Can anyone help please - just discovered my gr,gr,gr grandfather was actually sent to Western Australia for a 10 yr prison sentence - In a bit of a shock actually. His wife put that she was a widow in the 1871 census so I'd assumed he'd died in Oxfordshire, England or even in Oxford Prison and have searched like mad to find his death entry. Now discover that he was in Australia. I know nothing about Australian records, or whether prisoners got sent back to England at the end of their sentence, or if he settled in Australia, or if he died during his sentence. He was 41 yrs old when he left England. Can anyone help me with finding records etc. I've just upgraded to the worldwide ancestry membership.(being still in a state of shock helped with ignoring the cost!)
It might even be he settled and had another family in Australia - if so, someone is in luck - I've got the Pearson's traced back to medieval times!
I'd be very grateful for any and all information on deported convicts and how to go about finding records.