The State Records Office is often asked if there are existing photographs of convicts sent to Western Australia. While convicts were not photographed during transportation to WA or upon arrival, photography was still in its early stages in the mid-1800s. However, there are existing photographs of a number of convicts who were later reconvicted and incarcerated at Fremantle Prison in the late 1800s / early 1900s.
The systematic photographing of prisoners sent to Fremantle Prison had commenced by the 1890s. That said, few of the earliest prisoner photos survive, for reasons unknown. It was not until the early 1900s that existing sets of prisoner photos became far more complete. These photographs are held in the WA State Archives Collection.
In 2015, researchers Lorraine Clarke and Cherie Strickland conducted a thorough check of prison records held at the State Records Office to identify any existing photos of former convicts. Lorraine and Cherie mainly used the prisoner registers, which can sometimes include small "mugshot" images of prisoners accompanying prisoner registration information. 74 such photographs of former WA convicts were identified.
The Friends of Battye Library Inc. supported this project and produced a publication that includes these photographs and biographical entries for the former convicts. Copies of the book "Australia's Last Convicts: reprobates, rogues and recidivists" are available through Swan Genealogy.
Below: Photo of James Woods (Convict No. 9918). James was convicted in the UK of being a pickpocket and sentenced to 10 years' penal servitude.
He was later sent to Fremantle Prison between 1889-1901 for a series of minor crimes.
