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Photograph of prisoner George Davey, aged 10, 1873 (Catalogue reference: PCOM 2/290)

This is a brief guide to help you with your research. Many records of prisoners survive and are held by The National Archives, prisons and local archives. Prison registersa register of incarcerated inmates created after 1878 are more likely to be found in a local archive than at The National Archives. Work on indexing The National Archives' records of prisoners by name, crime, court and locality is ongoing.

  • What do I need to know before I start?

    • Try to find out:

      • the name of the prisoner, including variant spellings
      • when and where they were imprisoned

  • What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?

    • Petitions for clemency (1819-1854)

      Browse the Catalogue in HO 17 (1819-1839) and HO 18 (1939-1854) for petitions of clemency. They are arranged in coded bundles so you will need to use the registers in HO 19 to identify the right one. Some files are searchable by name on the Catalogue.

    • Prisoners tried at the Old Bailey or the Central Criminal Court (1815-1849)

      Browse HO 16 for lists of prisoners arranged by date.

    • Court orders (1842-1871)

      Consult PCOM 5 (which is indexed by PCOM 6) to find details of a prisoner's movements from prison to prison, misconduct, physical description and next of kin.

    • Printed lists of prisoners tried at Newgate (1782-1853)

      Browse the Catalogue in HO 77 to find printed lists of prisoners tried at Newgate.

    • Prison registers and calendars of prisoners (1770-1971)

      Search the Catalogue by date in HO 23, HO 24, HO 140 and PCOM 2 for registersRegister - a volume of regularly and formally recorded information and calendarscalendar - a list, usually in chronological order, in which a detailed summary of individual documents is provided of prisoners. These are arranged by prison or by county and individual prisoners' names do not usually appear in the Catalogue.

    • Indexes of prison licences for women (1853-1887)

      Search the Catalogue (PCOM 4) by name for prison licencesdocuments - popularly known as 'tickets of leave' - authorising convicts of good behaviour to be released before completion of their sentences for women.

    • Indexes of prison licences for men (1853-1887)

      Consult the indexes of prison licencesdocuments - popularly known as 'tickets of leave' - authorising convicts of good behaviour to be released before completion of their sentences in PCOM 6 to locate male prison licences held in PCOM 3.

  • What other resources will help me find information?

    • Books

      Read Criminal ancestors by David T Hawkings (Stroud, 1996).

  • The National Archives is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Related guides

Did you know?

The records of both prisons and individual prisoners might be held in a number of different places. Prison records were not created nationally, so it is often best to start looking in local archives.

Prisoners were often moved between prisons where there was space, rather than being imprisoned near their home or where the offence was committed.

Prison hulks were ships moored near naval bases to house prisoners - often those awaiting transportation.

Prison licences, popularly known as 'tickets of leave', allowed convicts of good behaviour to be released before the completion of their sentences.

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