict settlement and the name of the ship they arrived on. You can also find out where they were from.

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What can these records tell me?

Each record is a transcript of original source documents. The amount of information contained can vary but you could find out the following about your ancestors:

  • Name
  • Prisoner number
  • Age
  • Birth year
  • Year of record
  • Date of record
  • Ship name
  • Offence
  • Sentence
  • Physical description
  • Religion
  • Place of birth
  • County of birth
  • Country of birth
  • Remarks
  • Queensland archives reference

Discover more about the Queensland convict register

In the early 19th century a place of secondary punishment was established at Moreton Bay in Queensland for previously convicted prisoners who committed further crime in the Port Jackson region. Between 1824 and 1842, 2,400 men and 145 women lived in convict depots under the control of military commandants with detachments of up to 100 soldiers.

Commandants were required to maintain records for regular submission to the Colonial Secretary in Sydney. Despite the fact that several were admonished for sending these reports late or informally the records are surprisingly complete.

The settlement was evacuated in May 1839 although 94 men and 5 women remained until the end of the year when nearly all of those secondary offenders were replaced with ordinary prisoners and some ticket-of-leave men who chose to return.

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