An Index of Criminals convicted in Leicester & Leicestershire Courts & transported to Australia – CD 152

Description

Surname index of men and women who were convicted in Leicester & Leicestershire courts,  and transported to Australia

Transportation of convicts to Australia began in May 1787.  However, the First Fleet of 11 ships, carrying 759 convicts (568 male and 191 female), bound for New South Wales, did not include anyone convicted in Leicester/Leicestershire.

The Second Fleet of 6 ships sailed in 1789 and 1790 to New South Wales and included eight men convicted in Leicester/Leics.  Similarly, the Third Fleet of 11 ships sailed in 1791 and included 11 men who had been sentenced.  Thereafter, ships sailed to New South Wales, Tasmania (formerly known as Van Diemen’s Land), and later to Western Australia and Queensland.  The first woman to be transported from Leicester was Mary Willows in 1802.  Four local men drowned in May 1848 when the ship ‘Waterloo’ struck an ice berg and sank.  The last convicted person to sail was George Hudson in October 1867 to Western Australia.

The HO11 (Home Office) Convict Registers record 160,000 who were convicted in various courts around the country, either at the Assizes or Quarter Sessions between 1783 and 1867.  Many had the death sentence commuted to transportation.  Men and women totalling 1449 appear on the Leicester/Leicestershire index.  The date of conviction and sailing date are included.  For further details, including the crime and other relevant information, refer to local newspapers.