When my mother was alive she always said there was a convict in the family history, but we never paid too much attention. After mum died, I decided to do her side of the family tree.

I went back to my gg grand-father, William Archer and his wife Marion Wilson who were married in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia in 1839. The Tasmanian Archives on the internet are the best I've found. If they have a record of a birth, parents and siblings are also given. I was able to find lots of children to William and Marion and follow the trail down to me. While on the Tasmanian Archives I saw a link to "Permission given to convicts to marry" so just for fun I had a look and there was William Archer (convict) asking permission to marry Marion Wilson, free woman. From there I have been able to find the convict records of William who was sentenced to "life" for house breaking in England and transported to Australia at the age of 15.

I can't imagine what it was like for a lad to be sent away from his family at such a young age.

I am still trying to find William Archer in England, but because his parents are not mentioned on any documents in Tasmania I have hit the "brick wall". It appears he was born in 1812 - it could have been in Plymouth.

William died in 1891 at the age of 79 but Marion died in 1851 only 29 years old. I am still looking for the Wilson Family.

I am also trying to find a photo of Launceston taken around 1820 so I can get a feel of what it was like living there when William was alive.