UTAS Convict Ancestors course

Following on from the University of Tasmania’s (UTAS) Introduction to Family History and Writing your Family History online courses, they are now offering one relating to Convict Ancestors, and as with the other courses, this one is also online and free.

Convict Ancestors will use the wealth of expertise in convict history at the University of Tasmania to walk students through Australia’s UNESCO-listed convict archive. It will include important information on how to read and interpret convict records as well as a host of tips for making sense of trial records and information gleaned from other judicial and penal series. This unit is a must for anyone interested in the nation’s convict past.

The Convict Ancestors  course is a six week unit that runs over an eight week period. It runs from Monday, 25th April until Friday, 17th June 2016, which includes a two week break from Monday, 16th May until Friday, 27th May.

On completion of the course you will be:
– Familiar with the wide range of historic records available to locate individual convicts transported to the Australian penal colonies and to trace their life course experiences.
– Able to read, transcribe, and understand key material presented within convict records.
– Able to situate the experiences of individual convicts within a relevant wider context and convey this information to a wider audience.

After completing Convict Ancestors, the opportunity exists to undertake further units within the Diploma of Family History.

For further information visit the UTAS website: http://www.utas.edu.au/arts/convict-ancestors