A Peoples' History of Booting

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Ancestry.co.uk has uploaded the family histories of tens of thousands of British criminals who got shipped to Australia. Embarassing family info that you used to have to dig up in archives is accessible with a few mouse clicks; legendary Ozzies are being demystified with a couple of search terms.

One convict of note was the father of Ned Kelly, Australia's famous bush ranger. His Irish father, Red, was sentenced to seven years for stealing two pigs and sent to Tasmania.

The first female convict to set foot in Australia was Elizabeth Thackery, sentenced to seven years for the theft of five handkerchiefs.

But the fiendish Red Kelly was no relation to the heroic Red Kelly.