Dear Listers Although not strictly a Perthshire question, I'm hoping someone might be able to answer or point me in the right direction, as this group seems to be a fount of all sorts of knowledge! I have a family member who was transported to Australia in 1835 for 7 years (details from the Australian Convict papers on Ancestry). He completed his term in 1842 and received his pardon, but I have no idea what happened to him then. He had married in England in 1830 and had two children, but by the 1851 census his wife was declaring herself a widow. I can't find any death records for him in either the English parish records or the Australian records (or any other mention of him, in fact), so have no idea whether he ever actually returned to England, or whether being a widow was a polite fiction for a husband that never returned.... I assume that, having completed their service, convicts were free to return to England but how did they get back? Did the government provide a berth on a ship back, or were they just cut loose to find their own way? In which case, how did they afford the fare... Any pointers would be gratefully received! Ursula