Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
@ozconvictresearch.bsky.social
London based group - convicts transported from Britain & Ireland to Australia 1787 - 1868 + colonial era to 1901 & beyond
Current project: Transported Female Convicts of Westminster
Come on a tour to support our work: https://echoesofoztours.wordpress.com/
Current project: Transported Female Convicts of Westminster
Come on a tour to support our work: https://echoesofoztours.wordpress.com/
Pinned
🎉Australian History Through Selected Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery - London
November Dates:
# Sat 1st Nov: 7pm - 8:30pm
# Wed 5 Nov: 3pm - 4:30pm
# Sat 15 Nov: 7pm - 8:30pm
# Wed 19 Nov: 3pm - 4:30pm
# Sat 29 Nov: 7pm - 8:30pm
eventbrite.co.uk/e/history-of...
November Dates:
# Sat 1st Nov: 7pm - 8:30pm
# Wed 5 Nov: 3pm - 4:30pm
# Sat 15 Nov: 7pm - 8:30pm
# Wed 19 Nov: 3pm - 4:30pm
# Sat 29 Nov: 7pm - 8:30pm
eventbrite.co.uk/e/history-of...
Reposted by Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
Gosh, number 21 in Amazon’s historical biographies category. Albeit number 40,715 in the overall best-sellers list.
November 27, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Gosh, number 21 in Amazon’s historical biographies category. Albeit number 40,715 in the overall best-sellers list.
Reposted by Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
We hope you haven't missed that our holiday sale is live! 🎄🎁
Celebrate the season with exclusive deals on academic books across the store until midnight, December 7th.
Browse history books www.bloomsbury.com/academic/his...
Celebrate the season with exclusive deals on academic books across the store until midnight, December 7th.
Browse history books www.bloomsbury.com/academic/his...
November 26, 2025 at 10:35 AM
We hope you haven't missed that our holiday sale is live! 🎄🎁
Celebrate the season with exclusive deals on academic books across the store until midnight, December 7th.
Browse history books www.bloomsbury.com/academic/his...
Celebrate the season with exclusive deals on academic books across the store until midnight, December 7th.
Browse history books www.bloomsbury.com/academic/his...
Reposted by Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
Piccadilly and prostitution, 1901
November 25, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Piccadilly and prostitution, 1901
On list. At London Uni's History Day, had a chat with Royal College of Surgeons about this topic. The College & Hunterian Museum are part of our national story. I cover this briefly on my NPG tour & further on my Marylebone tour. 1st RACS f. 1927. BMA since 1879, Uni Melb Syd med sch since 1860s.
"This is an impressive first book exploring the history of human specimens in Australian medical and cultural history. It presents extensive research".
Australian and New Zealand Society for the History of Medicine Book Prize
📖 https://bit.ly/3LB8yxM
Australian and New Zealand Society for the History of Medicine Book Prize
📖 https://bit.ly/3LB8yxM
November 26, 2025 at 11:25 AM
On list. At London Uni's History Day, had a chat with Royal College of Surgeons about this topic. The College & Hunterian Museum are part of our national story. I cover this briefly on my NPG tour & further on my Marylebone tour. 1st RACS f. 1927. BMA since 1879, Uni Melb Syd med sch since 1860s.
Love learning more about Queen Adelaide (SAust), for many reasons & because she gets left out! Also, anything to do with botanicals excites me. Not a fan of Banks (of course) but he's of much interest & he's there from start to finish on my NPG tour. Loved this! thegardenhistory.blog/2023/09/30/q...
Queen Adelaide
Let’s start today with a pub quiz question. Who was Queen Adelaide? Did you even know Britain once had a Queen Adelaide? Would it help if I told you that before her engagement to a royal d…
thegardenhistory.blog
November 23, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Love learning more about Queen Adelaide (SAust), for many reasons & because she gets left out! Also, anything to do with botanicals excites me. Not a fan of Banks (of course) but he's of much interest & he's there from start to finish on my NPG tour. Loved this! thegardenhistory.blog/2023/09/30/q...
Reposted by Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
This is an exciting find: the remains of the building used by the House of Commons as its temporary chamber between 1835 and 1851. If you want to know what that building looked like, see our short article: historyofparliament.com/2025/09/25/t...
November 21, 2025 at 6:19 PM
This is an exciting find: the remains of the building used by the House of Commons as its temporary chamber between 1835 and 1851. If you want to know what that building looked like, see our short article: historyofparliament.com/2025/09/25/t...
Reposted by Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
What's buried under Peers' Car Park? 🚗
November 21, 2025 at 3:54 PM
What's buried under Peers' Car Park? 🚗
Reposted by Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
Our 2025 #OnePlaceStudies Conference and AGM is just two and a half weeks away! Don’t miss out on this excellent event – for just £10 you can join us as a member, join in with this and our monthly webinars, and enjoy our other membership benefits! #OnePlaceWednesday
November 5, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Our 2025 #OnePlaceStudies Conference and AGM is just two and a half weeks away! Don’t miss out on this excellent event – for just £10 you can join us as a member, join in with this and our monthly webinars, and enjoy our other membership benefits! #OnePlaceWednesday
Authorised by the Crown, plundering of Spanish ships by privateers was pretty much legal in England – officially countries weren't at war. The Spanish did't see things that same way. To them Elizabeth’s Sea Dogs were nothing more than lawless pirates...
thehistorypress.co.uk/article/quee...
thehistorypress.co.uk/article/quee...
November 21, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Authorised by the Crown, plundering of Spanish ships by privateers was pretty much legal in England – officially countries weren't at war. The Spanish did't see things that same way. To them Elizabeth’s Sea Dogs were nothing more than lawless pirates...
thehistorypress.co.uk/article/quee...
thehistorypress.co.uk/article/quee...
This book sounds super: "He tells in detail how the #breadfruit came to the #Caribbean including the infamous #mutiny on the #Bounty during Captain William #Bligh 's first attempt"...
On my #NPG #London tour I cover Joseph #Banks involvement in this fiasco: www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/arti...
On my #NPG #London tour I cover Joseph #Banks involvement in this fiasco: www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/arti...
November 21, 2025 at 10:51 PM
This book sounds super: "He tells in detail how the #breadfruit came to the #Caribbean including the infamous #mutiny on the #Bounty during Captain William #Bligh 's first attempt"...
On my #NPG #London tour I cover Joseph #Banks involvement in this fiasco: www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/arti...
On my #NPG #London tour I cover Joseph #Banks involvement in this fiasco: www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/arti...
Reposted by Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
fascinating Covent Garden brothel case at the Old Bailey in 1852. owner punched out a drunken customer who refused to pay 2s (double for two girls) & propped him up against a wall. maid-servant helped and hurried back to 'sheet up' more beds, as "a great many were waiting for the rooms to vacated".
November 21, 2025 at 7:35 PM
fascinating Covent Garden brothel case at the Old Bailey in 1852. owner punched out a drunken customer who refused to pay 2s (double for two girls) & propped him up against a wall. maid-servant helped and hurried back to 'sheet up' more beds, as "a great many were waiting for the rooms to vacated".
1 of our #Westminster #convicts + her little one drowned off coast of France in the 1833 sinking of Amphitrite. She'd been refused poor relief so was desperate to be transported. What a dreadful time to be alive if you were poor 😥 we'll be telling her story during #Women's #History Month March 2026
November 21, 2025 at 10:25 PM
1 of our #Westminster #convicts + her little one drowned off coast of France in the 1833 sinking of Amphitrite. She'd been refused poor relief so was desperate to be transported. What a dreadful time to be alive if you were poor 😥 we'll be telling her story during #Women's #History Month March 2026
...the most surprising discovery is the sheer number of bodies that have evidence of anatomical dissection. With the passing of the Anatomy Act of 1832, it became legal for surgeons to dissect unclaimed bodies within the #workhouse system... #Strand #London
www.independent.co.uk/independentp...
www.independent.co.uk/independentp...
Waking the dead in a Dickensian workhouse
Archaeologists are digging up the cemetery behind the Strand Union workhouse in Camden – and the remains reveal some grim secrets about the way Victorian society viewed the poor. Sean Russell finds th...
www.independent.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 10:03 PM
...the most surprising discovery is the sheer number of bodies that have evidence of anatomical dissection. With the passing of the Anatomy Act of 1832, it became legal for surgeons to dissect unclaimed bodies within the #workhouse system... #Strand #London
www.independent.co.uk/independentp...
www.independent.co.uk/independentp...
Reposted by Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
We concur! A #OnePlaceStudy can help you to identify the people your ancestors lived alongside, worked with and for, teamed up with for sports or social events, worshipped with, and associated with in other ways, breaking down brick walls along the way.
Genealogist Elizabeth Shown Mills popularized the concept of the FAN Club. These people often appear in your ancestor’s records and can be key to solving tough questions.
Look for familiar names in land records, witnesses on documents, and census neighbors. Your ancestor didn’t live in a vacuum!
Look for familiar names in land records, witnesses on documents, and census neighbors. Your ancestor didn’t live in a vacuum!
November 14, 2025 at 6:36 PM
We concur! A #OnePlaceStudy can help you to identify the people your ancestors lived alongside, worked with and for, teamed up with for sports or social events, worshipped with, and associated with in other ways, breaking down brick walls along the way.
Just went on a virtual tour of where I grew up in my teens - the serene seaside village of Hellyer Beach at Rocky Cape, #Tasmania. From there, I ended up in the City of #London searching for the offices of the notorious VDL Company. It's interesting to see where the names of places take you. #Empire
My latest blog post has just published. It's about preparing to visit houses and places where our ancestors lived. englishancestors.blog/2025/11/14/a...
Ancestral Tourism 4: Houses & Business Premises
This is part four in my ‘Ancestral Tourism’ series. It follows on from Part 1: Churches and Churchyards, Part 2: Municipal & other Public Cemeteries and Part 3: Graves and Gravestones. The focu…
englishancestors.blog
November 14, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Just went on a virtual tour of where I grew up in my teens - the serene seaside village of Hellyer Beach at Rocky Cape, #Tasmania. From there, I ended up in the City of #London searching for the offices of the notorious VDL Company. It's interesting to see where the names of places take you. #Empire
Sheesh! 😩 More lies about Australian convict history to undo. I've certainly got my work cut out for me here. Very frustrating when public funds are used to share "well-researched" information but then stuff is just made up & spread around. Smells like classism. Such a dreadful injustice 😥
November 14, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Sheesh! 😩 More lies about Australian convict history to undo. I've certainly got my work cut out for me here. Very frustrating when public funds are used to share "well-researched" information but then stuff is just made up & spread around. Smells like classism. Such a dreadful injustice 😥
TY to David for telling the shared history of our peoples with such understanding & compassion. It's a painful past that we still navigate to this day. We've inherited this history from #Empire & I don't think we have anything to thank it for. Grateful to be part & sharing my #Irish #convict story
David Olusoga investigates the history of the British Empire in new TV series #EmpireWithDavidOlusoga:
www.whodoyouthinkyouaremaga...
www.whodoyouthinkyouaremaga...
November 7, 2025 at 9:31 PM
These annuities are so interesting - only if you are interested in loss of the #American #colonies #debt followed by decision to settle #colonise #Australia. We have an original pressing from the act that isn't in this collection: #GeorgeIII 1795 - An Act of raising £18 million! tinyurl.com/5cdjd4v2
November 1, 2025 at 5:34 PM
These annuities are so interesting - only if you are interested in loss of the #American #colonies #debt followed by decision to settle #colonise #Australia. We have an original pressing from the act that isn't in this collection: #GeorgeIII 1795 - An Act of raising £18 million! tinyurl.com/5cdjd4v2
There are regular convict descendant "Muster" events each year in Australia & Norfolk Island. Eg: This one is the Lucas Clan in March 2026: australianhistoryresearch.info/nathaniel-ol...
I'm hosting the 1st in London & afield - 2027 / 240 yr anniversary. Dates TBA - talks, walks, workshops, events.
I'm hosting the 1st in London & afield - 2027 / 240 yr anniversary. Dates TBA - talks, walks, workshops, events.
October 26, 2025 at 4:24 PM
There are regular convict descendant "Muster" events each year in Australia & Norfolk Island. Eg: This one is the Lucas Clan in March 2026: australianhistoryresearch.info/nathaniel-ol...
I'm hosting the 1st in London & afield - 2027 / 240 yr anniversary. Dates TBA - talks, walks, workshops, events.
I'm hosting the 1st in London & afield - 2027 / 240 yr anniversary. Dates TBA - talks, walks, workshops, events.
Reposted by Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
I had a fantastic time at last week's Bentham Project's conference at UCL on A Picture of the Treasury!
July 27, 2025 at 4:52 PM
I had a fantastic time at last week's Bentham Project's conference at UCL on A Picture of the Treasury!
Reposted by Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
Did Western Australia have convict women? Of course, just not in the way you might expect!
July 15, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Did Western Australia have convict women? Of course, just not in the way you might expect!
Reposted by Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
Beautiful #RichmondBridge in #Tasmania Australia is said to be haunted by the #ghost of George Grover, a brutal ex-convict overseer, by the convicts he oversaw. Also by a small, friendly black dog known as "Grover's dog". A beautiful spot to visit; I know which I'd rather meet. #PhantomsFriday
June 27, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Beautiful #RichmondBridge in #Tasmania Australia is said to be haunted by the #ghost of George Grover, a brutal ex-convict overseer, by the convicts he oversaw. Also by a small, friendly black dog known as "Grover's dog". A beautiful spot to visit; I know which I'd rather meet. #PhantomsFriday
Reposted by Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
I had a great day at The Hold (Suffolk Archives) today, exploring Police Books, Petty Sessions and Quarter Sessions Court Books.
Following yet another convict that was transported to Australia.
#AncestryHour
Following yet another convict that was transported to Australia.
#AncestryHour
September 30, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I had a great day at The Hold (Suffolk Archives) today, exploring Police Books, Petty Sessions and Quarter Sessions Court Books.
Following yet another convict that was transported to Australia.
#AncestryHour
Following yet another convict that was transported to Australia.
#AncestryHour
Reposted by Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
Today on #BetwixtTheSheets, I am talking to the awesomely awesome Sian Rees about her book “The Floating Brothel, which tells the story of the Lady Julian, the all female convict ship that transported women to Australia in the 18th century.
September 30, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Today on #BetwixtTheSheets, I am talking to the awesomely awesome Sian Rees about her book “The Floating Brothel, which tells the story of the Lady Julian, the all female convict ship that transported women to Australia in the 18th century.
Reposted by Australian Convict & Colonial Research - London
A Great Act of Love by Heather Rose review – a compelling, complex tale of convict Australia
A Great Act of Love by Heather Rose review – a compelling, complex tale of convict Australia
The Stella prize-winning author turns to historical fiction in a novel inspired by a discovery in her own family mythology
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One of the most interesting things about author Heather Rose is how different each of her novels are, in genre, scope and interests. Her best-known novel, 2016’s The Museum of Modern Love, is a defiantly literary work, centres on Marina Abramovic’s performance art and the people who watch it; her follow-up, 2019’s Bruny, is part spy thriller and part speculative fiction. She has also written crime fiction, a coming-of-age novel and a modern fable.
A Great Act of Love represents another genre shift, blending historical fiction with high adventure and romance. The novel follows Caroline Colbert, who has reinvented herself as the wealthy widow Mrs Douglas as she arrives in Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land in the late 1830s and establishes herself in a cottage with a disused vineyard, determined to bring it back into production. Her father, Jacques-Louis, who spent his childhood working in the champagne vineyards of Louis XIV, is serving time as a convict on Norfolk Island – and Caroline believes her endeavour may just offer up a chance to save him. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:04 PM
A Great Act of Love by Heather Rose review – a compelling, complex tale of convict Australia