New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930

This collection of gaol description and entrance books from prisons in New South Wales contains two different, but similar, records. The first were kept before the New South Wales government required record keeping. These include records from Sydney and Darlinghurst gaols (Sydney held prisoners until 1841 when they were transferred to the new gaol at Darlinghurst), as well as Albury (1861–1867), Berrima (1840–1847), Goulburn (1848–1867), Maitland (1860–1867), and Newcastle (1840–1859). The other series of books started after a proclamation in the New South Wales Government Gazette in 1867 required that description books be kept for incoming and outgoing prisoners. This collection contains books from 12 different prisons, or gaols, in New South Wales. The descriptions include individual records for each prisoner with pictures and personal information used as a detailed prisoner file.