Bound for Australia

2012 marks the 225th anniversary of the sailing of the eleven vessels of the First Fleet from England, bound for Australia. From the arrival of the first 788 convicts in 1788, to the end of transportation in 1868, a staggering 165,000 criminals were sent to Australia for a range of crimes. In addition to those transported, hundreds of thousands of free persons emigrated from Britain and Ireland to colonies in Australia. Because of the vast distance involved, few returned, and the descendants of many of them now live in Australia. Tracing those ancestors today may seem like a daunting task, with The National Archives alone holding over 100 miles of shelving for historical records. Now completely revised and expanded to include new research, Bound for Australia is the essential guide to these records. By directing the reader straight to the relevant files and providing a case study to follow the stages necessary to research your Antipodean relatives, Hawkings makes locating you Australian ancestors more achievable than ever before. Who knows, you may even trace your ancestor to the victualling list of 788 criminals on the First Fleet.