The site is the earliest and most intact purpose-built female convict site still in existence in Australia and was a Governor Macquarie initiative, designed by convict architect Francis Greenway. Today, three of the c1818-1826 Factory period buildings, the yards and sandstone walls remain (1818-18480. The Parramatta Female Factory predates all other female convict sites in Australia.
In 1821, it had the first dedicated women’s health service in the Colony, delivering not only female convict births but colonial women who lived in the Parramatta area.
There were 24,960 women transported to the early Australian colonies.
An estimated 15,000 convict women went through the factory system at the Parramatta Female Factory, this includes those from convict ships and those convicted in the Colony’s Magistrates Courts.
The first Female Factory in Australia was a large room above the Parramatta Gaol (1804 – 1821), which was located on the southeast corner of what is today, Prince Alfred Park, Parramatta.
Most of the hangings in Parramatta were just outside the Parramatta Gaol – called Hanging Green.
The first Female Factory above the Parramatta Gaol was demolished shortly after 1821.
The second and largest in the Colony – Female Factory was designed by Francis Greenway and construction began in 1818 when Governor Macquarie laid the foundation stone
The Parramatta Female Factory was built by convict men who had trained as masons under Greenway on other buildings, for convict women and the children who were with them and still exists today.
On 1st February 1821, 109 women and 72 children were marched from the first Factory above the Parramatta Gaol to the second – large and salubrious Parramatta Female Factory was completed and with enough room to accommodate 300 female convicts.
The Parramatta Female Factory included a separate building – Laying In Hospital – the first female hospital in Australia
The Parramatta Female Factory was the model for the other 11 female factories at George Town, Launceston, Ross, Hobart Town and Cascades (which has World Heritage status), in Tasmania, the Bathurst, Newcastle, and Port Macquarie (2) in New South Wales and Moreton Bay (2) in Queensland.
It is also the site of the first female workers riot in Australia (27 October 1827), when the female convicts refused to work on starvation rations.
There were six riots at the Parramatta Female Factory
The factory closed in 1848, and some female convicts stayed behind in what was now called the Parramatta Lunatic Asylum.
An estimated 1 in 5 to 1 in 7 Australians are related to female factory women.
These women went on to help make the nation pioneer mothers, midwives, farmers, teachers, businesswomen, and so much more.
Of the 24,960 female convicts transported to Australia; countless thousands of women went through the Factory system at Parramatta.
It is estimated that 1 in 7 Australians are descended from convict women.
Most women came from England and Ireland – from rural as well as urban areas.
91.2% of crime women were transported for was related to theft – 1.8% was violent crime.
The Parramatta Female Factory was multi-purpose –
the women were employed in spinning and weaving linen and “Parramatta” cloth
they also worked at straw plaiting, sewing
provided a laundry service for the Colony
a place from where women were assigned as servants or waited to be re-assigned
it was a “marriage bureau” where free settlers and ticket of leave males could select a wife
it was a place of secondary punishment and
a refuge for those who had been abused, feeble or needed care.
Women with children were separated once a child reached the tender age of 3 years – children were sent to the Female Orphan School (1813-1850 at Rydalmere) or to Bonnyrigg (boys). Later, some were sent to the Roman Catholic Orphanage (1844) built next to the Gipps Yard
The Factory was supervised by a Superintendent or Matron – Matron Ann Gordon 1827 – 1836 was the longest-serving matron & reputed to be the highest-paid civil servant of the day. Matron Gordon’s tenure began with the first Riot at the Factory in 1827 – a reduction in rations and conditions at the factory were among the catalysts for the women’s action.
Punishment at the Factory included ‘hard labour’ such as
rock breaking,
picking oakum,
wood chopping
laundry work
solitary confinement on bread and water,
wearing a ‘heavy iron’
a cap of disgrace
dreaded head shaving where all their hair was cut short.
The Factory classed the female convicts into three classes:
1st class awaiting assignment or eligible for marriage
2nd class minor offence, pregnancy or having a child with them or
3rd class or crime class (those sentenced in the colony) or any instance of bad behaviour e.g., insolence. Women could be promoted or demoted depending on their conduct.
The Parramatta Female Factory closed in 1848. It transitioned to the Parramatta Lunatic Asylum until 1890, then some buildings were demolished, and others were constructed to become the Parramatta Hospital for the Insane, Parramatta Mental Hospital and various iterations and is still being used to treat mental health.
The Factory site now consists of
Two Greenway buildings c1818 which are the Matrons Quarters and Administration Buildings and the Lying-In Hospital
The 3rd class penitentiary and sleeping quarters c1823-1826
The substantial surrounding stone walls & yards c 1818
The Parramatta Female Factory is located at the North Parramatta Heritage Precinct which existed from 1848 onwards
The North Parramatta Heritage Precinct which includes the child welfare buildings from 1844 to 2009 and the Cumberland Health Campus buildings from 1890 is now a National Heritage Place.
In November 2017, the Parramatta Female Factory & Institutions Precinct was placed on the National Heritage Register – a Petition to the Federal Parliament for UNESCO World Heritage (WH) listing of the factory site was presented to the Federal Parliament in 2020. World Heritage listing of this highly significant female convict site is now a priority and endorsed by State & Federal Governments. UNESCO World Heritage, Tentative listing was announced in September 2023.
