Fremantle Prison holds a collection of objects and photographs with provenance to the Prison, as well as limited archival reference material about the operational years of the site, from the establishment of the Convict System until the Prison’s closure in 1991.
For further information on the Collection visit Fremantle Prison Collection or contact e: curatorial@fremantleprison.com.au
Official convict records are held by the State Records Office of Western Australia, who should be consulted when conducting any genealogical or historical research. To access the Government records in the State Records Office of Western Australia, please refer to their online catalogue, which will assist with searching a wide range of subject areas including convicts and transportation.
TO SEARCH FOR A CONVICT ANCESTOR
- Western Australian Convicts, the website of the Convict Special Interest Group of Family History WA. This website holds links and stories from the early convict ships which came to Western Australia
- To search convicts of the Southwest WA
- Visit the The Digital Panopticon (Tracing London Convicts in Britain & Australia, 1780-1925) to access millions of records from around fifty datasets, relating to the lives of 90,000 convicts from the Old Bailey.
OTHER USEFUL ONLINE RESEARCH LINKS:
- To search a wide range of newspapers, books, photographs and other online resources: www.trove.nla.gov.au
- To search the Fremantle Council Local History resources, including historic photographs of the Prison: Fremantle History Centre | City of Fremantle
- To search for burial records in the Perth Metropolitan area: www.mcb.wa.gov.au
- To search online indexes for Western Australian Births, Deaths and Marriages: www.bdm.dotag.wa.gov.au
- To search Aboriginal history and society, including family history at the State Records Office of WA: www.sro.wa.gov.au/archive-collection/collection/aboriginal-records and: https://slwa.wa.gov.au/explore-discover/indigenous-wa/family-history/wa-indigenous-family-history-resources
- This link is a good starting point for a number of photos, oral histories etc. on the State Library of WA’s website https://slwa.wa.gov.au/explore-discover/family-history
- To search for family members with military history use the National War Memorial site https://www.awm.gov.au/ or to access the individual records of those who served in the Australian Armed Forces: https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/defence-and-war-service-records
- To search your family history, Family History WA holds over 45 data sets containing nearly two million records in searchable tables, some being available free of charge. These datasets focus on Western Australia and include data from a wide range of public, private and church records: Home (fhwa.org.au)
- To research Royal Sappers and Miners sent to Western Australia: ROYAL SAPPERS AND MINERS in Western Australia (sappers-minerswa.com)