Parragirls (Parramatta Female Factory Precinct Inc) is a support network and contact register for NSW Forgotten Australians placed in state controlled institutions. We specialise in the collection, research and documentation of personal experiences and public histories of State controlled institutions and establishments associated with the Forgotten Australians in NSW.

QUICK FACTS

Do you know that none of the buildings of the Parramatta Female Factory have been included in the NATIONAL HERITAGE LIST ? Do you know that a publication put out by the Australian Government entitled "Australian Convict Sites" does not include the Parramatta Female Factory? Do you want to help change this? download our petition to save the Precinct.

CONVICT CONNECTIONS

History Services NSW can help you find your connections.  For a small fee HISTORY SERVICES will undertake a search and include additional information such as references & convicts history. Irish Wattle - exploring Australia's Irish ancestry, specialist publishers on Australian Irish convicts & history Irish Wattle on Facebook discussions and news

PRECINCT POLITICS

MP Tanya Gadiel addresses NSW State Parliament about Parramatta Female Factory Precinct as a site of major significance for Women and the Forgotten Australians.7 May 2008, Hansard NSW Parliament I am lending my support to those trying to elevate the experiences of the forgotten Australians in the minds and hearts of Australians and to recognise the history of women, in this case, that was played out on this site, firstly as the Female Factory and then through the Parramatta Industrial School for Girls and finally the Parramatta Girls Home and Kamballa. MORE HERE Julie Owens Federal Member for Parramatta

CONVICT LINKS

NSW State Library Convict Records, including links to UK trial & Court records and the State Records NSW Archives in Brief as a starting point in searching for information about convict women at the Parramatta Female Factory. Society of Australian Genealogists - Australia’s first family history society. Cascades Female Factory Historic site  convict women transported to Van Dieman's Land, searchable convict women database, site history, tours and research groups. Claim a Convict - excellent resource & comprehensive lists. The Ships list website, online since August 1999, will help you find your ancestors on ships' passengers lists. Convicts to Australia the definitive site for Convict Research on the World Wide Web. Free Settler or Felon? Now with over 95,000 refernces to convicts, settlers, bushrangers, innkeepers, soldiers and landowners. National Archives  UK Government and Information Management, direct link to Transportation to Australia 1787 -1868 catalogue. NSW Convict Deaths & Burials Index 1828 -1879 Irish Convicts  comprehensive site on irish convicts with searchable database. The Old Bailey was one of many courthouses and prisons where people were sentenced for transportation to Australia. Records & proceedings at the Old Bailey are now online here.  Australians to learn of their convict ancestry as details of people sent down under 200 years ago are released. MORE HERE

ORPHAN SCHOOLS (1802-1886) links

The State Library of NSW and State Records NSW both hold a number of records relating to the Orphan Schools run by the colonial government of New South Wales. These include: Applications for admission into orphan schools, 1825-1833 Application for children out of orphan schools 1825-1833 Female orphan school admission books 1817-1832 Male orphan school Admission books 1819-1847 Colonial Secretary, Special Bundle List of 117 boys received into the Male Orphan Institution 1818-1824 Protestant Orphan School Admission Book (Female) 1827-86 Protestant Orphan School Admission Book (Male) 30 Apr 1850-31 Aug 1886 GO TO ORPHAN INDEX NSW STATE LIBRARY NSW STATE RECORDS index of records relating to the Orphan Schools which were run by the colonial government of New South Wales. The index records the date of petition or entry into the school, child's name, age, parents' names (where given), name of petitioner and reason for petition (such as admission/return of child or employment of child) item, page and reel/COD number. GO TO ORPHAN INDEX NSW STATE RECORDS

FORGOTTEN AUSTRALIANS

WHO ARE THE FORGOTTEN AUSTRALIANS? In the last century upwards and possibly more than 500,000 Australians experienced institutional or out-of-home care as children. In 2004 a senate inquiry identified them as the Forgotten Australians. WHAT DID THE SENATE INQUIRY RECOMMEND? The Senate made 39 recommendations ranging from the need for acknowledgment and an apology, removal of legal barriers in accessing personal records, reparation funds, the provision of advocacy, support and counselling services, health care and aged care programs, education, memorials and exhibitions. read Forgotten Australians Senate Report  WHAT IS THEIR STORY? Children were placed in care for a myriad of reasons including being orphaned; being born into a single mother; family dislocation from domestic violence, divorce or separation; family poverty and parents' inability to cope withy their children often as a result of some form of crisis or hardship. Many children were made wards of the state after being charged with being uncontrollable, neglected or in moral danger, not because they had done anything wrong, but because circumstances in which they found themselves resulted in them being status offenders. Other were placed in care through private arrangements usually involving payment to the Home. Irrespective of how children were placed in care, it was not their fault. WHY IS THE PRECINCT SIGNIFICANT TO THEM? The evolution of a system of 'care' for children has its genesis in the colonial period with Parramatta being the first location chosen for the provision of welfare support initially with the Female Factory and later with the Orphan Schools. In the last century approximately 10% of all children in 'care' in Australia spent time in the Precinct's institutions. Between 1816 and 1886 the institutions of Parramatta would have accommodated approximately 70% of all children in care.

APOLOGY TO FORGOTTEN AUSTRALIANS & CHILD MIGRANTS

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issues a national apology to the Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants on the 16th November 2009, at the Parliament House, Canberra. CLICK ON IMAGE TO WATCH VIDEO National Apology transcript download here NSW State Apology transcript download NSW Apology to Forgotten Australians On 19 September 2009 NSW Premier Nathan Rees apologised to all those who suffered, he said: "I say on behalf of the government, I am sorry for any hurt and distress you suffered in the care of the state. This should never have happened."...more...        ABC News coverage...video link here... ABC London reporter Rachael Brown speaks to former British child migrants about their experiences coming to Australia LINK TO ONLINE BROADCAST

FORGOTTEN AUSTRALIANS SUPPORT

CREATE connects and empowers children and young people in care and improves the care system through activities, programs, training and policy advice. Aftercare Resource Centre (ARC) provides specialist services to support people who, as children, were in out-of-home care. ARC have offices in Parramatta, NSW FREECALL 1800 656 884 and in South Brisbane Qld. Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN) is a support and advocacy group for people brought up in care away from their family as state wards or Home children raised in Children's Homes, orphanages or other institutions, or in foster care. CLAN is also for anyone who has a close family member who was placed in "care". Link Up - Aboriginal families and communities in New South Wales affected by separation.

FORGOTTEN AUSTRALIANS RECORDS

More children were in 'care' in NSW than any other State or Teritory in Australia, below are links to assist in obtaining information about records. Connecting Kin - Connecting kin is a project which aims to help people who have been seperated from their birth families (through adoption, fostering etc) to locate records about their separation and their families. In the GUIDE to RECORDS all known holdings of records in NSW relevant to separation are listed on both government and non-government agencies in NSW from 1900 to the present. A Piece of the Story - a national list of records held by Catholic Organisations in Australia and how to access these records.  More than 40 Catholic organisations have operated in excess of 130 residential care centres for Australian children over the past 160 years. NSW State Records Index to Education and Child Welfare Schools (including Mittagong Farm Home for Boys, Randwick Asylum & Aboriginal Schools)

Parramatta Female Factory Precinct (Parragirls) Assoc. propose that the Precinct be utilized as a cultural & heritage tourism site managed by an independent statutory authority. In acknowledging its history and heritage we suggest that the Precinct would be ideally suited for the purposes of: ♦National Women's Heritage Centre ♦Forgotten Australians Memorial Centre ♦Burra-matta-gal Cultural & Learning Centre♦ Our Aims & activities include: Promote the memorialisation of the Precinct. The collection and documentation of objects, artefacts, histories and other material pertaining to the Precinct's history and heritage. Conduct projects and activities aimed at fostering awareness of the precinct's significance. Develop learning resources which illuminate the Precinct's history and heritage. Provide a contact register for former inmates of Parramatta Girls Home. Act as a support network and advocacy group on behalf of NSW Forgotten Australians.