What did the client ask for?
When I was asked if I could answer the above question I had to say “maybe” as I hadn’t looked into this subject before. As I was unsure what information was out there for me to find I undertook a brief search and established that there were records on over 125,000 people who were transported to Australia as punishment for crimes. That information was in the form of ships’ ‘passenger’ records and was online.
What I needed from the client
I had the client’s relative’s surname as it was the same as theirs but ideally I needed a full name. Also I needed to know where the relative had been sentenced. At the very least I’d need to know the area they lived in when they were sentenced. Unfortunately no one knew the person’s first name but it was established that the family had always been in the London area.
What did I do?
Finding a record in an online database is relatively easy, if you know where to look and what you’re looking for. Even though I only had 2 pieces of information it was still worth the effort to see what these would bring up. Australian records revealed the names of those on board the ships that transported the prisoners and showed in which court district they were sentenced. Some of the records show the crime and the sentence term. As the ancestor lived in London it was likely that he was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court, otherwise know as the Old Bailey. There was only one person who matched the criteria and I was able to discover quite a lot about his conviction and transportation. I even found a transcript of the actual trial.
What did the client receive?
Not much information was given in the ships’ records but other online resources allowed me to answer the original question and the report I supplied detailed the steps taken in answering this question and the information revealed in the search.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135232630
What did this cost the client?
As I wasn’t sure whether the question could be answered I did not charge for the short fact-finding research I undertook at the very beginning.
To search online resources, collate the information and write a report took 9 hours. To read the report click here.
The total cost was £360.
All research undertaken is based upon information supplied by the client. If the information supplied is not sufficient or incorrect then I can make no guarantees to find further information to build their story. Furthermore I am unable to guarantee that records pertaining to their family are 100% accurate or even exist!
Where necessary I will undertake a short initial search and if nothing is found I will contact them in the first instance. If they have paid for a number of hours in advance then I will refund any unused hours.