To study these questions, we carried out the largest analysis of tattoos ever undertaken, examining 75,688 descriptions of tattoos, on 58,002 convicts in Britain and Australia from 1793 to 1925.

Tattooing was a growing and accepted phenomenon in Victorian England – not restricted to convicts, sailors and soldiers.

Sailors, such as Thomas Prescott, transported to Australia in 1819, bore an “anchor, mermaid, heart and darts, sun, moon and stars” on his right arm. Tattoos that expressed relationships with ...

On Battin’s right arm is another tribute, a shield dedicated to his brother-in-law who died at the age of 18 of asthma. His third tattoo is a dotted line under his right arm which connects Carrie’s ...

To study these questions, we carried out the largest analysis of tattoos ever undertaken, examining 75,688 descriptions of tattoos, on 58,002 convicts in Britain and Australia from 1793 to 1925.