Note: Contact exhibition curator, Gay Hendriksen if you have information or stories relating to the convict female factories: ghendriksen@parracity.nsw.gov.au
An estimated one in five Australians has an ancestor who spent time in a convict female factory, but very little material survives from these women. Their contribution has been largely ignored, yet they are the ‘mothers of the nation’ – women with grit who survived the dire conditions of late 18th and early 19th century colonial Australia.
Women Transported: Life in Australia's Convict Female Factories, a confronting and inspiring exhibition from the Parramatta Heritage Centre, reveals the harsh lives of women who were incarcerated. The oldest and most famous of Australia’s 12 female factories was in Parramatta, New South Wales and opened in 1804.
The heroic personal accounts of women torn from the lives they knew, separated from their children, and often assigned to inhumane colonial masters and mistresses are celebrated through original works of art, films and interactives.
Paintings by colonial artists Augustus Earle, Joseph Lycett and John Skinner Prout feature in the exhibition.
Women Transported is a tribute to the memories and experiences of women who made a significant contribution to the nation.
This exhibition is supported by Visions of Australia, an Australian Government program supporting touring exhibitions by providing funding assistance for the development and touring of Australian cultural material across Australia.
