Convicts

This is perhaps the only extant diary ever written during the Australian penal era whilst its convict writer was imprisoned. John Ward, writing whilst incarcerated on Norfolk Island but formerly a groom to an officer gentleman, tells a story of thwarted love that he claims led him to a life of crime including theft, sexual assault and more. In telling the candid story of his downfall he exposes his own ruthlessness and lack of empathy. This is an out-of-print book in USED condition.

The stories of 29 female convicts who spent time at Hobart's Cascades Female Factory.

Crooks, craftsmen and founding citizens - stories of convict clock and watchmakers in Van Diemen's Land.

In the early 1800s magistrates in the Australian colonies were often frustrated by the language used by re-offending convicts to disguise their criminal activities and intentions. In 1819, convict clerk James Hardy Vaux came up with this dictionary of slang and other terms used by convicts.