Convict women in the workhouse: The Parramatta Female Factory Talk by Adjunct Associate Professor Carol Liston AO

Convict women were a problem for the government.

Their place of imprisonment and of refuge was called the Female Factory. The first one was opened in 1804 and the second one in 1821. When it closed it became part of the Parramatta Lunatic Asylum (now Cumberland Hospital). The factory served as a workhouse, prison and hospital.

The talk will discuss the management of the factories and the lives of some of the women.

Carol holds a Ph.D. in 19th century Australian history from the University of Sydney. She is a councillor and president of the Royal Australian Historical Society and recently retired as co-editor of its journal.  Her research covers early colonial history in New South Wales, with interests in people (convict, colonial born and free immigrant), local history, heritage and the built environment. Her particular interest is the colonial development of the County of Cumberland.  

Publications include histories of Campbelltown, Parramatta and Liverpool, biographies of Sarah Wentworth, Thomas Brisbane and accounts of social life under Governor Macquarie and the convict women at the Female Factory, Parramatta. An enthusiast for the use of archival resources and primary records as the basis for historical research and writing, she is excited by the increased availability of digital records, such as land records, and uses them in her local and family history research. 

Image

Female penitentiary or factory, Parramata [i.e. Parramatta], N. S. Wales [picture]

Augustus Earle

Courtesy: National Library of Australia