(based upon analysis of the indents of 19,711 convicts who arrived in New South Wales in 1817, 1818, 1820, 1821, 1825, 1827, 1830, 1833, 1835, 1837, 1839, 1840)

Ships arriving in 1817–18, 1820–21, 1825, 1827, 1830, 1833, 1835, 1837, 1839 and 1840 were sampled and data on 19,711 convicts were computerised. The 18 tables in the Statistical Appendix provide a description of the most important data in the sample.

Except for data on literacy before 1827, all the variables on the convicts' human capital were available for the 1817–40 period. However, in 1825 only ships from Ireland were surveyed. The number of Welsh convicts, less than 200, were too few to warrant separate inclusion in the tables.

While there were missing data, the absent information, on age, birthplace, occupation or crime was randomly spread throughout the indents. For this reason the tables contain less than the full complement of 19,711 observations. For example, the absence of birthplace affects Tables Al (hence the unknown category), A4, A5, A6, A8 and A10; missing occupational data affect Tables A11–A16; and missing age data affect Tables A2 and A3. The amount of missing data is, however, remarkably low, and the sample provides the most extensive data set yet collected on the characteristics of those convicts who contributed to the make-up of the Australian workforce.