SNIPPET: Australian libraries have extensive biographical-type resources, and a "Google" search will turn up many websites devoted to this subject with updates. To celebrate the Australian Bicentenary of 1988, many convict records were microfilmed and a computerized database of the surnames they contained was created. Copies of the microfilms and the database were presented to the Australian Government and can now be found in many state archives. The National Archives, Ireland, Bishop St., also retains copies. The databases can save a great deal of time and effort and supply enough details from the originals to identify the relevant record. The LDS (Mormon) Family History Centers have similar information on microfilm. Because of the distance involved, very few emigrants to Australia and New Zealand could afford the journeys themselves, and most, whether assisted free settlers or transported convicts, are therefore quite well-documented. Transportation from Ireland, or for crimes committed in Ireland, lasted from 1791 to 1853, ending some 15 years earlier than transportation from England. The only mass transportation later than 1853 was of 63 Fenians who were sent to Western Australia in 1868 aboard the last convict ship from England to Australia. The records of the Chief Secretary's Office, which had responsibility for the penal system, are the major Irish source of information on transportees. Not all the relevant records have survived, particularly for the period before 1836, but what does exist can provide a wealth of information. The records were formerly housed in the State Paper Office in Dublin Castle, which is now part of the National Archives and is situated at Bishop St., Dublin 8, per John Grenham. The principal classes of relevant records are as follows: 1. Prisoner's Petitions and Cases, 1788-1836: Petitions to the Lord Lieutenant for commutation or remission of sentence, and record of crime, trial, sentence, place of origin and family circumstances. 2. State Prisoners' Petitions: Specifically concern those arrested for participation in the 1798 Rebellion, and record the same information. 3. Convict Reference Files from 1836: These continue the EARLIER petitions and may include a wide range of additional material. 4. Transportation Registers from 1836: Record all names of those sentenced to death or transportation, giving name, age, date, county of trial, crime and sentence. Other details sometimes given include the name of the transport ship or the place of detention. 5. Male Convict Register, 1842-47: This volume also gives physical descriptions in addition to that data supplied by the Transportation Registers. 6. Register of Convicts on Convict Ships, 1851-53. Gives names, dates and counties of trial of those transported to Van Dieman's Land and Western Australia for the period covered. 7. Free Settlers' Papers, 1828-52. Per John Grenham, after serving a minimum of four years, a male convict had the right to request a free passage for his wife and family. The Papers contain lists of those making such a request, along with transportation details and the name and address of the wife. A number of petitions from husbands and wives and prisoners' letters are also included. Records relating to free settlers are more scattered and less easily researched. The single most useful source for early settlers, also invaluable for convicts, is the 1828 census of New South Wales, published by the Library of Australian History in 1980. Although the precise place of origin is not recorded, the details include age, occupation, marital status and household. For later settlers, the University of Woolongong in Australia has produced on microfiche a complex index and transcript of all information concerning immigrants of Irish origin recorded on ships' passenger lists between 1848 and 1867. The Genealogical Office, Dublin, has a copy of this. The later lists in particular are extremely useful, often recording the exact place of origin as well as parents' names. Other resources: 1. David T. Hawkings, "Bound for Australia," Sussex: Phillimore and Co., 1987. This book, found in the National Library of Ireland, Dublin, contains some of the information in #2 below. 2. Colonial Office Papers of the United Kingdom Public Record Office at Kew, class reference CO 201. This class contains a wide variety of records including petitions for assisted passages, emigrants' lists, records of emigrants on board ship, petitions from settlers for financial assistance, etc. 3: Other books re Australia and New Zealand found in the National Library of Ireland, Dublin, and in large genealogy libraries elsewhere: Cleary, P. J. S., "Australia's Debt to Ireland's Nation-builders," Sydney, 1933. Coffey & Morgan, "Irish Families in Australia and New Zealand, 1788-1979", 4 vols., bio. dictionary, Melbourne, 1979. Curry, C. H., "The Irish at Eureka," Sydney, 1954." Hogan, J., "The Irish in Australia," Melbourne, 1888. Hughes, Robert, "The Fatal Shore," London, 1988. Kiernan, C. (ed.), "Australia and Ireland, 1788-1988," Dublin, 1986. Kiernan, T. J., "The Irish in Australia," Dublin, 1954. McDonagh and Mandle, "Ireland and Irish-Australians," Sydney, 1892. O'Farrell, P., "The Irish in Australia," New South Wales, 1987. Robinson, P., "The Hitch and Brood of Time: Australians 1788-1828," Oxford, 1985. Robson, L. L., "The Convict Settlers of Australia," Melbourne, 1965. "The Ulster Link," magazine of Northern Irish in Australia and New Zealand. Keneally, Thomas, "A Decent Set of Girls, The Irish Famine Orphans of the "Thomas Arbuthnot," 1849-1850. (In late Oct., 1849, 81 girls between the ages of 15 and 18 were rescued from workhouses of Ennis, Scarriff, Ennistymon, Co. Clare, and Cos. Galway and Kerry, given assisted passage, finally arriving in Yass, NSW, Feb. 1850; females survived in good condition and raised families in Tumut, Boorowa, Jugiong, Gundagai, Binalong, etc.) Contact Yass Heritage Project, POB 471, Yass, NSW, Australia 2582 for info. regarding copies of their publication regarding same. Also, copies of "Irish Roots" periodical with article on same may be requested from pub. of "Irish Roots," ask for issue #2, 1997. Johnson, K. and Saintly, M. "Genealogical Research Directory," pub. yearly, (1997 vol. has article on Convict Transportation from England to America, 1611-1776). POB 795, North Sydney, NSW, Australia 2060. Periodicals published in Ireland include Dublin's "Ireland of the Welcomes," interesting articles about Irish towns, people, past and present, with many colorful photos. Cork's "Irish Roots," genealogy publication regarding surnames, Irish counties and history. "History Ireland," for serious students of in-depth Irish history. "Gould Catalogue," yearly book catalogue with monthly supplements contains much information on genealogical material in Australia, also England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, several European countries, North America, India and New Zealand. Gould Books, POB 126, Gumeracha, South Australia 5233. (Also on the Internet, I believe). New Zealand Society of Genealogists, POB 8785, Auckland 3, NZ. Society of Australian Genealogists, Richmond Villa, 120 Kent St., Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia, publishers of "Descent." (Please check for recent changes in addresses!)