Explore 1840s New Zealand Through Australian Convict Records

Join Associate Professor Kristyn Harman in-person or via Zoom to hear her speak about "Exploring 1840s New Zealand through Australian convict records".

In the decade before New Zealand’s first official national population census was taken, more than 100 people were transported as criminals across the Tasman Sea to Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania). Detailed records of their interrogations have survived, along with in-depth accounts of their physical features and other personal attributes.

This talk will reveal how Tasmania’s convict records can tell us much about the origins, characteristics, and skillsets of the working classes who populated New Zealand’s early towns and cities, why some of them were transported across the sea, and what became of those who were exiled.

Speaker's biography
Originally from the Wairarapa, Dr Kristyn Harman currently lives and works in Hobart where she is an Associate Professor in History at the University of Tasmania. Her latest book Cleansing the Colony: Transporting convicts from New Zealand to Van Diemen’s Land was published in November 2017 by Otago University Press and was longlisted in the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards the following year. She has a Certificate in Arts from Massey University as well as a Bachelor of Arts (first-class honours), PhD, and Graduate Certificate in University Learning and Teaching from the University of Tasmania.

Image: William and Martha Pickering. Inset Dr Kristyn Harman and her recent book.

Book now.
Email arc@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz to book (booking essential) or register in advance to join the online webinar via Zoom.

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