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Sydney Dark Colonial Past at the Parramatta Female Factory
Parramatta Female Factory was Australia’s first purpose built institution for the confinement of convict women and their children from 1821 to 1847. Situated on four acres of land, alongside the Parramatta River, it was commissioned by Governor Macquarie, with the first female convicts transferred from the nearby factory, which was located above the old Parramatta Goal, in 1821. It served as an assignment depot and shelter, a place of industry and punishment, a hospital and also traded as a medical facility for pregnant women. There was also a nursery for orphaned children. Many convict women were held here for an unspecified period of time, whilst waiting to be assigned work,…