The State Archives of NSW have just released over 46,000 records of people in NSW Gaols from 1870-1930. Each record has the following information:- http://bit.ly/2mjMkSE
Jack DIAMOND AKA Diamond Jack
The Gaol Photographic Description Books contain a photograph of each prisoner and the following information: number, prisoners’ name, aliases, date when portrait was taken, native place, year of birth, details of arrival in the colony – ship and year of arrival, trade or occupation, religion, standard of education, height, weight (on committal, on discharge), colour of hair, colour of eyes, marks or special features, number of previous portrait, where and when tried, offence, sentence, remarks, and details of previous convictions (where and when, offence and sentence).
Valentine BRANCHER alias Calvin CRUG alias Samuel ALCHIN
Even if you dont have any family from NSW it is well worth doing a search. I did a search with just the ‘birthplace’ as a criteria of ‘Western Australia’. There were 71 people in the results some of whom gave the exact town such as the following fellows from the Goldfields.
Valentine BRANCHER alias Calvin CRUG alias Samuel ALCHIN, born Coolgardie on 14 Feb 1897
Jack DIAMOND, alias Diamond Jack, Born Kalgoorlie on 14 Mar 1895
Charles WENTWORTH alias Jack YACKS, born Kalgoorlie on 29 Aug 1894
John AITKEN born Coolgardie on 8 Jun 1905
Wilfred Edgar HARPER born Coolgardie 2 Oct 1909
This archive is free to search and to down load and save the photograph and record if you are lucky enough to find a relative.
Charles WENTWORTH alias Jack YACKS,
Moya Sharp
Hi Moya,
I found my great grandfather and his eldest son in this database. They were both imprisoned in 1917 by the Hughes government for being members of a proscribed organization, the Industrial Workers of the World (the “Wobblies”), which fought against the conscription of Australians for WW1. No current members of my family had seen my great grandfather’s face before.
David