Guided Walking Tours of the Parramatta Female Factory
Walk through a nationally significant place of women’s history with a trained Parramatta Female Factory Friends volunteer guide. We conduct Guided Tours of the Parramatta Female Factory with trained Tour Guides to ensure visitors have a rich and informed experience. Our tours connect the surviving buildings and landscape with the experiences of convict women and children who lived, worked, gave birth, received care, were punished, resisted authority and sought new lives beyond the Factory.
The Female Factory was not one simple institution. It operated as a workhouse and labour depot, a place of assignment, a hospital and lying-in hospital, a refuge for some women and a place of confinement and punishment for others. The tour explains these overlapping functions and places them within the wider history of transportation and colonial New South Wales.
Tour information at a glance
| Tour days and times | Monday to Thursday – large groups, Fridays – singles, couples and small groups. Tours are usually 10 am and 1 pm. This can be negotiatable depending on circumstances. |
| Duration | Most tours are up to 1.5 hours, |
| Price | All tours are only $20 AUD each (school age child, adults and pensioners). Careers and Teachers playing an active role with a booked tour are FREE. One career per person. |
| Meeting point | Meeting at the Bicentenary Commemorative Wall, at least 5 minutes before the tour. |
| Group size | Minimum, 1 person at the allotted times on Fridays. Groups over 40 will be divided into groups with a tour guide allocated at no extra charge. |
| Access | Historic and outdoor areas may include uneven surfaces and limited seating. Review the Accessibility page and contact PFFF before booking. |
| Booking | Enquire first by email and wait for a confirmation number before making payment. Large groups, Schools and Bespoke Tours should enquire with at least 4 weeks in advance of the proposed tour. |
| Catering | Monday to Friday there is the Havenstone Cafe is available before and after the tour for tea/ coffee cakes. Havenstone and Parramatta Leagues Club can cater for lunches and have a special price for those booking tours. Please let us know if you require their catering menus and they will be sent for you and your groups information. We will have Havenstone and Parramatta Leagues Club contact you to confirm your luncheon. |
| Bespoke Tours | Tours on Weekends are considered a bespoke tour and require a minimum of two people at $50 per person. Tours for Writers, Poets, Artists, other professionals, or someone seeking a specialised tour maybe charged at $25 per hour with a maximum of 4 hours per day. |
| Cancellation / Refund | If you have not paid within 48 hours of the tour, the tour will be cancelled. If you cancel within 48 hours, after payment, you will be issued a refund. Tours cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice will not be issued a refund. The tour coordinator determines whether a refund is considered. |
| Wet Weather / Extreme Weather Cancellations | Tours can be conducted in light rain with umbrellas or rainjackets. The Tour Coordinator is the person with the responsibility of cancelling the tour within 48 hours, if the wet weather or extreme weather – high winds, above 35 degrees. Any tour so cancelled is allowed to ask for a refund or rebook the tour at a later date. |
| Accessibility | The site has different types of surfaces; however, they are all level with ramps and a small gutter into one historic building. Those with sticks, walkers or wheelchairs can access the site. Seating is available at some sites. All tourists must be able to stand or sit for at least 1.5 hours. |
| First Aid / WWC | The site has a full and portable first aid kits, snake bike kit and an internal and external AED, should they be required. All guides are trained to respond to First Aid emergencies as well as WWC volunteer acreditation. Health issues must be disclosed prior to the tour. All tourists MUST be hydrated and should carry a small bottle of water during the tour. |
How to book
Send a tour enquiry with your name, mobile number, preferred date, number of visitors, tour type and any access needs to this email contact@parramattafemalefactoryfriends.com.au
PFFF will reply with availability, the confirmed cost, meeting instructions and payment arrangements.
| Do not make payment for a Guided Walking Tour until PFF has sent an email with a Booking Confirmation Number. |
To assist with booking tours, please print out the following – Guided Walking Tours flyer.
What the tour explores
- why a purpose-built Female Factory opened at Parramatta in 1821;
- the different and sometimes conflicting roles of the Factory;
- classification, assignment and the colonial demand for women’s labour;
- weaving, spinning, needlework, laundry and other forms of work;
- health, pregnancy, childbirth, mothers and children;
- punishment, the third class, confinement and resistance;
- what survives from the convict period and what changed under later institutions; and
- why the precinct remains important to descendants, former residents, researchers and the wider public.
The route and content may change because access to a working heritage precinct can vary. A tour does not necessarily enter every surviving building.
Standard, private and specialist tours
Standard tours are designed for individuals, families and small groups seeking a well-rounded introduction. Private or specialist (bespoke) tours can be discussed for descendants, family-history groups, writers, artists, researchers, professional organisations and visitors with a particular historical question.
When enquiring about a specialist tour, tell us the preferred date, number of visitors, available time, interests and any access requirements. PFFF will confirm what can be offered by the volunteer team and the areas then available.
Prepare for your visit
- Check the booking confirmation for the meeting time and exact starting point.
- Wear enclosed, comfortable shoes suitable for outdoor walking and uneven historic surfaces.
- Bring water and weather protection.
- Tell PFFF in advance about mobility, sensory, communication or learning requirements.
- Allow extra travel time if arriving from central Sydney, interstate or overseas, use public transport where available.
- Ask before photographing people, research material or restricted areas.
Getting to the Factory
Light Rail
If you are coming by Public Transport, catch the Parramatta Light Rail from Parramatta Square, which is a short walk from Parramatta Railway Station. Alight at Ngara stop and walk about 100 metres along the footpath to the Parramatta Female Factory.
Parramatta Female Factory Friends Inc.
Protecting the past. Researching the women. Sharing the stories.