This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/SFB.2ACI/4254.1 Message Board Post: Indentures were a private contract between the ship-captain and/or other holder of indenture and the person to whom the time was sold. It was not always 7 years. You will find no listings although mention may be made in other documents. Some passengers were bonded/indentured and transported for petty crimes, not sure of length of service, but listing is given in "Emigrants in Bondage" with a brief statement of where landed, court which handled the case and sometimes age/crime.