Les Bagnes Coloniaux
Between 1852 and 1953, over 100,000 convicts served their sentences in colonial bagnes, the largest of which were in French Guiana and New Caledonia.
The term "bagne" covers different territories, but also different sentences. The penal population included common criminals (mainly those sentenced to hard labor), repeat offenders considered incorrigible, and political opponents. Initially lumped together under the generic term "transportation", the different types of punishment were soon to be distinguished: transportation applied to common criminals, relegation to repeat offenders, and deportation to political opponents.
The database is an inventory of convicts' individual files held at the Archives nationales d'outre-mer, in the H series (colonial prison administration): in fact, it lists almost all convicts sent to colonial prisons. The online search only covers those convicted before 1891.
For further information, please consult the research tool for the colonial prison archives.
These files, set up by the prison administration to manage the penal population for which it is responsible, generally include the extract from the judgment, followed by various types of ancillary documents (mention of punishments or acts of probity, reports of offenses, escapes or deaths, correspondence).
The administration of colonial prisons comprises a central office (at the Ministry of Colonies in Paris) and offices in each of the penitentiary colonies. There are therefore two types of file:
- files drawn up by the central administration (in alphabetical order by name): this collection is relatively complete, with gaps mainly concerning some of the oldest files, up to the 1860s, and those of women. Files on women sentenced to forced labor or imprisonment have not been kept. However, the files of women sentenced to relegation or deportation have been kept and mentioned.
- files drawn up in parallel by local administrations. These have generally not been kept: only files from French Guiana have come down to us, for people sentenced after 1880 (classified by matricule number).
The same convict may therefore have several files in his name.
In accordance with law no. 2008-696 of July 15, 2008 on archives, files may be accessed after a period of 75 years from the date of the last conviction in the file, extended to 100 years for cases involving minors.
These files can only be consulted in the reading room in Aix-en-Provence. All searches in the documents are the responsibility of the researcher. The files are not digitized, and no reproductions are sent.