Welcome to BlackSheepAncestors.com! Here you will find genealogical prison records and insane asylum records for the US as well as genealogical prison records for the UK. You will also find numerous links to historical court records, execution records and biographies of famous outlaws & famous criminals across the US, UK and Canada. Choose from the following categories to find your black sheep ancestor.
USA
Outlaw & Criminal Ancestors Search
Do you have a Blacksheep ancestor in your American family tree? Find your American Blacksheep Ancestor in Biographies of Famous & Infamous Criminals, Biographies and family trees of Outlaws & Gangs.
Court Records Search
American Court Records of interest to genealogists include Probate records, Surrogate Court Records, Wills, Settlement of Estate, Guardianship papers, Adoption records, Divorce, Power of Attorney, Petitions for land and Land disputes.
Search free Court Records in America for your American ancestor.
Executions Search
In the 1800’s and earlier our ancestors were executed for even minor crimes. Was your ancestor hung during the American Revolution? Some executions never took place, and the prisoner was banished from the country.
Search free records of executions for your brick-wall ancestor in America.
Insane Asylums Search
In the 1800’s and earlier you could be institutionalized for a wide variety of things: Wives and daughters who did not obey their husbands or fathers could be put away, alcoholics, depressed people, “angry people”, women in menopause, and people going against the norm would also have seen their freedom and dignity evaporate before them as they were labelled “insane” and institutionalized.
International
Pirates & Buccaneers Search
Explore this extensive list of pirate, buccaneer and privateer biographies from around the world. Also included is a Captain William Kidd detailed genealogy and family tree.
Canada
Prisons & Convicts Search
Many of our ancestors went to prisons for minor offenses. My own Canadian ancestor went to Kingston Penitentiary in 1887 for stealing a cow!
Search names of prisoners in Convict & Prison records in Canada. If your ancestor was a bit of a rogue and not a hardened criminal, you still might find him in these free records of prisoners who were in jail.
BlackSheep Ancestors Search
Do you have a Blacksheep ancestor in your Canadian family tree? Find your Canadian Blacksheep Ancestor in Biographies of Famous & Infamous Criminals, Biographies and family trees of Outlaws & Gangs.
Court Records Search
Canadian Court Records of interest to genealogists include Probate records, Surrogate Court Records, Wills, Settlement of Estate, Guardianship papers, Adoption records, Divorce, Power of Attorney, Petitions for land, Land disputes and War of 1812 Claims for Losses.
Search free Court Records in Canada for your Canadian ancestor.
Executions Search
In the 1800s and earlier our ancestors were executed for even minor crimes. Was your ancestor hung during the American Revolution? Was your ancestor hung during the Rebellion of 1837? Some executions never took place, and the prisoner was banished from the country.
Search free records of executions for your brick-wall ancestor in Canada.
United Kingdom
Prisons & Convicts Search
Search names of prisoners in Convict & Prison records in the United Kingdom. If your ancestor was a bit of a rogue and not a hardened criminal, you still might find him in these free records of prisoners who were in gaol.
Outlaw & Criminal Ancestor Search
Do you have a blacksheep ancestor in your United kingdom family tree? Find your United Kingdom Blacksheep Ancestor in Biographies of Famous & Infamous Criminals, Biographies and family trees of Outlaws & Gangs.
Court Records Search
United Kingdom Court Records of interest to genealogists include Probate records, Surrogate Court Records, Wills, Settlement of Estate, Guardianship papers, Adoption records, Divorce, Power of Attorney, Petitions for land and Land disputes.
Executions Search
In the 1800s and earlier our ancestors were executed for even minor crimes. Some executions never took place, and the prisoner was banished from the country.
Search free records of executions for your brick-wall ancestor in the United Kingdom.
Awards & Articles
Whether people realize it or not, they could probably find a blacksheep ancestor somewhere in their past if they looked hard enough. The ancestor may not have been a ruthless criminal or outlaw, but perhaps a less deadly thief or crook. Also after having gone to court they may not have spent much time in a prison or penitentiary, perhaps they only spent a small amount of time in a county jail or city jail.