Wearing top hats and waistcoats and staring fixedly back at the camera, these men could have been posing for a family snapshot.

But these amazing images from the 1910s to 1930s are actually police mugshots taken of convicted criminals arrested in Australia.

Below,

You talking to me? Guiseppe Fiori, alias, Pemontto, stands for the camera in a hat and coat. He was described as a safebreaker

Herbert Ellis was found in numerous police records of the 1910s, 20s and 30s. He was listed as a house breaker, shop breaker, safe breaker, a receiver of stolen goods and a suspected person. He appears again in 1934 and his convictions include 'goods in custody, indecent language, stealing, receiving and throwing a missile'.

Mob mentality: All four of these men, pictured in 1921, are wearing sharp suits and carrying hats for their mugshot

During the late 18th and 19th centuries, the British government sent more than 165,000 convicted criminals to Australia to relieve overcrowding in prisons.

Many of those sent to Australia were sentenced to hard labour building infrastructure to cope with increasing numbers of immigrants.

Unknown crimes: John Walter Ford and Oswald Clive Nash in June 1921

Partners in crime: A handwritten note reads 'Frederick Edward Davies stealing in picture shows and theatres Dets Surridge Clark and Breen Central 14-7-21′. Police held sneak thieves in particularly low regard, which may account for the decision to photograph Davies in front of the police station’s toilet stalls. Right De Gracy and Edward Dalton pictured around 1920 - their crime is unknown

Strength in numbers? This image was taken after a raid led by Chief Bill Mackay - later Commissioner of Police - on a house in 'Lower Darlinghurst' on January 25, 1928. Fifteen men and women were arrested and faced numerous charges, including (L to R) Thomas Craig, Raymond Neil (aka 'Gaffney the Gunman'), William Thompson and FW Wilson.

Dapper: Sydney Skukerman, alias Cecil Landan, 'obtained goods from warehousemen by falsely representing he was in business'. Loving Cecil!

Con man: Walter Keogh was identified as a pickpocket and a 'go-getter' - someone who sells building blocks at inflated prices claiming they would soon be sold on with a big profit

Strike a pose: William Cahill stands with a far away look in his eyes and a hint of a smirk in this photograph on July 30, 1923. Details of his crime are unknown

Wise guy eh? Gilbert Burleigh, left, and Joseph Delaney were labelled 'hotel barbers' in this 1920 picture. That refers to someone who checks into a hotel and robs fellow patrons