The Ross Female Factory, a former Australian

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...

for female

convicts A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

in the

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...

, is located in the village of Ross, in the midlands region of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. Operational between 1848 and 1854, the factory is now one of the 11 sites that collectively comprise the

Australian Convict Sites Australian Convict Sites is a World Heritage property consisting of 11 remnant penal sites originally built within the British Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries on fertile Australian coastal strips at Sydney, Tasmania, Norfolk Island, ...

, listed on the

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. Collectively the Australian Convict Sites represent an exceptional example of the forced migration of convicts and an extraordinary example of global developments associated with punishment and reform. Representing the female experience, the Ross Female Factory demonstrates how penal transportation was used to expand Britain's spheres of influence, as well as to punish and reform female convicts. The overseer's cottage is open to public who can get a glimpse of the history of the convict site, which has been kept on display. The archaeological excavations of the site have revealed that the factory was divided into three sections - the Crime Class, the demoted Solitary Cells, and the promoted Hiring Class. These were considered the three stages of reform during the incarceration of the female convicts.

History

The Ross Female Factory opened in March 1848 and closed in November 1854. Transportation to Van Diemen's Land had ceased in 1853. The site served as a

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. ...

as well as a hiring depot, an overnight station for female convicts travelling between settlements, a

lying-in hospital A maternity hospital specializes in caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth. It also provides care for newborn infants, and may act as a centre for clinical training in midwifery and obstetrics. Formerly known as lying-in hospitals, most ...

and a nursery. Female convicts were hired for many different reasons from the factory as probation passholders to local settlers, mainly to work as domestic servants. They could be sent back to the factory for punishment if they were charged with an offence by their master or mistress. The first Superintendent to be appointed was Dr William J Irvine; he also acted as the Medical Officer at the Factory. His wife Ann was appointed as Matron. The Police Department took over use of the buildings after the female factory closed in 1854. The chapel was used by the Roman Catholic Church. Several archaeological digs have been conducted at Ross Female Factory, under the supervision of Eleanor Casella since 1995. Hundreds of female convicts passed through the Ross Female Factory during its six and half years of operation. Some of their stories appear in ''Convict Lives at the Ross Female Factory''.

References

External links

Female Convicts Research Centre Inc.

List of Female Convicts in Ross Female Factory

Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania

Ross Female Factory Archaeological Project
{{Coord, -42.032, 147.492, display=title Prison museums in Australia Protected areas of Tasmania Australian Convict Sites Defunct women's prisons in Australia Defunct prisons in Tasmania 1820 establishments in Australia 1856 disestablishments Tasmanian Heritage Register