The Parramatta Female Factory Precinct is situated between Fleet St and the Parramatta river about 3klms north of the Parramatta CBD go to GOOGLE MAP for directions  Located within the Precinct is Australia's earliest convict establishment for women, the Parramatta Female Factory together with Australia's first purpose built Orphanage for Catholic children the Roman Catholic Orphan School which later became the Parramatta Girls Training School. The Precinct offers a unique insight into our colonial past and into the institutional environment of the Forgotten Australians.

NEWS LINKS

Taking Freedom from the Past - video interview about women's experiences in the Cascades and Parramatta Female Factories and Parramatta Girls Industrial & Training School. Visit Collections Australia Network (CAN) Australian National Museum Forgotten Australians blog site: featuring stories, artwork and insights by Forgotten Australians Who are the Forgotten Australians? Why is the Precinct significant to them? MORE HERE

TAKE ACTION

Please sign our PETITION for the preservation, protection and utilisation of the Precinct

Download Petition Here

TO THE HONOURABLE THE SPEAKER AND MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF NEW SOUTH WALES IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED. I bring to your attention the historic Parramatta Female Factory Precinct, Australia’s first convict establishment for women and children. I note that many of the original buildings of this site still stand today and that it is not listed as a site of national significance. I therefore call upon you to protect, preserve and adequately utilise the Precinct.

ABOUT THE PRECINCT

1822 map of parramatta redrawn by J McCormack

The Precinct is located in Parramatta NSW on the northern banks of the Parramatta River where once women of Burramattagal clan of the Dharug nation carried out their sacred traditions and ceremonies. Settled in 1788 by 1792 the land was first farmed by emancipated convict Charles Smith, later in 1806 Governor Bligh acquired 105 acres south of Smith's grant. In 1818 four acres of Bligh's grant was designated as the site for a new Female Factory and in 1841Australia's first government orphanage for catholic children was built on land adjacent to the Female Factory.

CONVICT ANCESTORS?

Want to find your connections? We can help you. For a small fee HISTORY SERVICES will undertake a search and include additional information such as references & convicts history.

Do you have a convict in your family? Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and celebrity cook Maggie Beer do. No longer something shameful, it´s a matter of pride to discover your convict ancestry. MORE ON Life Matters - scroll down to Talkback: a convict in the family  More than 160,000 people were transported to the Australian colonies and today approximately 1 in 7 Australians can locate a convict ancestor.

VISIT THE PRECINCT

Access to the Precinct is limited however the former Orphanage & Parramatta Girls Home can be seen from Fleet St and the Female Factory buildings are located in the adjacent Cumberland hospital site. For further information please download our self guided tour from the link below.

Download Precinct Map here

FEMALE FACTORY

Governor Macquarie's Female Factory at Parramatta was first occupied in 1821. Designed by Francis Greenway the Factory was based on the English Workhouse and was similar in scale and layout to HYDE PARK BARRACKS. At the centre of the Factory complex stood an imposing 3 storey main building containing dormitories and mess rooms. Surrounding this were ancillary buildings (staff quarters, washrooms, work rooms, kitchens, etc) all enclosed within a high perimeter wall. The Factory was the destination of all unassigned convict women sent to the NSW penal colony and replaced an earlier site known as the Factory Above the Gaol (now the location of Prince Alfred Park, Parramatta). The Factory contained Australia's first women's penitentiary and lying-in hospital. It was also where the Sisters of Charity began their missionary work in Australia. FIND OUT MORE

LUNATIC ASYLUM

In 1847 the Female Factory was re-assigned as a convict Invalid and Lunatic Asylum. Administered by the TARBAN CREEK asylum (Gladesville) Parramatta Lunatic Asylum (now Cumberland Hospital) is the longest operating psychiatric hospital in Australia. Today many of the original FEMALE FACTORY buildings can still be seen in the hospital grounds. FIND OUT MORE

ROMAN CATHOLIC ORPHANAGE

In 1841 Australia's first government orphanage for Roman Catholic Children (RCOS) was built beside the Female Factory. The Orphanage was run by secular staff until 1859 when the Sisters of the Good Shepherd (Good Samaritans) took over management. An estimated 20,000 children passed through this institution and today they can be considered the first generations of FORGOTTEN AUSTRALIANS. FIND OUT MORE

GIRLS INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL

In 1887 the Roman Catholic Orphanage was re-assigned as an Industrial and Training School for Girls GTS (Parramatta Girls Home).Industrial and Training Schools were not schools in the familiar sense, they were institutions for the confinement and correction of children found to be 'abandoned', or 'neglected' or 'destitute' and were based on similar institutions in the UK. Australia's first Industrial School was established in former military barracks at Newcastle then relocated to Cockatoo Island (Biloela) and finally to Parramatta. MORE HERE