Hi Trish Thank you for posting this, and while I don't see any of mine (although there are some Harrisons) it is fascinating reading. I wonder if any of ever returned to the UK? Just imagine what their families must have gone through too! I also hadn't seen the excellent website before either, so it is now safely on the 'Favourites' list. Lin (nee Harrison) In a message dated 15/11/2013 01:30:01 GMT Standard Time, psym8950@bigpond.net.au writes: Hi List, A few months ago I submitted a message that I would have an index of names of convicts who showed their birthplace in Nottinghamshire who were subsequently transported to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) online when I could find a place to post the information. Andy Nicholson has now kindly placed this index on his Nottinghamshire History website for people to search - http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/resources/convicts.htm Cheers Trish Nowra NSW Notts Surname List http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hughw/notts.html ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NOTTSGEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Lin, There is no list of names of those who returned to the UK as few records survive, but from research I did on those from Cornwall I found it was only a very small percentage who made the return journey. Convicts were paid a small daily wage (they weren't slaves) and some opened convict bank accounts so they could pay for their return journey once they were free; some others chose to work as crew onboard vessels or as servants to families returning. Only those who received an Absolute Pardon could return, a Conditional Pardon was granted on condition they did not return to England or Ireland. There was also a scheme in Australia to reunite families of convicts once they received their Ticket-of-Leave after serving a few years of their sentence, where spouse and children could travel to Australia onboard one of the convict transport vessels. Again, only a small percentage of people overall appear to have taken up the scheme. The majority of convicts chose to remain in Australia for obvious reasons - it was a new country with high employment (low employment in the UK following the Napoleonic wars), healthy conditions with fresh air and sunshine compared to the industrial revolution and the introduction of factories etc, and they were allowed to own land which is something they could not do at home. After seven years separation from a spouse they were also free to remarry. The UK Census is full of names of people (the spouses left behind) who were living with a new partner using the same name without a death of the first spouse being found or a subsequent remarriage during the seven-year period - with a much later marriage taking place. Its a fascinating subject that has done a complete turnaround over time - a convict was once something to be ashamed of; now having a claim to "Australian Royalty" is something to brag about (says me, who has a number of convicts on the family tree). There's a lot of interesting reading if you have a convict to research, this is just a short overview of Tasmanian convicts - http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/php/BecomingTasmania/ConvictFreedom08.pdf Cheers Trish Nowra NSW > Thank you for posting this, and while I don't see any of mine (although > there are some Harrisons) it is fascinating reading. I wonder if any of > ever > returned to the UK? Just imagine what their families must have gone > through too! I also hadn't seen the excellent website before either, so > it is > now safely on the 'Favourites' list. > Lin (nee Harrison)