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  3. Parramatta female factory bicentenary 1821 2021

Parramatta Female Factory - Bicentenary 1821 - 2021

Parramatta Female Factory

Council is remembering the 109 convict women and 71 children that were transferred from their living spaces above the town gaol to the new Parramatta Female Factory on 21 February 1821. This Female Factory operated as an assignment depot, prison, place of industry and medical facility for approximately 5,000 women and children until its closure in 1848.

Work inside the female factory for all classes largely revolved around the making of cloth and linen (Salt 1984, pp. 102 –109). Other women worked on the operation of the factory itself, including cooking and washing, some of these services were extended to the public, including washing. In addition, women worked as needleworkers or hat-makers. The workers of the female factory were susceptible to the supply and demand of labour in the fledging colony and often went without work when the production costs were too high or their labour not in demand.

WOMEN TRANSPORTED - LIFE IN AUSTRALIA'S CONVICT FEMALE FACTORIES 

women transported

A publication associated with an exhibition developed by the Parramatta Heritage Centre during 2008 in collaboration with the University of Western Sydney. A project that told the story of these industrious women who are the foremothers of contemporary Australia. 

Access the Women Transported publication here

Visit the Parramatta Heritage Centre to view our latest display to commemorate the women of the Female Factory.  Just one of the items on display now is arguably one of the most significant items from our collections. Come and visit us between 9am and 4pm Monday to Saturday!

thread wheel display

HERITAGE SNAPSHOT

This is a Heritage Snapshot Summary prepared by Tanner Kibble Denton Architects, lead heritage consultants to UrbanGrowth (Department of Planning, Industry and Environment) NSW for the Parramatta North Urban Transformation Program. Detailed heritage information is available in the Parramatta North Historic Sites Conservation Management Plan. UrbanGrowth NSW acknowledges the information provided by people and organisations connected with the site including Health NSW, Parragirls and Parramatta Female Factory Friends. Access the Heritage Snapshot here

female factory

Ann Gordon was the Parramatta Female Factory’s longest serving Matron, holding the position from 1827 to 1836. She was the highest paid woman in the colony and one of the few to wield significant power.  As Matron of the Parramatta Female Factory, the decisions she made impacted the lives of a multitude of women, from whom it is estimated one in seven Australians is descended.  

This video focuses on Ann’s time at the Factory but also brings to light the lesser known aspects of her complex and fascinating life.

 

The Research and Collections Services Team have compiled our stories and interviews into an epub - view it online here or access each of them below

Read our stories and listen to interviews with local historian
Parramatta Female Factory - interviews with local historian
2018 marked the bicentenary of the foundation of the largest and oldest surviving convict women's site in Australia: the...
Parramatta Female Factory - interviews with local historian (transcripts)
The Female Factory interview transcripts were prepared from a recording undertaken by Michelle Goodman [MG] interviewing...
Parramatta North, Mental Health Precinct: Timeline of European Settlement 1788-2018
1788 – Area explored by Governor Phillip and named Rose Hill 1792 – Charles Smith granted a 30 acres lying on the Nor...
North Parramatta, The First Land Grants
The North Parramatta Cumberland Hospital Precinct area was the site of the earliest land grant made in North Parramatta....
The First Female Factory, Prince Alfred Square, 1803 – 1821
Initially the female factories in Australia were not just places of incarceration,they also provided a space where...
The Second Female Factory: 1818-1848
History of the Site In his 1816 report on the ‘first female factory‘ at Gaol Green (Prince Alfred Square) the arch...
The Fleet Street Quarry, Parramatta North
Walking down the steps from the end of Albert Street to Fleet Street, Parramatta North, what is most noticeable, a...
Parramatta Lunatic Asylum:1848-1878
Parramatta Lunatic Asylum Dormitory, June 1861 Since the first transfer of patients in 1846, the site has remained ho...
Female Factory and the Thwaites and Reed turret clock
The front of the 1821 Female Factory building had a clock thought to be one of the oldest public clocks in Austral...
Lunatic Asylum Male and Female Wards 1848-1956
The Parramatta Lunatic Asylum, took over the buildings of the Female Factory in 1848. As the history of the Parramatta L...
Restoration of the 1821 Female Factory tower clock in 2020
The front of the Female Factory building had a clock thought to be one of the oldest public clocks in Australia. The ori...
Parramatta Roman Catholic Orphan School Site
At 1 Fleet Street North Parramatta stands a group of buildings which provides a continuous story of the evolution ...
History of the “Parramatta Lunatic Asylum” 1848-1878
Around 1839 Sydney opened a new asylum for destitute women and the insane at Tarban Creek near Gladesville but hopes thi...
"Parramatta Hospital for the Insane", Destruction of 'Female Factory' Buildings and structures, Cumberland Hospital, 1878 -1983
Throughout the 1870s a number of women patients were housed in the inappropriate prison cells constructed by Governor Gi...
Cumberland Hospital – Forgotten Garden Precinct
The front gardens in the eastern section of the Cumberland Health precinct may look unassuming but the design and ...
Overview of Cumberland Medical Precinct 1850 -1983
Like many other government institutions the change from the prison style ‘female factory‘ to a nineteenth century asylum...
Recreational Facilities of the Male and Female Lunatic Asylum
The Parramatta Male and Female Lunatic Asylum was not designed to imprison patients but to cure and restore health to th...
A Description of the ‘Parramatta Lunatic Asylum’, 1871
By the 1870s the Asylum had grown to be the largest Government establishment in Parramatta, housing around 800 inm...
Dr Sydney Evan Jones: Mental health pioneer
Portrait of Sydney Evan Jones as a medical student, c.1910. Source: Friends of Mays Hill Cemetery Photograph Collection ...
Then and Now Asylum and Female Factory Site North Parramatta
The site of the Former Parramatta Mental Hospital in North Parramatta is located on Fleet Street, where the Cumber...
The Parramatta Female Factory and Midwives - a brief introduction.
Female penitentiary or factory, Parramata , New South Wales, Augustus Earle, National Library of Australia The First ...
Mary Jones - Female Factory Midwife
Colonial Secretary’s Papers, 31st December 1824. Mary Jones was the first midwife to have been called to assist at th...
Elizabeth Scott - Female Factory Midwife
Assisted Immigration Passenger List, 1828 – 1896. State Archives of NSW Elizabeth Scott arrived in the colony with he...
Mary Mumford - Female Factory Midwife
Sydney Herald, 6 June 1833.  Mary was employed as a domestic servant near London, and while there, she stole fro...
Mary Jackson - Female Factory Midwife
Sydney Herald, 16 February 1833.   Mary Jackson, who arrived on the Diana, was quickly sent to the Female F...
Elizabeth Donohoe - Female Factory Midwife
Certificates of Freedom, New South Wales 1810 – 1814, 1827 – 1867, State Archives of NSW.  Elizabeth Donohoe arr...
Mary Anne Neale - Female Factory Midwife
Sydney Herald, 2 November 1835. Mrs Neale arrived on the 8 September 1835, in the colony on the ship the Canton. &...
Margaret Murphy - Female Factory Midwife
Sydney Herald, 5 January 1835. Ms Murphy, was a free immigrant who was employed as a midwife at the Female Factory in...
Matron Ann Gordon
Matron Ann Gordon   By Emma Stockburn   Ann Gordon, was the Matron of the Female Factor...
Listen to Parramatta tunes and Learn to make a hat!

Click on the link below to listen to our Parramatta tunes - taken from the 'The Convict Voice' - Songs of Transportation to Norfolk Island and NSW. ReCollected: Don and Sue Brian

And...... learn how to make your own hat - presented by our volunteers

The work of volunteers plays an important role in preserving and sharing the stories of Parramatta’s history and heritage, featured on this page are two separate works: learn how to make your own convict women's cap; and learn how to make a cabbage tree hat.

"Bigge’s report included recommendations for managing the factory, suggesting a married women rather than a married man would be a more appropriate manager and she could live in a house within view of the factory (but not within it). Separation of newly arrived women from those sent to the factory for punishment was essential and he recommended that a new range of sleeping rooms and work rooms be built. Sewing clothing and making straw hats should be added to the spinning and carding work to occupy their time (SHR listing Cumberland District Hospital). NSW Heritage Act - State Heritage Register: Cumberland District Hospital Group, SHR 00820, gazetted on 02/04/1999.

The Convict Voice - songs of transportation by Don Brian
The clanking of chain and the moans on the triangles were not the only sound tracks to the life of convicts. Poetry, son...
Cabbage tree hat making - presented by Sue Brian
Cabbage tree hat making – presented by Sue Brian Sue developed a passion for learning traditional skills in weavi...
Bonnet making - designed and prepared by volunteers
Bonnet making instructions  prepared by Parramatta history and heritage volunteers Originally designed and prepa...
Our Parramatta Female Factory image gallery
 

The City of Parramatta respectfully recognises the traditional owners of the land and waters of Parramatta, the Darug peoples.
Sensitivity notice: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website may contain images and voices of deceased ancestors.

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