Everyone loves a good story, and a criminal or convict in the family pretty much guarantees it. Three million crime, court and convict records will be transcribed, digitised and published over the next 18 months.

Visitors to the Genealogical Society of Victoria’s premises in Melbourne, are in for a treat. Along with offering users access to Ancestry, FindMyPast, the OriginsNetwork and Burke’s Peerage and Gentry Online, they now offer free downloads from The National Archives (UK) Documents Online service.