Past Events

On 2 August 2025, the Convict Group participated in developing and presenting a joint-SIG event "They Came By Ship" with the WA, Military and Enrolled Pensioner Guard Interest Groups for National Family History month. The one-day event featured 55 stories of people who arrived in WA by ship from pre-European settlement era to the 1960s, when ship travel ceased to be the dominant form of migration. Display panels, a rolling slideshow, four specialist talks and the chance to present and have queries answered as well as free access to the FHWA library and delicious refreshments all contributed to attracting around 70 attendees for the day. We were very pleased with the outcome and hope to be able to offer similar joint-planned events in the future.

On 29 October 2023, members and guests of the Convict Group visited Fremantle Prison for a very special behind the scenes look at the Prison Museum’s collection spaces as well as a curator talk on the latest convict exhibition, ‘Dancing in Fetters’.

October 2023 Fremantle Prison Excursion

July 2023 saw the Convict Group join the Murray Districts Historical Society in Pinjarra for a wonderful day steeped in local convict history. Special guest speakers included local historians Ron Richards and Irma Walter.

Pinjarra July 2023

In October 2022, our group and many new friends visited Goomalling. Local author historian Barbara Sewell along with Adam O'Neill gave us a snapshot of convict history of the region.

Goomalling October 2022

Convict Interest Group

Our second meeting for the year will be a combined meeting with the Enrolled Pensioner Guard Interest Group.

Please note that it will not be held on the second Sunday of July as per usual, but has been changed to Saturday 8 August, from 10am and is one of the offerings for National Family History Month.

We will be exploring what the two groups and their websites have to offer to each other in terms of resources and information.

Fremantle Prison

CONVENOR: Joanne Hyland

EMAIL: convicts.sig@fhwa.org.au

The aim of the Convict Special Interest Group (SIG) is to provide a forum for members of FamilyHistoryWA (FHWA) with a special interest in Convicts. The forum provides members with a broader understanding of the convict system in Australia and information of the available records for research. Our interests cover convicts sent to all states of Australia and the Parkhurst prison boys.

Join us at the Convict Group

To attend the Convict SIG you must be a financial member of FHWA or the Affiliated Organisations.

Our Newsletter, Convict Links, is published quarterly in March, June, September and December. It is disseminated via email.

Members are encouraged to submit articles on their research or items of interest.

WA Convicts Website

The Convict SIG made significant progress on an ambitious project: to source the records relating to the almost 10,000 convicts who arrived in Western Australia.

Our small enthusiastic group has worked ship-by-ship, collecting records from around the world, utilizing unpaid and paid sources.

Have a look at our work to date; there are many fascinating stories imbedded in these records.

We would welcome input from interested family historians.

https://waconvicts.fhwa.org.au

If you have a convict ancestor and would like a sneak peek at what you might find on the website, check out Convict Resources. You might also like to check out our Convict Related Stories page where we are going to put up stories that are too big to load with the website.

You might like to join the Convicts of Western Australia - Google Group