I ltb I DRAINAGE DIVERSION, I FLEET STREET, I TIA, N.S.W...

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ltb Elf

DRAINAGE DIVERSION, FLEET STREET,

TIA, N.S.W.

REPORT ON ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF,

1990 ..

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Edward Higginbotham M.A. Cambridge

CONSULTANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES

www.higginbotbam.com.au

Dr. Edward Higginbotham. Edward Higginbotham & Associates Pty Ltd.

Phone: +612 9716 5154. Fax: +612 9716 8547.

DRAINAGE DIVERSION, FLEET STREET,

NORTH PARRAMATTA, N.S .. W.

REPORT ON ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF,.

1990.

E Higginbotham Consultant Archaeological SeIVices.

87 Renwick Str~et, LEICIffiARDT, NSW 2040 ..

(02) 560-5062.

Postal address: PO Box 97

HABERFIELD, NSW 2045. (02) 791'-8209'.

For The Department of Public Works, N.S:W ...

March 1991.

www.higginbotham.com.au

Or. Edward Higginbotham. Edward Higginbotham & Associates Pty Ltd.

Phone: +612 9716 5154. Fax: +612 9716 8547.

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Drainage Diversion, Fleet Street, Parramatta, N.S.W. Archaeological Watching Brief.

CONTENTS.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

1. INTRODUCTION. 1

1.1. Work Programme. 1

1.2. Arrangement of report. 3

2. ASSESSMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL. 4

2.1. Progress Report, 5 September 1990. 4

3. RESULTS OF THE WATCHING BRIEF. 8

3.1. Limitations of the watching brief. 8

3'.2'. Description of sections and profiles. 8

3.3'. Conclusions.. 23

APPENDIX L HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ARTISANS'

COMPOUND, FLEET STREET" NORTH.PARRAMATTA. 25

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Drainage Diversion, Fleet Street, Parramatta, N.S.W. ArchaeologicafWatching Brief.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

The author would like to credit the following for their role in the archaeological

excavation:

Project management: Keith Hornshaw, Westmead, Department of Public Works,

N.S.W ..

Historical research: Hilary Weatherbum.

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1. INTRODUCTION.

This project was commissioned by the Department of Public Works, N.S.W. on 31

July and 8 August 1990.

Its purpose was to undertake a watching brief or archaeological monitoring programme

upon the drainage diversion serving the Hawkesbury Villas under construction in Fleet

Street, North Parramatta,(Figure' 1.1). The proposed drainage diversion was located in

the grounds of the Cumberland Psychiatric Hospital, between Fleet Street and the

Parramatta River.

The' route. of the drainage' diversion was likely to disturb a number of archaeological

sites, as identified in the Archaeological Management Pian for Parramatta.1 These

included· a water mill (Inventory: Parramatta Park 28), and the. Female Factory

(Inventory:' North Parramatta 14).

1. 1. Work Programme ..

Because' the contract. for' the drainage' diversion. had already been let, the following.

course' of action was agreed upon:

1. Application for an excavation permit, under the' Heritage Act, 197T as

amended.z

2., Commencement of the drainage· diversion outside the Artisan's

Compound, both at Fleet Street and the Parramatta River, but the

avoidance: of any disturbance within the Compound until an historical

and archaeological assessment could. be, completed ..

3. Watching brief of the drainage works as they proceeded.,

4. Completion of an historical and archaeological assessment of the Artisan's

Compound' at the Parramatta Psychiatric Hospital, with the

1 E.Higginbotham, & P-AJ ohnson, The future of Parramatta's Past. An archaeological Zoning Plan; 1788 to 1844, Volumes 1 and2, (Draft report 1987. Final report· 1989), University of New South Wales, and the, Department of Planning, forthcoming. 2 HC 31369.

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Cl<.

Line of Drainage Diversion. ~11 --"

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possibility of making recommendations for archaeological excavation,

or a watching brief within the Compound, as appropriate.

5. Compliance with the recommendations of the historical and

archaeological assessment, whether excavation or a watching brief.

6. Completion of the drainage diversion within the Artisan's

Compound.

1.2. Arrangement of report.

In view of the programme of work outlined above, this report will be arranged in the

following order:

Chapter 2. Assessment of archaeological potential. Progress report, resulting from

historical research and watching brief outside the Artisan's Compound. This progress

report included recommendations for a watching brief within the Compound. The

historical report, on which this study relied, is presented in Appendix 1.

Chapter 3. Results of the watching brief.

Chapter 4. Conclusions.

Appendix I.Historical report, by; Hilary Weatherbum.

Figure 1.1, on page 2. Location plan of Drainage Diversion, Fleet Street, North

Panamatta.

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2. ASSESSMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL.

The following progress report was presented once the historical research had been

completed. It made possible the assessment of the archaeological potential of the

Artisan's Compound. On this basis a recommendation was made for the continuation of

the watching brief, there being no requirement for prior archaeological excavation.

2.1. Progress Report, 5 September 1990.

Further to our discussions, I am now able to confirm the results of the

historical research and to make recommendations for the archaeological

investigation of the stormwater drain to be laid through the artisan's

compound.

Historical research.

The historian has traced the historical development of the artisan's

compound. She has identified several stages in the historical sequence,

including:

1. The water mill and mill race, 1790s - 1810s.

The location of the water mill has been confirmed, according to the

location plan given in the Archaeological Zoning Plan for Parramatta.

The mill race is most likely to be near to the eastern wall of the artisan's

compound, running in a north - south alignment.

2. The Female Factory, 1819 - 1848.

The original Female Factory was not constructed on the line of the

proposed stormwater draip. A 'Moat or Wet Ditch' was added to the

Factory in the 1820s, probably partially realigning and making use of

the former mill race. It was diverted around the southern wall of the

Factory.

In September 1839 a cell block was constructed within the present

artisan's compound. The arrangement of this building and the inhumane

nature of its confinement were the subject of several enquiries.

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3. Lunatic Asylum, 1848 onwards.

The cell block was originally connected to the compound wall by a

raised walkway, but by the 1860s this area had been enclosed an an

ablutions room. The cell block was demolished by c1884.

No other structures of cultural significance have been identified by

historical research to date.

Archaeological assessment.

Site survey and historical documentation have indicated that the mill

race, the wet ditch or moat, and the footings of the cell block are likely

to survive below ground. The survival of a sandstone box drain under

the compound and its termination a short distance either side of the

compound has been established by the Department of Public Works

prior to the watching brief. This drain is likely to have been constructed

prior to the cell block, in order to enclose the earlier wet ditch or moat.

The watching brief and advice from the Department of Public Works

have indicated that the wet ditch or moat, as well as the drain are clear of

the line of the proposed storm water drain within the compound.

However the stormwater drain will cross the line of the mill race and the

moat or wet ditch in the vicinity of the eastern wall of the compound.

This disturbance will cut a section across these features, but otherwise

cause minimal destruction of the features as a whole. It will be

appropriate to record information on the construction and dimensions of

these features, as well as recover any artifacts.

The cell block itself will ,not be disturbed, providing the proposed

stormwater drain is contained within a corridor, 30 feet or 9.1 metres

wide, immediately to the south of the north curtain wall of the artisan's

compound. This corridor between the cell block and the boundary wall

was filled in by the 1860s for use as an ablution block. The availability

of the original plans and elevations for the raised walkway and of later

plans showing the ablution block result in the diminishment of the

archaeological potential of the physical remains of these structures.

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Conservation policy.

The following conditions are relevant to the determination of the

conservation policy under which the recommendations can be made:

1. The fact that the contract was already let before the commencement of

the archaeological investigation means that any delay caused to the

project will result in substantial additional costs to the client. There

should therefore be minimum delay to the project.

2. There is no alternative to the proposed stormwater drain, there being

no adequate existing drainage for the development in the former quarry

on the opposite side of Fleet Street.

3. Heritage items of equal, if not greater significance, would be

disturbed by the choice of any other route. Nonetheless, any disturbance

will detract from the archaeological potential, and the educational or

public significance of those remains. For this reason disturbance to

heritage items should be kept to a minimum.

3. On balance the extent of disturbance caused by the stormwater drain

should allow for the survival of the majority of each archaeological

structure, and therefore should not seriously diminish their

archaeological potential. In view of this, it is sufficient to record those

deposits and structures disturbed by the drain, without prior

archaeological excavation. CA full assessment of cultural significance

will be included in the final report).

Recommendations.

On the basis of the historical research, the archaeological assessment

and conservation policy, the following recommendations may be made.

It is recommended that:

1. The line of the drain in the compound be excavated so as to cause a

minimum of disturbance to the known archaeological deposits.

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2. Each section of trench so excavated should be subject to a watching

brief, similar to that conducted to date. l

3. Sufficient time should be allowed for the recording and investigation

of archaeological evidence exposed during the watching brief.

1 E Higginbotham to Keith Homshaw, Westmead Office, Department of Public Works, N.S.W., 5 September 1990.

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3. RESULTS OF THE WATCHING BRIEF.

Draw the location of the sandstone box drain on the plans.

Because the contract for the drainage diversion had already been let, the watching brief

on the part of the drain outside the Artisan's Compound was allowed to proceed in

advance of historical research and archaeological assessment. The most important

archaeological features were believed to be within the Compound. This second part of

the watching brief, namely within the Compound, was able to proceed once the results

of the assessment were known. A progress report outlining the historical and

archaeological assessment is contained in Chapter 2.

3. 1. Limitations of the watching brief.

Because of the depth of the drainage trenches and the speed of the work, it was not

possible to clean up archaeological features sufficient to take meaningful photographs.

Instead, the funding available for the project was concentrated on the preparation of

sketch sections and the description of profiles, so that the interpretation of the

stratigraphy could be maximised. In addition, in some instances where the trench was

both narrow and of substantial depth, no attempt was made to enter the trench because

of the danger of collapse.

3.2. Description of sections and profiles.

The location of the drainage trenches are indicated in Figures 3.1 to 3.3. The locations

of profiles and sections are indicated on these plans.

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1

2

3

4

5

o

Probable line of

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6

Mill race?

20 metres

Figure 3.1. Plan of the drainage diversion, between Fleet Street and the Curtain Wall of

the Artisan's Compound, showing Locations I to 7. The probable alignement of the

Wet Ditch and possible Mill Race are indicated, as found during the watching brief.

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Joins Figure 3.3

o 20 metres

Sandstone Box Drain

Drainage Diversion realigned to avoid box drain

Joins Figure 3.1

< •• "" ........ ~

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~~++I---15

~f-:i-~-14

~~~--!-+I.-1 3

~""'""-~- 1 2

1~~~~10

~~=-*-9

~=:::S::====f-:;;::'/ 1!~~~- 8

Figure 3.2. Plan of the drainage diversion, within the Artisan's Compound, showing

Locations 8 to 1 7 ..

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o 20 metres

Sandstone Box Drain

Drainage Diversion realigned to avoid box drain

Joins Figure 3.2.

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Figure 3.3. Plan of the drainage diversion, within the Artisan's Compound, showing

Locations 18 to 19.

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Location 1.

Profile.

Surface to 1 metre depth

Below 1 metre in depth.

Interpretati on'.

Disturbed fill layers. Sewer trench and

other service trenches. A mixture 0 f

sandstone rubble; and redeposited A and

B soil horizons.

Sandstone bedrock.

The profile, represents the truncation of the soil profile and the lowering of the original

level of the bedrock.

Location' 2.

Profile'.

Surface to 0.7 metres,in depth

O.Tto 0.9 metres in depth

Interpretati ofi'~

Topsoil. Humic Al horizon, disturbed.

Clay., RHorizon.

The: truncation of the B Horizon, and the, absence:of the A2.Horizon indicate, that this.

area,has also been levelled. The' ~edeposited topsoil layer indicates later accumulation of

deposits.,

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Location 3.

Profile.

Surface to 0.42 metres.

0.42 to 1.1 metres ..

Below 1.1 metres.

Beside this profile an agricultural drain

was exposed. It was cut into -the A2.

Horizon, but sealed.-by the topsoil.

Interpretation.,

Topsoil. Al Horizon.

A2 Horizon. Clayey sand.

Bedrock. Poor quality weathered

sandstone, with some grey clay with red

and yellow mottles.

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Sandstock brick

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This_ profile. represents a-largely undisturbed soil profile-, except in the Al Horizon. The

accumulation of humic topsoil indicates the slight raising of the level, while the intact

nature of the lower profile, indicates a westerly limit to the' levelling. down apparent from

locations 1 and: 2:.

The fact: that the agricultural drain is sealed below the- topsoil indicates the-recent origin

ordisturbance'ofthe topsoil.

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Location 4.

Profile.


0.5 to 1 metre.

1 to 1.4 metres.

1.4 to 2 metres

Below 2 metres.

Interpretation.

Fill layers of organic topsoil and blue

metal.

Al Horizon. Topsoil.

B Horizon. Clay.

B Horizon. Mottled red and yellow clay.

Bedrock. Weathered sandstone.

Up to 0.5 metres of overburden has recently accumulated over this substantially natural

soil profile. The topsoil may again be disturbed by cultivation.

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Location 5.

Profile and sketch section.

Surface to 1 metre-.

1 to 2.3 metres.

2.3 to 3-metres.

Below 3 metres.

Humic topsoil, disturbed.

Fill layer, redeposited A Horizon and

gravel mixed.

Ditch. See sketch above right. 1.9 metres

wide. Fill layers of sand and silty humic

soil.

B Horizon. Clay.

Adjacent to this profile, a·vertical sided trench- cuts through the· stratigraphy recorded

above. This trench belongs to the sewer described in Location 6 below.

Interpretation.

Between Location 4 and: 5, there" has, been' the: introduction of a. thick fill layer of

redeposited. A- Horizon' topsoil mixed with gravel. This layer: separates the organic.

topsoil ofrecent origin from the. truncated.B" Horizon clay.

The sequence of eventsis-as·follows:

1. Excavation. of ditch, and gradual silting thereof:

2; Truncation'ofnatural soil profile. and ditch.

3. Deposition of thick layer-of redeposited A Horizon, mixed, with gravel.

4 .. Deposition of humic topsoil.

The. sewer trench cuts through all but the recent topsoil.

For further notes on-this location, see Location 6.

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Location 6.

Sketch plan and sketch sections.

Sketch plan of features at Locations 5

and 6. See figure 3.1 for location of

this sketch plan.

The centre line of the c1880s sewer is

9.6 metres from the centre line of the

modem sewer, measured along the line

of the new drain. 1

The c 1880s sewer has a concrete base

as illustrated, with an arch of

brickwork. The bricks are sandstocks,

probably machine pressed (as indicated

by their density). They have heavy

concentrations of cinder and white

speckles in a red clay matrix. They have

diamond frogs.

The sandstone box drain, illustrated in

the sketch plan, top right, was situated

immediately below the fill layer of

redeposited A Horizon mixed with clay,

as recorded at Location 5. A sketch

section of the drain is illustrated below

right.

1 Keith Homshaw, Project Architect, Public Works Department, has indicated that the sewer may be as early as 1865. A plan of the sewer alignement is on display in the Museum at the Cumberland Hospital, but a copy was not available for inclusion in the historical report.

New drain

Small sandstone box drain

Concrete

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Location 6, continued.

Sketch section of the c 1880s sewer.

The sewer trench cuts the ditch,

described at Location 5. Both features

are cut into the natural soil profile of A2

and B Horizons.

The sandstone rubble in the sewer

trench may have derived from the

destruction of the sandstone box drain,

described above.

Interpretation.

E

Rubble from box drain ?

Early ditch

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c 1880s sewer

The interpretation of the features at' Location 6 is more complex than at previous

locations. It follows the interpretation for Location 5, with some additional information.

The sequence of events is as follows:

1. Excavation of ditch, and gradual silting The sandstone box drain is in the same

thereof. stratigraphic position, but not necessarily

contemporary .

2. Truncation of natural soil profile and The truncation of the soil profile is

ditch. probably due to the excavation of the

trench for the 1880s sewer.

3. Deposition of thick layer of redeposited Probably to be equated with the backfill

A Horizon, mixed with gravel.

4. Deposition of humic topsoil.

of the c 1880s sewer trench. This

interpretation would explain why this

layer was only found at Locations 5 and

6.

The humic topsoil is later than the sewer,

a fact confirmed by the presence concrete

rubble and blue metal within it.

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Drainage Diversion, Fleet Street, Parmmatta, N.S.W. Archaeological Watching Brief.

Location 7.

Sketch Section.

Curtain Wall around Artisan's Compound

/' Trench for security cable

W

8. 1 rnQ1~rQ~

Interpretation

en <1> ~ <1> E

en <1> ~ <1> E

The above sketch section indicates the cut for the cl880s sewer on the right, and on the

left, the curtain wall of the Artisan's Compound. Between the two the natural soil

horizons are cut first by a ditch, 3.4 metres wide, then by a storrnwater or sewer

trench, and finally by a trench for security cables. The broad ditch is clearly earlier than

the cl880s sewer, and could easily be the Wet Ditch, described in historical

documentation. The wet ditch was the diversion of the earlier mill race.

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Location 8.

Profile.

Surface to 0.10 metres

0.10 to 0.50 metres

0.50 to 1.8 metres

1.8 to 2A metres

Below 2.4· metres.

Interpretation~

Concrete slab.

Humic topsoil layers.

Sandstone rubble fill of foundation

trench.

Fill. Silty sandy clay. Grey with organic

staining.

Grey clay with yellow mottling. B

Horizon:

,

The' foundation. trench is for the' Curtain Wall of the Artisan's· Compound.

Locatiorr· 9.

Profile.

Surface to 1 metre:

1 to. 1. 6 metres:.

1'.6 to' 1.9 metres

1.9 to·2~3 metres.

Below 2.3 metres

Interpretati Oll'.

Topsoil' and. mixed. fill layers, demolition

material, with cinder.

Fill of waterlogged. pit. Clayey silt

derived. from A2 and B Horizons.

A2: Horizon, stained grey with organic

matter ..

A2. Horizon.

B Horizon. Grey clay with yellow

mottles.

The cut in- the profile was interpreted as a pit and not a. ditch, because the cut did not

appear in the north side of the drainage trench ..

Note~.

Between the two sides of the- Compound, the drainage trench was excavated as close as·

possible· to the north side of the Compound, in order to avoid. the sandstone box drain.

This was done in accordance with the recommendations of the progress report, in order

to maintain the stability of the box drain (Figures 3.2 and 3.3).

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Location 10.

Note.

The waterlogged horizon observed at Location 9 was also visible between 6 and 9.2

metres from the Curtain Wall. Waterlogging, in the form of grey organic staining,

commenced at a, depth of 2 metres and continued below the base of the drainage trench

at 3 metres. The waterlogging was not visible on the north side of the trench.

Location 11.

Profile.


0.05 to 0.1 metres.

0.1 to 0.3 metres

0.3'to 1 metre~

1 to 1.5 metres

Below 1.5 metres.,

Interpretation.

Bitumen.

Tarred metalling. ,

Sandstone. rubble or metalling.

Fill and sandstone demolition rubble.

Charcoal filled pit.

A2Horizon.

The: metalling: to 0.3 metres in depth represents various road: surfaces- around the'

Compound,. after the demolition of the' Cell Block in: the' 1880s. The fill layer to 1 metre,

represents the demolition of that building.

Location, 12'.

Profile.

o to 0.01' metres.

0.01' to 0.14 metres.

0.14,to 0.28 metres.

0.28 to 0040 metres ..

0040 to 1. T metres.

Interpretation.

Bitumen

Tarred metaIling.

Sandstone' rubble or blocks.

Fill layer and demolition rubble,

sandstone.

Fill of sewer trench" with pipe from sump

at Location 14.

Interpretation is the'same as at Location 11, excepting below 0040 metres. The sewer

trench and piping is related to the ablutions block, an alteration to the Cell Block,

carried out by the 1860s.

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Location 13.

Profile.


0.05 to 0.1 metres

0.1 to 0.3 metres

0.3 to 0.35 metres

0.35 to 0.9 metres

0.9 to 1.6 metres

Interpretation:.

Bitumen.

Tarred metalling

Sandstone'rubble or blocks.

Demolition layer, sandstone.

Fill of vertical sided pit, humic sandy

soil.

Fill of pit, red sandy soil. Humic lens of

soil at the base of the pit indicated

vegetation growth.

Interpretation the same asSor Location 11, except below 0.35 metres. Pit, filled with

sand and soiL

Location, 14:.,

Profile'.,

Surface:to 0.05'metres,

0.05" to. 0.12.metreS',

0.12, to,03 metres

0.30 to 0.9· metres

0.90 to 15metres

Interpretation.

Bitumen

Tarred metalling.

Sandstone rubble or blocks.

Fill of sewer trench, mixed soils.

Brick sump, with concrete lid. Sandstock

brick and cement mortar, associated with

ceramic: glazed pipes, as at Location 12' ..

The sump is strati graphically earlier than

the sewer trench.

Interpretation'is the same'as Location 11, except below 0.3 metres. Sewer trench is

below metalling, but also above brick sump. The sump is interpreted,as part ofthe

services fro the, ablution block, belonging to the· former Cell Block.

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Dminage Diversion, Fleet Street, Parramatta, N.S.W. Archaeological Watching Brief.

Location 15.

Profile.


0.1 to 0.15 metres.

0.15 to O.4·metres.

Below 0.4 metres

Interpretation"

Bitumen.

Tarred metalling.

Sandstone rubble or blocks.

Soil fill of sewer trench.

InterpretatIon the same as for Location 11, except below 0.4 metres. Sewer trench

sealed by the metalling, but probably cutting through the demolition rubble, last noted

at Location 13.

Location 16.,

Note'.,

Service pipe' of asbestos. Trench' filled with cinder and ash.

Location' IT~>

Profile""

Surface to O. ~2:'metres.

0.12, to 0.35 metres. '

0.35 to 0.5 metres.

0.5 to O. 80 metres

0.8 to 1'.5 metres.,

Below 1.5 metres.

Interpretation.

Bitumen.

Sandstone, blocks.

Humic soiL

Mixed A2, and B horizon.

Fm of service, trench.

B.Horizon.

Interpretation the,same as for Location 11, except below 0.35 metres. Service trench.

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Location 18.

Profile ..

Surface to I metre.

below I metre.

Interpretation.

natural soil profile below I metre.

Location 19.

Profile and, notes ..

Surface to I metre.

Below 1 metre.

Interpretation~

Natural soil profile with little disturbance.

Note' ..

Topsoil. Disturbed Al Horizon.

B Horizon.

Al and.A2 Horizons.

B Horizon.

To the:west of this point the: natural soil profile shelved steeply away to the Parramatta

River:. Layers of gravel and humic soil were observed forming tip lines over this slope,.

representing' the. dumping of material of the. processes· of erosion and depositio~ of

materials caused by th~ flow of the river. These layers could not be interpreted as a

ditch entering the:river, because, they were mirrored on both sides of the trench.

3..3. Conclusions_

The recording ofthe' trench for the' drainage diversion has enabled. several important

fmdings to be made:.

1.. the' ditch observed at Location 5 was interpreted. as the base of the mill race, 1790s to

1810s.

2: the ditch adjacent to the Curtain Wall of the' Artisan's Compound at Location 7 was

interpreted as the Wet Ditch', 1820s, or diversion of the earlier mill race around the

Female Factory.

3 .. the. demolition layer, exposed beneath the metalling and sandstone blocks in the

Compound, and the absence of any wall footings in the vi~inity, indicate that the Cell

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Dminage Diversion, Fleet Street, Parmmatta, N.S.W. Archaeological Watching Brief.

Block, built in 1839, was thoroughly demolished in the 1880s, possibly also removing

all sandstone footings for reuse.

Incidental to the, work of installing the new dminage diversion, the N.S.W. Public

Works Department were able to accumtely plot the location of the sandstone box dmin

through the Compound. This dmin was most likely built within the Wet Ditch in the

1830s, when the latter had to be: infilled to make' way for the construction of the Cell

Block by 1839.

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APPENDIX 1. . HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ARTISANS'

COMPOUND, FLEET STREET, NORTH PARRAMATTA.

Report prepared by Hilary Weatherbum.

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Hilary Weatherburn B.A. (Hons) (Sydney)

14/29 Crows Nest Road Waverton, N.S.W. 2060.

Sub-consultant to Consultant Archaeological· Services

For the Department of Public Works.

August 1990

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CONTENTS

1.0. Introduction

2.0. The Site

3.0. 1788 - 1818 - The GovemmentWatermill and the Site prior to the Construction

of the Female'Factory

4.0. 1819 - 1848 - The Female Factory

5.0 1848 - 1900 _. The·ParmmattaLunatic Asylumknown as the Hospital for the'

Insane, Parmmatta from 1878

6.0.. Sites of Comparable Interest

T. o. Statement of Historical Significance

8.0:. Bibliography

9.0 Appendix'

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1.0. INTRODUCTION

On 15th August 1990 Hilary Weatherbum was engaged by Consultant Archaeological

Services to provide a brief history of the site whic.h would include details of the

sequence of development of the site between the years 1788 and 1900 with descriptions

of buildings thereon and their usage. A brief description of the development and usage

of the fonner Female· Factory and later institutions to place the Artisans' Compound. in

its context, and a list of similar institutions in New South Wales and. other states and

territories, together with basic infonnation on date, surviving buildings and historic

usage_ and. importance, was also to be' included in order that an assessment of the

potential archaeological value of the site might be,made.

The. survey falls.naturally into three periods; 1788-1818, the period covering the site

prior to the construction of the. Female Factory; 1819 to 1848, the period. covering the

existence of what was known as the"new Factory' and 1848 to 1900 the first fifty-two

years of occupancy by what was to become. known as the Hospital for the' Insane,

Parramatta..

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2. O. THE SITE

The site today known as the Arti5ans' Compound, from 1838 formed the southern

portion of the. land occupied by the Female Factory at Parramatta. Between the years

1838 and 1839 a three storey building of seventy-two cells was constructed on the site.

The. area with. its cell block remained part· of the Factory until that institution's demise in

1848 when the. whole complex, including the site in question, was given over to an

institution ultimately to be called the Hospital for the Insane, Parramatta Until 1883 the

building comprising. the seventy-two cells housed women confined for treatment of

alleged psychiatric disorders. Following the removal of the women to new buildings on

the northern side of the institution in 1883, the cells were pulled down. For a majority

of the years between 1855 and.l883 the yard on the eastern side of the cells and known

as the Green Yard was used as an airing ground for male patients and. the yard on the'

western side. of the cells formed part of the women's airing yard. Following demolition

of the, cell block the area, which continued to be surrounded by high stone walls, was

utilised as a wood-yard and garden in which males designated, criminally insane

worked .. The. area in 1990 forms the southern-most portion of the Cumberland

Hospital. It is still surrounded, by high stone walls and houses the: stores and

workshops of the. tradesmen and labourers associated. with Cumberland Hospital.


3.0. 1788 - 1818, THE GOVERNMENT WATERMILL AND THE SITE

PRIOR-TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FEMALE FACTORY

Historical Outline

The writer was asked to determine whether the government watermill constructed c

1803-5 occupied the site under review and the following outline leads to the conclusion

that it probably did not.

Serious construction of the watermill at Parramatta commenced in 1803. Collection of

the requisite' materials had begun as early as 1798 and continued throughout the

following year. By late 1800 construction appears to have been progressing slowly

when the whole project was washed out, an official report inferring that mill had been

placed, too, close to the river. 1 Despite the dangers of flooding the project was

recommenced in earnest late in: 1803, seemingly "on the same spot designed by

Governor Hunter as, the only situation likely to be supplied with water". At that time,

the: Sydney Gazette reported that "the Governinent Gangs· are employed in cutting a

Race for the: Water-Mill, which, when' completed cannot fail of being highly

advantageous, to that Settlement.2 Things appear to have progressed fairly rapidly under

the supervision of Alexander Dollis, an ex-superintendent at Norfolk Island who had

been responsible' for the:successful construction of a watermill there. However, ,floods

again appear to have' washed. away part of the mill dams, effectively delaying the

commencement' of operations. 3 Paradoxically, insufficient water between August 1804

and. December 1804 caused Governor King to lament. that "the great labour which has

been bestowed in constructing an excellent water-mill and dam atParramatta will not in

any manner. recompense the' labour that has been bestowed on iL. the experience of the

last. three-years sufficiently proves that the watef'is very insufficient for that purpose,

[supplying the mill] except in periods of much rain .. .it must remain to work whenever

1 Statement of Work executed at the different Settlements during the Year 1798, Historical Records of New South Wales, [hereafter H.R.N.S.W.J Vol. Ill, Sydney, 1978, p. 524; Statement of Work executed at the different Settlements during the year' 1799, Ibid, pp. 753'-754; Return of Labour During the Year 1800, Ibid, Vol. IV, pp. 283-4; Enclosure in the Despatch of Acting-Governor King to Duk.e of Portland 28.9.1800, Historical Records of Australia, ser. i, [hereafter H.R.AJ, Vol.ll, 1797-1800, Sydney, 1914; King to Lord Hobart, 1.3.1804, H,R.N.S.W., Vol. V, pp. 321-2. ' 2 King to Hobart 20.12.1804, H.R.N.S. w., Vol. 5, pp. 517-8; Svdnev Gazette, 23.10.1803, p. 3,: Ibid, 6.11.1803, p.3. 3 Svdnev Gazette, 15.1.1804, p. 2; King to Hobart 1.3.1804, H.R.N.S.W., Vol. 5, pp. 321-2; Ki ng to Hobart, 14.8.1804, H. R. N.S. w., Vol. 5, p. 425; List of Men's Names to whom Governor King had requested ... to give a Passage to England in His Maj esty's Ship Calcutta, encl. in King to Hobart, 14.3.1804, H.R.A., Vol. IV, p. 597.


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there is a sufficiency of water." A month later heavy rain had washed out part of the

mill dam. Not until February 1805 did operations commence. 1

George' Caley v .. :.ling to Sir Joseph Banks in January 1807 pro;, ided full d' tails of

construction of the mill and race and was highly critical of the enterprise which he

believed was ill-conceived, badly designed and poorly executed. Nevertheless the basic

details, perhaps reflecting a slightly jaundiced view, do not seem to contradict the

above. His report is most useful for the detail it provides about the construction of the

dams, mill-race and mill. The latter, marked A on his plan ( Illus 3.01) meaSured nine

yards in length and was eight yards wide. Three stories high and built of stone, it had

an overshot wheel eighteen feet in diameter and eighteen inches wide. B marks a dam

about eighty yards in length and at its deepest part about six yards in height. It was built

of trees and earth and was designed to prevent water frotTI the mill-pool escaping

through a small hollow. There was no spillway to take any overflow, thus endangering

it in time of flood. EH indicates the' first ditch dug to carry water to the mill-pond.

Subsequently a deeper ditch was dug marked. FG. ill marks a second dam which was

constructed to channel water to the mill-race. D marked a'ditch dug to carry off water

threatening dam' Bbut about 1806 it.was decided to build a stone dam marked by C,

howeverit too was seriously damaged. by floods.2

Despite the. problems outlined. by Caley the mill presumably operated at times because

by 1814 it was. worked by George Howell.3 However, in July 1820 Simeon Lord

received 100 pounds, as "part Remuneration' for the Removal of Howell's Mill,

Parramatta" and later in that year there was litigation involving Lord and Howell. 4 This

does suggest that the mill had reached the end of its usefulness some time between

1814.and 1820 and it seems likely it was dismantled at that time and its.parts used by

either Howell or Lord in their other milling projects.

1 King to Hobart 20.12.1804, H.R.N.S.W., Vol. 5, pp. 517-8; Svdnev Gazette, 20.1.1805', p. 2; Svdnev Gazette, 17.2.1805, p. 2 and p. 4. 2 HA Macleod Morgan, "An Account of a Water-Mill Erected at Parramatta in New South ,«ales", an unpublished paper held in ? the Library of the Royal Australian Historical Society. A transcription Qf Caley's report to Banks forms the bulk of this paper and I am most grateful to Mrs. Olga Tatrai for inform ing me of the existence of this paper and more especially for sharing her discovery of the plan of the watermill contained in the Banks Papers, Vol. 20, p. 255 , Mitchell Lib:ary FM41 1753. 3 Survey of Parramatta by James Meehar., Surveyor's Field Book 73, Archives Office of New South Wales, 2/4746. 4 Svdnev Gazette, 29.7.1820, p. 2 and Ibid, 16.12.1820, p. 1.


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ILLUS 3.01

George Calley's sketch showing the mill-race, dams and the site of the mill c 1807 Source: Banks Papers, Vol. 20, p. 253, Mitchell Library A83 [FM4/1753]

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In order to exclude the possibility that the mill occupied some part of the land occupied

by the Female Factory it seems appropriate to focus on the land occupied by the Female

Factory from the commencement of construction in 1818.

Situated on about four acres ofland, the initial complex did not include the land which

was added. to it c 1837 and which today is known as the Artisan's Compound. The

Factory was built on the north western portion of Governor Bligh's 105 acre grant at

Parramatta,.1 (lUus 3.02) its northern outer wall cut across a corner of the Reverend

Samuel Marsden's 36 acre farm to the north of the Factory 2 and to the west it appears

to have absorbed part of the land shown on Illus 3.03 and 3.04 as 'Smith's land on

which the Factory is built'3. The western boundary of Smith's Farm appears to have

been the. Parramatta River and its eastern boundary appears to have been Bligh's grant.

In terms of establishing the site of the mill, these plans appear to be of significance.

These:plans and Illus 3.05 fix the southern tip of Smith's land just south of the mid

point between Harold and.Fennell Streets had those streets been extended to the' River.

Illus 3.06 shows the. southern boundary of what in 1990 is the Artisan's Compound as

being slightly north- of the' mid-point between Harold and Fennell Streets. As it is

known that the mill was situated on four acres within Bligh's grant4 and it that it had to

be adjacent-to the. river, it seems unlikely that the mill was on the site first occupied by

Smith and. later by any part. of the Factory and the'site now occupied by the Artisan's

Compound ..

Furthercartographic evidence tends to confirm.this view. Most plans place the Factory

(including the adjacent land which incorporated the 1838 additions today forming. the

1 List of public works undertaken during the administration of L. Macquarie, Governor Macquarie to Lord Bathurst 27.7.1822, H.R.A .. , Vo1. X, pp.689-690; Governor Gipps to Lord- Normanby 3.8.1839, Transcription of i"tissing Despatches, ML A26 7/6. See also Illus 3.02 which clearly shows the north-western boundary of B1igh's grant passing through the, north-western portion of the land on which the Factory was situated. 2 Evidence of Reverend Samuel Marsden to Commissioner Bigge 27.12.1820, Bonwick Transcripts, Box 8, p. 3429. 3 It is not clear to which Smith this notation refers. Charles Smith owned part of the property to the north of the Factory subsequently purchased by the Rev. Samuel Marsden (See Illus 3.05 and 3.11) and it is to Charles Smith commentators have referred when ascribing links with the Factory. In 1818 the Government resumed Park Gate Farm belonging to Wi11iam Smith which was situated in the Domain (James Meehan to Governor Macquarie 1.7.1818, Colonial Secretary Letters Received, Archives Office of New South Wales 4/1740 P 237f.). Time 1i mitations have precluded a title search to identify the owner of and the boundaries of the land in question and shown in Illus 3.03 and. 3-.04. 4 Survey by James Meehan 29.5.1806 of 105 Acres granted to Wi11iam B1igh, Surveyor's Field Book 31 , Archives Office of New South Wales 2/4709.

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Copy of part of the general map of Parramatta Transmitted from the Colonial Secretary to Surveyor General about beginning of 1844. Note the boundaries of Bligh's grant. Source: Archives Office of New South Wales Map 4802

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ILLUS 3.03

J.J. Galloway Part of Plan of the North Side of Parramatta from Brickfield Street to Parramatta River, 1843 Note the pencilled reference to Smith's Farm and the relationship of the farm to the Female Factory Source: Archives Office of New South Wales Map 4801

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Plan of the North Side of Parramatta from Brickfield Street to Parramatta River. Shows town allotments and names, June 1843 This plan also shows the relationship of Simth's Farm to the Female Factory Source: Archives Office of New South Wales Map 4801

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w. Meadows Brownrigg Plan of the Town of Parramatta and adjacent properties. Litho by E.D. Barlow, Sydney (1844) Note the south eastern boundary of the Roman Catholic Orphan School lies in a straight line with the land between the western end of Harold and Fennell Streets Source: Mitchell Library M3 811.130111844/1 (2)

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I W'~ Catholic Orphan School, Fleet Street, Parramatta North. Shown also

'. '-\ are site of Female Factory and Part of the Industrial School for Females. . - 15th April, 1853

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I The plan clearly shows the position of the. original boundary of the Orphan School in relation to Harold and Fennell Streets Source: Archives Office of New South Wales Map 4850

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Artisan's Compound) at a bend in the Parramatta River before the river pursues a

more or less straight course prior to turning in a westward sweep before circling south

and then eastwards (Illus 3.07, 3.08, 3.09 and 3.10). The plans which identify the

mill-pond (Illus 3.01,3.11,3.12,3.13 and 3.14) place the pond at the southern end

of the straight stretch of the river referred to above. In addition, Illus 3.13 and 3.14

show the mill-pond (to which an overshot mill would have to be immediately adjacent)

approximately in line with a point somewhere between today's Grose and Ross Streets

(See also Illus 3.02, 3.09 and 3.10). If these calculations are correct then the site of the

mill and its pond would have to have been somewhere possibly just south of the

southern boundary of the Industrial School for Girls as that boundary is approxi~ately

in line with Grose Street on its eastern side and. on its western side meets the river (Illus

3.06 and 3.10). In fact the watercourse shown on Illus 3.15 and 3.10 raises the

possibility that the mill was situated even further south than suggested above.

As previously mentioned, the mill itself was situated within Bligh's 105 acre grant. In a

survey done in May 1806 surveyor James Meehan noted that the leases within Bligh's

grant were to be reserved until they expired and that "4 Acres for the use of the Mill

[was also to be reserved in addition to] ... A Convenient Road of 50 feet wide to

Communicate with ... ". In a further survey in 1814, most reference points of which no

longer exist, Meehan identified the position of the mill which was then being run by

George Howell. 1 In 1935 JamesJervis asserted that the transverse ofa further survey

of the area. by Meehan in September 1816 enabled the mill site to be fixed and he

suggested that the site "was not far from Cumberland Oval on the western side". Earlier

in the same year J ervis had identified the position of the mill as being lOin the Domain

near the present Industrial School" and. in 1961 he proposed thatthe mill, which for

some' years. was. run by George Howell~ "stood near the' existing Industrial School, the

mill-race emptying into the river near the Noller Bridge".2 Jervis's views tend to

support the theory that the. mill was situated slightly south of the southern boundary of

the Industrial School for Girls .. Illus 3.16 compiled by J.F. Campbell further supports

the' idea that the mill was to be found in close proximity to the river in line with the land

situated between Grose and Ross Streets. However, the evidence produced in the

article accompanying the plan appears contradictory, seemingly placing the mill close to

1 Ibid,: Survey at Parramatta by Meehan 24.9.1814, Surveyor's Field Book 73, Archives Office of New South Wales 2/4740. 2 James Jervis, "The Development of Settlement in the Town of Parramatta", v'ournal and Proceedings of Parramatta and D,strict Historical Societv, Vol. IV, 1935,. p. 77; "Parramatta During the Macquarie Period ," v'ournal and Proceedings of Parramatta and District Historical Societv, Vol. IV, 1935, p. 54; The Cradle CitV of Australia: A Histor'/ of Parramatta 1788-1961, G. Mackaness (ed.), Sydney, 1961 , p. 1 02.

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ILLUS 3.07

New South Wales SUI'veyor General Plan of the Town of Parramatta, 1823

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Shows the position of the Factory in relation to the bend of river referred to, Source: Archives Office of New South Wales, Colonial Secretary

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Parramatta - Old plan no reference to numbers, date or surveyor. Shows buildings (4 sheets) Again shows the position of the Factory in relation to the river. Source: Archives Office of New South Wales Map 4724

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Enlargem t f N t en 0 III us 3 09 o e the watercourse .' .

southern boundary of ~~ergmg from the e Orphan School

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i Note the position of the mill in relation to the bends . in the river.The archival description refers to , "Survey showing Smith's land at Parramatta upon

, ... "" .. '" "'AL"" which the Female Factory Stands" However, the Smith's land shown here is that of Charles Smith and does not seem to coincide with that shown on lIIus. 3.03. ~ource: Archives Office of New South Wales Plan SZ407

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Section 41, Parramatta, 1895 The watercourse draining from the grounds of the Industrial School for Girls (formerly the Roman Catholic Orphan School) is readily apparent in this plan. Source: Lands Department, Parramatta Detail Survey 1895, Mitchell Library M Ser. 4, 811.130111

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,'" --I.R. Campbell (CompI.) Plan of the Town of Parramatta 1822, incorporated in his article "Rose Hill Government Farm and the Founding of Parramatta," Journal of tbe Royal Australian Historical Society, Vol. 12, Part 6, 1927, pp. 372-3 .

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I I I I I I I I I I I

"the new bridge connecting Harris and Macarthur Streets", the site of one of How ell's

later mills. Writing in 1903 H.W.H. Huntington appears to have been similarly

confused about the site of the first watermill on the Australian mainland 1 •

Conclusion

From the above evidence. it would seem probable that the Government watermill

established in Parramatta c 1803-4 was not situated on any part of the land upon which

structures belonging to the Female Factory were later built. It seems more likely that it

was situated somewhere south of the southern boundary of the Industrial School for

Girls, adjacent to the. river, possibly, in a line with the land lying between Grose and

Ross Streets, a conclusion also reached by D.C. Weatherb~rn after compiling a plan

based on Illus 3.0.1,3.06,3.12',3.16,3.17,3 . .18 and 3.19. 2 However, it is possible

to suggest that the mill-race passed through,what is today the Artisans' Compound on

its way southwards. Indeed, Caley's manuscript and plan (Illus 3.01) suggest that

when full the northern extremity of the mill pond may have reached the area, in which

the Artisans' Compound is situated.

Addendum'

Following completion of this report Illus 3.20 published in 1920 has been received.

When viewed alongside Illus 3.01 by Caley and Illus 3.06, 3.10 and 3.15, it would

seem that the lower end. of the mill-race and the mill-pond itself probably followed a

natural watercourse. The 1920 map follows the configuration of Caley's map and

seems to confirm the conclusions reached, above, namely that the site of the mill was

close to the Parramatta River below the level of Grose Street had it continued on to the

river. Moreover, if using Illus 3.20 a line is taken from the mill-race before it reaches

the Lunatic Asylum and is carried on to the watercourse emerging from the grounds of

J.F. Campbell, "The Rose Hill Government Farm and The Founding of Parramatta," ,journal of the RO}lal Australian Historical Societv, Vol. 12, Part 6, 1927, pp. 363-4 and p. 374.: H.W.H. Huntington, "History of the Milling Industry in Australia, No. 3", The {"tillers' ,journal, 20th June, 1903, pp. 14-15. 2 Mr. Weatherburn took the distance between the offtake of the mill-race from the Parramatta River in a straight line to the mill site as recorded on G.W. Evans' 1804 Plan (Illus 3.12) and transferred it to :llus 3.18. As a check on the above determination he scaled the rough plan of Caley, (Illus 3.01) and transferred this distance to Illus 3.18. I am most grateful for his efforts in trying to pinpoint the site of the mill.

I I I I I I I I I I' I I I I I I I I I I I

the Industrial School for Girls the impression is that the mill-race probably entered the

Artisans' Compound from a point fairly close to where the outside boundary wall on

the Fleet Street side meets the interior high wall which separates the main part of

today's Cumberland Hospital from the Artisans' Compound and that it continued in a

slightly south-westerly direction for the remainder of its course through the Compound.

- - - • - -

15

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- - - - - - - .. Lew!s (Draftsman)

_'\ I" - ,'~'. Plan showing the proposed alignment of Factory , '" Street, from Fleet Sh-eet to the ParramaUa River, '-_ 1859. '

Note the diversion of the mill-race in this plan. Source: Archives Office of New South Wales Map 4808

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FACTORY STRFjET: ~

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NORTH PARRAMATTA .--

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\' J.J. Galloway Plan of the North part of Parramatta. Shows the survey of S. Marsden's 36 acres,

(' August, 1846 i -- Note what appear to be the two mill-races,

, ! ---.. , ~ " :: I:'

-/ ~-i ...

/! and the diversion of the second mill-race across

the front of the Factory and then across the cell~ -1' block to the river. It would seem possible that the I mill-race was diverted to form the moat or wet-ditch

when the Factory was first constructed. Source: Archives Office of New South Wales, Map 4804

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ILLUS 3.19

E.L. Burrowes Survey of allotments aplied for by E.H. Stratham [?Statham] bounded by Factory, Fleet, Albert and Cardwell Streets, North Parramatta. The site of the Female Factory also shown. 26th April, 1853. Source: Archives Office of New South Wales Map 4847

--------------~------

ILLUS 3.20 SectioQ 9f a PI~Q of ~he Town 9( rarr~lIlatta (3rd edUion 31.1.1920) Note the w~terco~rse emergi~g fro III tJt~ the soutllerp boundary of the Industrt~1 School for Fem~les ~nd the rel~tiopship the watercourse bears to th~t shown iQ nl~s 3.(H,· 3.0(j, 3.10 and 3.15 .. Source: Archjyes Offjce Qf N~w South Wale~ Plan 60421

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- --------------THE fEMALE. fACTORY PARRAMATTA - - - --fROM AN AUGUSTUS EARLE WAiERCOLOUR I~ THE NAN KWELL COLLECiION.

NAHON,A\L.- '-'~RAR" CANBERRA.

I I I. I I I I I I I I .1 I I I I I I I I I

4.0. 1819 - 1848, THE FEMALE FACTORY

Historical Outline

In 1804 an upper storey was added to the stone gaol at Parramatta which for the first

time in the history of the colony afforded a place of asylum for newly arrived female

convicts who, it was envisaged, would be employed in the manufacture of linen and

woollen cloth until such time as they were assigned. In addition, Governor King

considered it to be a place of confinement. for female convicts who misbehaved in

assignment andlor broke the law and "a house of industry." 1 For the next forty-four.

years the raison d'etre of the Manufactory, or Factory, remained asylum, punishment

and, to a limited extent, employment.

Within three years this establishment and the ramshackle buildings associated with it

had proven inadequate. and .growing criticism of the situation was reflected in the report

of Commissioner Bigge who found it seriously deficient as a place of asylum,

punishment and employment. He also found it prejudicial to the welfare of the women

associated with it and to the well-being of the community as a whole.2

As early as February 1818 Governor Macquarie had responded to the' situation by

calling tenders for a new Factory to be built upon the site previously described and he

laid the foundation stone on 9th July, 1818.3 However, progress was slow and it was

not ready for occupation until 1st February, 1821.

F~llowing its completion Bigge described. the large stone complex -

The situation of this building was chosen on account of its contiguity to

the river, and the projected employment of the females in spinning flax

and bleaching linen. These 'objects were certainly desirable; yet I could

not perceive, nor' was I informed of any reason that might have

prevented a partial retirement of the building from the bank of the river;

by which both the expense of the embankmenfwall would have been

1 King to Hobart 14.8.1804, H.R.A., Vol. V, p. 12; J.S. Kerr, Design for Convicts, Sydney, 1984, pp. 22- 23. . 2 H. Weatherburn, "The Female Factory, Parramatta 1804-1848", BA Hons. Thesis, Sydney University, 1978, pp. 11-20; J.T. Bigge, Report of the Comm issioner of Inquirv into the State of The Colon)/ of New South Wales, London, 1822, pp. 69-70. 3 Svdnev Gazette, 14'.2.1818, p. 1; Diarv, Macquarie Papers, Mitchell Library A774.


avoided, and the factory itself would have less intruded upon the

privacy of the government grounds that are immediately opposite, and

not more than 30 yards distant. The situation of the factory is dry,

healthy and cheerful; and is at some distance, though not an

inconvenient one, from the town of Parramatta. The principal building

consists of a basement story, containing two rooms, in which the female

convicts are to take their meals; and two upper stories, in each of which

are two large sleeping rooms, and two smaller ones. Each of the larger

sleeping rooms will contain 20 double beds; and two of the small rooms

will contain six single beds; thus providing for the acc~mmodation of

172 females. These rooms are separated by a staircase and landing

places; and in the centre of the roof, immediately above, a cupola has

been introduced for the purposes of ornament anp ventilation. The

principal building divides the outer from the inner yard. In the former is

the principal entrance and porter's lodge; and on each side are four

rooms, with separate entrances to each, fOf'the accommodation of the

superintendent and his family, and a deputy superintendent. One of

these rooms was also designated as a library, but without apparent or

probable. application of it to such a use.

On one side of the same outer court, and fronting inwards, is the

hospital, consisting of two small apartments and a medicine and store

room; and on the opposite side is the room fqr 'Yeaving cloth, which

was to be occupied during the day by male convicts. The entrance to the

inner court leads through the centre of the basement story of the

principal building; and on each side of it are four small and very ill

contrived lodges for the constables or overseers. In the three" sides of

the inner court, and fronting inwards, are the kitchen and bakehouse,

and store-room for provisi'ons, with rooms above for storing wool, a

long spinning room and carding room, with a store-room for wool and

cloth. The privies that had been constructed. under the floor of one of

these offices, with drains leading to the river, were removed on account

of their defective and inconvenient construction, to a more distant part of

the building; and when the female convicts were established in it, in

February 1821, it was in contemplation to add wash-houses and

laundries, that had been either omitted or forgotten in the original plan,


and which never could have been supplied if the external wall had not

been added. 1

Illus 4.01, 4.02 and 4.03 clarify the above. Illus 4.03 dated c 1833 also provides

details of additions between 1822 and 1833. The red outline indicates what are believed

to be the remains of the Factory in c 1985.2

Biggewas immensely critical of the less functional aspects of the building, of what he

regarded as deficiencies in planning, in the execution of the work by the contractors,

Messrs. Watkins and Payten and, in the escalating costs. The need to build a substantial

breakwater by the river to prevent destruction of the outer wall on the river side he

regarded as inexcusable. Above all he was critical because the building had not been

constructed with a view to the punishment of women, but simply as a place of

confinement and employment. He deplored the failure to provide for the classification

of the women according to latest British penal practice and before returning to England

he intervened to achieve a rudimentary segregation between two classes of prisoners.

At his behest also, six solitary stone- cells were added in the outer yard, the stone

coming from the nearby quarries that had supplied stone for the main complex and the

whole was surrounded by a 9 foot 6 inch stone-buttressed. wall and a "Moat or Wet

DitcH'~3

Over the years· various, attempts were. made to place the institution on an organised

footing.but for the remainder of its history overcrowding and an inability to reconcile

the various uses to which th~ Factory was put made it a nightmare for administrators

and occupants alike.

1 J.T. Bigge, Report of the Commissioner of Inquirv into the State. of the Colonv of New South Wales, p. 72. , 2 The dating for Illus 4.03 is that of J.S.Kerr, DeSign for Convicts, Sydney, 1984, p. 68; The information relating to What remained of the original factory c.1985 has been extracted from a plan compi'led by Eve Stenning in Vol. 2 of "Textile Manufacturi ng in New South Wales 1788- 1851 ", MA Hons.Thesis, University of Sydney, 1986. 3 J.T. Bigge, Report of the Commissioner of Inquirv into the State of the Colonv of New South Wales, pp. 72-74. Much of the structural detail of the building may be gleaned from the Tender specification and contract for the Factory, Archives Office of New South Wales, Co1. Sec. Letters Received 4/1740, pp. 124-31 and in the Bonwick Transcripts Box 1 p. 335 and Evidence of Francis Greenway pp. 389-91, Box 8, Evidence of Rev. Samuel Marsden, Box 19, pp. 2966 f., Box 20 pp. 3239-3247, 3325-3327, Box 26, pp. 5951-2, Box 27, p. 6446. The reference to the moat is to be found in a List of Public Works Undertaken During the Administration of Lachlan Macquarie, H .. R.A., Vo1. X, p. 690.

- -'.

•

- - - -. ------~-~-

ILLUS 4.01

Front Elevation of the Female Factory, Parramatta. Plan by S.L. Harris in his "Report and Estimate of the Value of the Improvements which have taken place in

.-------~-~--.-----.. ------.. ---.-----.. Public Buildings of Sydney, Parramatta, Windsor, Liverpool and Campbelltown between 25.12.1822 and 24.12.1823, inclusive, and an Expose of the Present state of Public Buildings in New South Wales"

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OOD ODD o 0

Source: Harris Papers, Vol. 3, pp. 27-8, Mitchell Library ML C226

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Ground Plan of the Female Factory, Parramatta 182. Source: As for Hills 4.0 I

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ILLUS 4.03

Broughton, W.

- - - - -

Plan of the Female Factory Parramatta c 1833 The plan shows details of the original buildings and the additions which took place up to ? 1829

-

The building outlined in red was the only building remaining in 1990 although some of the stone work elsewhere may be original. Source: Public Record Office (GB) MPII 91(M) BC/278


For the greater part of the institution's existence the women were divided into three

classes the first class comprising those sent to the Factory on arrival, those returned

from assignment through no fault of their own or women who were unassignable

because of illness, age or infirmity or because they had children and were thus less

readily acceptable as servants. For a brief period the Factory provided the only hospital

available to women with the exception of a ward in Sydney. The second class, for most

of the period the probationary class, was the class through which women passed from

the third or crime class to the first or assignable class. From 1829 it also received

convict women carrying illegitimate children who were no longer admitted to the first

class. The third or penal class contained both convict and free women sentenced for

colonial crime or, in the case of convicts, misdemeanour in assignment which of course

was a crime no matter how insignificant the misdemeanor, so that the criminality of

many in the third class did not reflect criminality as it is now understood. Indeed the

ease with which women could be sentenced by a magistrate for supposed misdemeanor

meant they were open to many forms of social and economic exploitation. At times

vagrant women were also sentenced to the third class. The final group to whom the

Factory offered asylum were the children of the women just arrived on transports and

those born in the Factory .. In the 1820s children under three years of aged remained in

the' Factory with their mothers but children above that age were sent to the orphanages.

At a later date women were not allowed to remain for such a lengthy period with their

children but it is not clear what was done with the young children. By the early 1840s

the orphanages were too full with the children of immigrants to accept children from the

Factory.

Between 1821 and 1848 the numbers in the Factory fluctuated considerably reflecting

the growing numbers of convict women in the colony, the strains put on the convict

system by the unheralded arrival of female convict transports and the economic and

social conditions of the colony. Economic recession or a glut in the labour market

caused by a competing workforce in the guise of single immigrant women seemingly

resulted in significant overcrowding. From the later 1820s until 1844 rarely were there

less than 500 women in the establishment often many more and with the closure of

Moreton Bay in 1839 and the cessation of assignment in 1841, a peak population of

1203 women and 263 children was reached in July 1842. This in an establishment that

had been originally designed for 300 and to which it would seem, the only major

additions had been a double cell in 1822, a building and enclosure to accommodate 60

women of the third class in 1825 which permitted better segregation of the penal class

and some additions and alterations in 1828 including kitchens, workshops and "other

I I ,I I' t I I I I

I I I' I I I I I I I I

accommodations" for each class to improve segregation and to help relieve the

overcrowding in the third class where some of the women had been forced to sleep and

eat in the same rooms as the wool was spun. At the same time a dining hall was built

for that class and a force pump was constructed and water reticulated to all parts of the

establishment to obviate the need to send women outside the building. The height of the

outer wall, previously increased to eleven feet, was raised to sixteen' feet and

storekeeper's rooms t offices and a porter's room were erected at the outer gate to

render it unnecessary for male employees to go inside the Factory proper, the inner gate

being kept by a porteress (Illus 4.03).1 Finally, in September 1839 a range of seventy

two cells was completed on what is today the Artisans' Compound

Whatever a woman's classification, however, all suffered under conditions in the

Factory which, even by the standards of the time, were rigorous and the opportunities

for employment limited. During Governor Brisbane's administration (1821-1825) the

women of the third class or penitentiary class were deprived of indulgences, including

tea and sugar. They were also denied shoes and stockings and whilst the Factory did

make a profit during his administration it appears to have been at the expense of the 253 • women and their children who the Grand Jurors reported in 1825 did not have an

adequate water supply, who received poor quality bread and inadequate clothing and in

the case. of'the children did not have sufficient comforts to ensure warmth and

dryness.2

Governor Darling (1825-1831), implemented improvements following criticisms by a

committee of inquiry instituted to investigate the death of an inmate. Theoretically the

women of the first class were permitted indulgences consistent with good conduct, they

could receive some remuneration for extra work and their dress was to be superior. The

conditions of the women of the second class were more restricted than above but the

women of the third class received only what was "necessary to health and cleanliness"

Communication between the classes was not permitted. The diet was improved,

although the children's diet appears to have been totally inadequate, and new

1 H. Weatherburn, "The Female Factory" in In Pursuit of ,justice, J. Macki nolty and H. Radi (eds)., Sydney, 1979, pp. 18-30; S. L. Harris, Report and Estimates of the Value of the Improvements which have taj<en place in the Public Buildings of Sydney, Parramatta, Windsor, Liverpool and Campbelltown between 25th December 1822 and 24th December 1823, including an Expose of the Present State of the Public Buildings in New South Wales, Vol. 3, 1824, p. 3, Harris Papers, ML C226; Governor Brisbane to l:1orton, 24.3.1825, H.R.A., Vol XI, p. 557; Brisbane to Bathurst, 14.5.1825, Ibid, p. 578; Darling to Huskisson, 15.5.1828, H.R.A., Vol. XIV, pp. 183-185. 2 H. Weatherburn, "The Female Factory, Parramatta 1804-1848",BA Hons. Thesis, University of Sydney, 1978, pp.28-29.

I


regulations regarding cleanliness were promulgated and the women were issued with

towels and combs. According to Darling, the alterations and additions of 1828 proved

insufficient to cope with the 573 women and 71 children in the Factory in February

1829 and it is therefore probable that improvements in the conditions fell short of ideal.

Certainly employment opportunities within the Factory for all those women must have

been extremely limited and indeed the weaving establishment was dismantled at the end

of Darlings administration. Finally, allowing for the fact that the third class had their

hair cut short or'were shaven if incorrigible, all three classes were subject to the same

severe discipline and punishments. The use of obscene language and refusing to work

frequently resulted in a few to twenty-four hours in the cells. 1

Despite its role as a refuge, a benevolent asylum, a poor house and a hospital, the

Factory has been regarded solely as a penitentiary yet it w~ not until 1836 that it was

really established on a prison footing. Perhaps the difficulties created by increasing

numbers which inevitably led to problems of discipline (especially in the third class)

problems made worse by the absence of occupation for the majority, precipitated

Governor Bourke's decision to change the character of the establishment. The matron

and monitoresses'were replaced by a male keeper, a matron ~nder him and three male

and four female turnkeys. The responsibilities of the board of management appointed

under Darling were, taken'over by a visiting magistrate. To complete the prison picture

the British government decided to send out someone qualified to introduce the changes

taking place in British prisons to take charge of the institution.2

The final transformation to a prison and house of correction took place during

Governor Gipps' administration with the construction of the 72 cells (see following)

and the' changes he sought to implement .. He visited the Factory immediately upon

arrival and was surprised at the cleanliness and appearance of the women but critical of

the total absence of occupation for them, the lack of an ordered regime and the

condition of the buildings. By October 1840 he reported to London that " .. order,

cleanliness, perfect obedience, and silence may be said to prevail in the Establishment

to a degree scarcely surpassed in any Prison in England."

Given the enormous numbers of women and children in the establishment between

1838 and 1843, undoubtedly reflecting the recession, the impact of immigration, the

closure of More ton Bay in 1839 and the cessation of assignment in 1841, the "success"

Gipps claimed may well have had something to do with the coercive effect of the cells

tbid, pp, 32-60 2 tbid, pp, 61-68.

•

I I I I I I I

I I I I I I I I I I

which the Monthly Returns of the State Of The Factory in the Govemment Gazette

reveal were certainly used. Gipps appeared to believe that the cells had a salutary effect.

Unable to tolerate their overcrowded conditions the women sought revival of

assignment and respectfully pointed out to the Governor that they had been sentenced to

transportation, not transportation and imprisonment; that their situation was far worse

than that of their peers in Millbank and that, in effect they were receiving a double

sentence, arguments which Gipps recognised had some validity.

With the cessation of transportation, and the introduction of a modified system of

assignment in 1843 the numbers in the Factory began to drop and gradually the Factory

was wound down. In 1846 Gipps claimed that the only women remaining in the

Factory were the "refuse of the Convict system," but correspondence for these years

would suggest that it was still an asylum for those unable to maintain themselves. 1

The Female·Factory as an Establishment ceased to exist on 31st March, 1848 but the

institution's new role as and invalid and lunatic asylum was already evident. In 1845

the female lunatics were transferred from Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum to alleviate

overcrowding and an overseer of lunatics was appointed. On 3rd March, 1848 the

Sydney MomingHerald reported that rumour had it "that the Factory shall be made an

asylum for the reception of both male and female prisoners, or freed by servitude,

lunatics and. invalids (including under this latter distinction the lame and the blind ... "

Mr. E.H. Statham, the former store-keeper of the Factory was to be superintendent of

the establishment. On 5th April, 1848 Governor Fitz Roy reported to Earl Grey that he

intended that the establishment would continue to receive female convicts sentenced for

punishment, those who became ill and insane and. those who had forfeited tickets-of

leave. In additien it was to receive male convicts who became ill or insane and it was to

provide temporary accommodation for paupers)

1 Ibid, pp. 68-75; Gippsto Russell, 1.10.1840, H.R.A. Vol. XXI, p. 2; H. Weatherburn, In Pursuit of ,justice, p. 20. 2 Fitz Roy to Grey, 5.4.1848, H.R.A., Vox. XXVI, pp. 329-331; Svdnev 1"1orning Herald, 3.3.1848, pp. 2-3.

I I I I I I


The Site

1. The Cells

Prior to his departure for Australia Sir George Gipps was authorised to undertake

altemtions to the Female Factory to pennit confinement of all or some of the penal class

in separate cells. Gipps' object was to improve the system of discipline and doubtless

to facilitate reformation, the ideal so earnestly sought by British prison refonners. The

building containing 72 cells was commenced on 11.6.1838. Illus 4.04 shows a faint

notation, "Factory'Cells" within a pencilled in area, thus pinpointing the site of the cells

and the additional land to be added to the Factory. 1 IUus 4.05 and 4.06 provide full

details of the design. The ground floor comprised 36 windowless cells measuring 5' x

8' and the upper floors contained 18 cells each measuring .12' x 8'. The complex was

finished and occupied by 10th September, 1839. Costing 2,580 pounds and built by

convict labour oflocal stone it was designed as one wing ofa prison "on the plan of the

American separate system". A boundary wall was erected at a cost of 794 pounds as

was a small building for a store and to lodge the turnkeys which cost 393 pounds. The

actual site of this last mentioned building has not been detennined.2

In 1840 Gipps claimed that he had intended the 36 small, windowless cells on the

ground floor would be-used for short periods of confinement only. His contention a

year later that he had intended those cells "for the punishment of those women who

might have- been convicted' of a fresh offence" 3 seems contmdictory. The larger "light

and airy" cells on the second and third floors he claimed were "for the separate

confinement of women of notoriously bad conduct, or women who were habitually

troubleso~e in the Factory.4 Whatever his intention, the relevant enabling legislation

authorising use of the cells for punishment and imprisonment5 did not satisfy the

Inspectors of Prisons in Great Britain. They pointed out that under British law female

offenders could not be sentenced t'o imprisonment in solitary dark cells on bread and

water for periods of 20 days at a time, with a maximum of 60 days in a year. Dark cells

1 . . Glenelg to Gipps, 14.10.1838, H.R.A.., Vol. XIX, p. 118; Gipps to'Russell,

1.10.1840, HR.A., Vol. XXI, pI; Section of Map of Parramatta compiled from Richards Survey ... Johnstone 1836, AO. Map 4799 .. 2 Gi pps to Glenelg 13.3.38, H.R.A., Vol. 19, p. 321; Gipps to Russell, 1. 1 0,1840, H.R.A.,Vol. XXI, p. 2. . 3 Ibid, Gipps to Russell, 10.10.1841, H.R.A. Vol. XX 1, p. 538. 4 Ibid 5 The Act was 3 Vict. No.22 "An Act to abolish the Transportation of Female Convicts, and to provide for the more ·effectual punishment of Female Offenders within the Colony of New South Wales".

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Side elevation and floor plan of cells of the Female Factory Parramatta in Plan of ... cells .. . recently erected at the Female Factory at Parramatta forwarded to the Colonial Office 1838. Bound with Great Britain and Ireland - Colonial Office, Secondary Punishments, Australia. Source: Mitchel1 Library Q365/G

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Transverse Section through a Range of Cells at the Female Factory, Parramatta Source: As for Illus 4.05


were only used as punishment for aggravated breaches of discipline and only for a few

days. Dark cells, they believed, produced "no moral benefit" and tended "to harden and

degrade." They also deemed the very limited dimensions of the ground floor cells "as

very inadequate for close confinement even for a few days" and they feared the

ventilation of the cells would be deficient. They proposed that in future plans for

prisons be sent to England, for approval. 1 Gipps amended the legislation as directed

claiming that during the period the original legislation had operated it had had a salutary

effect. However, there is some evidence to suggest that psychiatric disorders and

suicide may have been the result in several instances. On instruction he also had

openings made in the small cells to admit light.2

. A despatch by Gipps to London in 1843 suggests that at that time the women of the

first class were punished for misdemeanour by solitary con,finement in the small cells

on bread and water for a period not exceeding three days. They could be placed for

longer periods in separate confinement in the larger cells on a better diet. Women

undera second or cumulative sentence of the courts were apparently placed in solitary

confinement for up to 20 days at a time.3

One is left wondering whether the women incarcerated in the cell block were allowed

out for exercise or whether the ground containing the cell-block was used in any way.

No reference to this ground has been found but is possible there were a.few structures

on the site. As these do not appear on subsequent plans, however, it is 40ubtful if they

were of any substance.

2. The Moat or Wet Ditch

No early descriptions or plans of the moat have been found. Illus 3.18 dated 1846

shows what appears to be a diversion of the earlier mill-race around the front of the

Factory and across the area containing the cells. At this time there are three possible

explanations. Firstly that the mill-race was diverted at the time the Factory was built to

create a moat or wet ditch. Secondly that the diversion occurred at a later date to

provide a sewer-line from the Gaol and Factory to the river and finally that the mill-mce

1 Inspectors of Prisons to S,M, Phillips, 17:8,1840, H.R.A., Vol. XX, 'pp. 784-785. 2 Gipps to Russell, 10.10.1841, H,R,A. Vol. 21, pp. 537-539; Alexander Marjoribanks, Travels in New South Wales, London, 1847, pp. 226-7; Visiting Justice to the Colonial Secretary 19.6.18 Lr3 and 28.9.1843, Colonial Secretary Letters Received, Arcr!ives Office of New South Wales, 4/2610.1, 3 Gipps to Stanley, 20.5.1843, H.R.A., Vol XXII, pp. 746-7,

I I I I I I I I I I,


was diverted to create the 'moat and that subsequently it became a drain or sewer-line.

The last explanation seems the most likely.

A letter has been found i~ the Colonial Architect's Correspondence dated 25th October,

1865 referring to drainage from the Gaol and Lunatic Asylum. The letter described the

passage of "foul water" from the baths and workhouses of the Gaol which ran in a

covered drain "100 yards clear of the gaol walls". There it emptied into an open ditch

and ran down to, the Lunatic Asylum where it entered a covered sewer "which passes

under the green yard of the asylum to the river". ''The greater portion of the sewerage

from the Lunatic Asylum finds its way to the river by this source". 1

The ditch referred to is almost certainly one of the mill-races described by Caley

appearing on Illus 3.18 and the Green Yard of the Asylum was the male airing yard on

the eastern side of the cell-block which remained in'existence until 1884. Had not the

moat already been in place it would have been much easier to have run the drain from

'the mill-race across the north-western end of the Factory to the river (although this

c<?u~se' of action pro,ba~ly would have contaminated the fresh water supply to the

Factory) or; alternatively, to have allowed the sewerage from the gaol to have followed , ' ,

the original line of the mill-race directly to the Green Yard without diversion.

It seems likely that the'sewer-line described 'above followed the course of the moat or

wet ditch. No explanation has been found for the structure shown on Illus 4.07 which

is, shown at the ,point of diversion.

..

1 Colonial Architect, Correspondence 1837-1896, Lunatic Asylum 1856-1866, Letter dated 25,10.1865, Archives Office of New South Wales, 2/618C.

............. ---------------------

ENTnANCI'~ TO 'rHE FEMALE FACTOHY

Photo: Go'vel'ument Printer.

Main entrance to the Female Factory, Parramatta, n.d. Note the bridge across the ditch/drain in the foreground. Source: Government Printer

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5.0. 1848-1900, THE PARRAMATTA LUNATIC ASYLUM, KNOWN

AS THE PARRAMATTA HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE FROM 1878

Historical Outline

In 1850 the Parramatta Convict, Lunatic and Invalid Establishment which had come

into being in April 1848 became the Parramatta Lunatic Asylum and in 1878, coinciding

with the passage of the new Lunacy Act and perhaps reflecting the new directions of

that Act, the institution assumed the title of the 'Hospital for the Insane Parramatta. Until

the 1880s the buildings inherited from the Female Factory remained an integral part of

the institution, indeed a major part of the whole complex.

Arguably this new institution, more than any other compara1;>le institution, reflected the

penal origins of the colony. In addition to serving as a lunatic asylum and from 1855 as

the repository for the criminally insane, the establishment appears to have played a role

as a benevolent asylum and. hospital for all destitute free patients of convict origin or

status. More significantly, however, from 1848 Parramatta was the only asylum to

which all imperial [convictllunatics.were committed. 1

In 1855 there were only two lunatic asylums in New South Wales, Parramatta being

"chiefly occupied by incurables", a. trend which continued. Tarban Creek was

"essentially curative" and urgently in need of rebuilding and because there was no

provision for the separation of criminal lunatics the investigating committee

recommended transfer of that category of patient from Tarban Creek to Parramatta.2

For a discussion of the conditions peculiar to New South Wales see Stephen Garton, f"ledicine and Nadness: A Social Historv of Insanitv in New South Wales 1880-1940, Sydney, 1988, pp 17-23, and for a discussion of the 1878 Lunacy Act see pp. 26-28; C.J. Cummins, "The Administration of Lunacy and Idiocy in New South Wales 1788-1855", Unpublished Paper, Department of Public Health, January 1967, p. 22; Annual figures for the numbers of imperial and colonial lunatics in Parramatta Lunatic Asylum appear in the Annual Reports of the Lunatic Asvlum, Parramatta and the Reports of the Inspector General of the Insane. Whilst the imperial and colonial patients intermingled, the only real differentiation being between the criminally insane and the rest, the imperial patients were the financial responsibility of the British government.

2 Report from the Commission of Inquiry on the Lunatic Asylums of New South Wales; 6th June, 1855.

I I I I I I I I· I I I I I I I I I I I I I

For most years between 1875 and 1900 Parramatta cared for more patients annually

than any other institution of its kind in New South Wales 1 and official investigations

and annual reports of the psychiatric establishments of the colony between 1868 and

1900 demonstrate that the institution was almost always overcrowded and, until the

1890s, ill adapted to cope with the specialised care required. Males always far

outnumbered females during these years but that did not mean the female division was

less densely populated. In his 1879 report, the Inspector for the Insane deplored the

fact that the cell block of Factory origin held a total of 208 women in accommodation

only suitable for 123. However, despite the problems of overcrowding and the

continued use of sub-standard buildings throughout the Asylum, rarely did the

Inspector criticise the care of the patients whose total numbers rose from 270 in 1855 to

1115 in 1897.

By 1855 the central buildings of what had been the Factory were occupied by aged and

infirm, blind or incapacitated invalids, one ward being allocated to the women. The

male-lunatics occupied buildings and yards, on the north side of the main complex and

were segregated according to type of illness and degree of fractiousness. The female

lunatics were housed on the south 'side, many in the grim cells of the Factory era. All

were described as· "paupers": 2 Until 1883 the cell block continued to house the

majority of the women in the establishment.

Despite constant criticism of the state of the buildings from 1863little appears to have

been done to improve matters. In the early 1860s a special unit for the criminally insane .

was built in the form of a cell block at the front of the old Factory buildings adjacent to

Factory Street and following representations from the medical superintendent in 1865

the Vineyard property to the north of the complex was purchased in 1866 to allow

development.3

1 By 1880 Gladesville, Parramatta, Callan Park, Newcastle, Cooma (Temporary) and Cook's River (Licensed) existed as Hospitals for the Insane; by 1898 Gladesville, Parramatta, Callan Park, Newcastle, Rydalmere and Kenmore existed as Hospitals for the Insane and Cook's River, Ryde and Picton (Swiss Cottage and Woodland Cottage) existed as Licensed Houses for the Insane. 2 Report from the Commission of Inquirv on the Lunatic Asvlums of New South Wales, 6th June 1855, p. 8; Evidence of R. Greenup, Medical Superintendent of the Lunatic Asylum at Parramatta, Ibid, p. 21 and p. 24 .. 3 G.A. Edwards, "Factory to Asylum: The Early Years at the Parramatta Psychiatric Centre", Unpublished Paper, n.d. pp. 3-5; James Jervis, "The Mental Hospital, Parramatta", .journal of the Roval Australian Historical Societv", Vol. 19, Pt. 3, 1933, p. 192.


In his Report on Lunatic Asylums in 1868 F. Notion Manning M.D. concluded "that

the buildings at Parramatta are utterly and completely unfit for the purpose for which

they are at present employed". He singled out for special criticism the cells occupied by

the women. He "unhesitatingly" advised Parramatta's "early abandonment". 1 Ten

years later he found things little better. Alterations and additions had mainly been ad

hoc and there had been an absence of foresight and planning.2 Of the female division

he said-

The female division which, as before mentioned contains patients of all

three classes, [free, convict and criminal] consists of one large yard

surrounded by high prison-like walls. This is partly grassed, but neither

planted nor ornamented with flower borders,and is divided by paling

fences, so as to form two divisions, one for the more aged feeble and

sick patients, and the other for the remainder of the inmates. The feeble

and sick live and sleep in three old, low and badly v~ntilated rooms,

which, by means of scrupulous cleanliness, and some small attempt at

ornamentation, are the most homely pleasing part of the whole

Institution. The other inmates live and take their-meals in an open shed

in the centre of the yard, and sleep in the old factory, a gloomy, three

storied building, whose cells afford a wretched allowance of less than

300 cubic feet per inmate, the majority of the. patients being placed three

together in cells, of which the cubic contents are only 864 feet. The

corridors of this structure are so dark that on the brightest day it is never

more than twilight in them. It is necessary to keep braziers and fires

constantly burning to obtain any ventilation; the old woodwork is alive

with vermin, and the whole structure is unwholesome and repulsive. In

the corner of the main yard are six small separate yards for seclusion;

they are surrounded by high open paling fences, and in each there is a

shed, which gives some amount of shade. They are very unpleasantly

suggestive of arrangements at the Zoological Gardens, but with the

absence of means of classifying the. inmates are necessary for the

temporary seclusion of some and the safety of other inmates, and are

decidedly more wholesome than the cells, which in their absence, would

of necessity be used for this purpose ... The kitchen and laundry as old

1 F.Norton Manning, M.D., Report on Lunatic Asv1ums, 1868, pp. 119-120. 2 Report of the Inspector of the Insane, 1877, p. 1


and defective ... as the remainder of the buildings. The former has no

oven so that all the meat is boiled in an unvarying routine.!

Whilst acknowledging that the accommodation of the male division had been "improved

and extended with the construction of the weatherboard buildings in 1869-70 Manning

had serious qualifications about arrangements and conditions in that area and he found

the original central buildings, most of which formed the core of the main complex

housing the majority C?f the male patients, "a grievous eyesore". By 18,77 the institution

stood on 65 acres with about twenty of these under cultivation as garden and orchard:

He urged reorganisation of the whole place which he recognised would take time.2 In

fact construction of the new women's division on the Vineyard Estate commenced in

1877 but excruCiatingly slow progress prevented occupation until 1883.

Following completion of the new women's .complex, the original Factory cell block

vacated by 210 women was demolished and the bulk of the stone used in the

construction of a new men's division which was completed in 1885.3 This building,

known as Ward 1, remains today and the adjacent clock tower supports the clock which

had been placed on the front of the ce.p.tral Factory building in 1821. With the removal

of the men to Ward 1, the. old, central bUildings which formed the main part of the

original Factory complex,and were beyond repair, were immediately demolished and

replaced by gardens and shrubs, some of the .stone being used for the foundations of a

building in which religious selVices and recreational activities could take place.4

Overcrowding continued to be a problem and in 1888 the old Protestant Orphan School . ,

i.n Parramatta became a branch of the Parramatta Hospital for the Insane itself becoming

autonomous in 1891.5 An extensive building. programme was under way by ,1890 and

:by the end of 1891 the Inspector-General of the Insane commented that "the alterations

to the wards which have been in progress for ten years are now complete, and all the

old prison buildings have either been swept away or altered so as to defy any

recognition of their original purpose.''6

1 Ibid, p. 2 2" Ibid, pp.3'-4, 6-9.

3 Annual Report of the Inspector-General of the Insane 1883, p. 16, Annual Report of the Inspector General of the Insane 1885, p. 16. .

4 Annual Report of the Inspector-General of the Insane 1885, p. 16; Annual Report of the Inspector-General of the Insane 1886, p. 31.

5 Annual Reports of the Inspector-General of the Insane 1887 , 1888, 1889 and 1891.

6 Annual Report of the Inspector-General of the Insane 1891, p, 19.

---------------------

THI~ LUNATIC ASYLUM-PREVIOUSLY THg FEMALE FACTOHY Ph 1\ t (). n () '1l'~r11 111 PH t Pr'; 11 f '~r

Main entrance to the Lunatic Asylum, Parramatta, c 1870s. Prcviously the Female Factory, the main building remains unchanged. Source: Government Printer

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Main entrance to the Lunatic AsyluIll, Parramatta, c. 188S Source: Mitchell Library Small Picture File, Parramatta - Hospitals

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I I I. I I I I I I I I I I I

This ten years of activity was associated with an intensive programme of beautification

to provide the patients with more aesthetically pleasing surroundings and incidentally

provided occupational therapy. Recreational areas were turfed, a cricket ground was

completed in 1881, paths were paved or tarred and extensive garden beds laid out. In

Between 1885 and 1889 terraced gardens were created at the back of the Hospital and a

dam built to form an artificial lake 1. This dam was washed away in 1889 but was

rebuilt in the 1890s.

Parramatta Hospital for the Insane underwent several changes of name in the twentieth

century, including Parramatta Mental Asylum, the North Parramatta Psychiatric Centre

and finally in the 1970s the Parramatta Psychiatric Centre. On 16th March, 1983 the

institution became the Cumberland Hospital.

The Site

1. Evidence of Structural Changes

Illus 5.01, 5.02 and 5.03 dated 1855 and 1863 respectively and a plan dated 1880

showing water, drainage' and gas pipes in the Hospital for the Insane and held in the

museum of the Cumberland Hospital suggest that no major structural changes took

place on the site before 1884 when the cell block was demolished. Illus 5.4 dated 1895

suggests that between 1884 and 1895 no further significant building took place on the

site.

Illus 5.01 dated 1855 suggests that at that time there were no structures other than the

cells in what is today the Artisan's Compound. The dividing wall between the

Compound and the Asylum proper appears to have been in tact and all the ground

surrounding the cells appears to have been given over to the use of the women. The

water-gate on the river side and the entrance gate on the Fleet Street side had not then

been closed in. The plan also suggests that the open walkway between what was the

Keeper's dwelling and the cells in the compound had apparently been enclosed in some

way, at least at ground level.

This enclosed space between the keeper's dwelling and the cells would appear to have

been temporary. In June 1857 the medical superintendent wrote to the colonial secretary

urging additions to accommodate an expected increase in numbers and for the women

1 Annual Reports of the Inspector-General of the Insane 1885 - 1893.

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LUNATI C ASYLUM

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Ground floor plan of the Lunatic Asylum, Parramatta 1855 Source: Votes and Proceedings of the

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Legislative Assembly of New South Wales, 1855.

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The southern half of the Parramatta lIospita for the Insane. Note the use made of the compound in 1895. Section 42, Parramatta, 1895 Sour~e: Lands Department, Parramatta Detail Survey 1895, Mitchell Library M Ser. 4, 811.1301/1

I I I I I

I I I I I I I ,I

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he suggested "flooring over the present space allotted for bathing. It is now open but if

a floor were carried over it and two stout brick walls carried up with a roof over all two

very good small dormitories capable of accommodating very ... cheerfully eight patients

in each would be obtained ... ". Illus 5.05 shows the bathing place referred to in this

letter.

Apparently little was done for in December 1859, a letter was written from the Asylum

to the Golonial architect passing on the medical superintendent's suggestions regarding

alterations to the same area in the female division. (See Illus 5.05). It was pointed out

that if windows were placed in the lower storey on lOon the men's side" it would be

impossible to prevent communication between the sexes and that it would be better

because of the satisfactory state of the existing flagging, to make the area "the Washing

side, shifting the Pump and Carrying a Drain to a main Drain near at hand". A copy of

this letter containing details of suggestions about the placement of the boiler, and the

inclusion of another storey over the open area is appended to the back of this report. 1

Illus 5.02 and 5.03 dated 1861 suggest that these alterations were carried out some time

in 1860, along the lines suggested in the above letter. The following are descriptions of

the ablutions arrangements in 1868 and 1876 respectively-

A bath-room is provided at the entrance to the cells on the ground floor,

and the laundry adjoins it. As on the male side, there are no fixed baths,

but large wooden tubs answer

for the purpose ...

A portion of the female patients are washed and bathed in the wash

house on the female side, but it contains no baths, and the ordinary tubs

in which the clothes and linen of the department are washed are

therefore used for the purpO'Se. The other portion are washed and bathed

in two movable galvanised iron baths in an open space, on one side of

the passage, within the building, which contains the separate cells.2

1 Medical Superintendent to the Colonial Secretary, 27th June, 1857,57/159; E.H. Statham to the Colonial Architect 1.12.1859, M:59.1409 Colonial Architect's Correspondence, Parramatta Lunatic Asylum 1858-1860, Pt. 11, Archives Office of New South Wales 2/618C 2 Progress Report of t."Ie Inspector of Charities Respecting certain Public Charitable Institutions, 1868-9, p. 12; Report from Board of Visitors Respecting the Condition of the Lunatic Asvlum Parramatta, 1876, p.4.

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!llus 5.02 dated 1861 and amended 1863 indicates no major structural changes had

taken place other than the abovementioned but some subdivision of the grounds had

occurred. The wall separating the western side of the compound from the grounds of the

Asylum proper had been taken down and that a shed twenty feet by sixty feet had been

provided for the day time shelter of the women in the area then known as the Females

Airing Ground. A drying yard was to be found at the southern end of the cell-block, its

eastern side closed off by a wall, presumably to prevent communication with the men

now using the western side. In 1866 this wall was in a dangerous state and was

rebuilt. 1 In the area shown as the Males Airing Ground on the Fleet Street side of the

cells a shed measuring ?63 feet by 30 feet for daytime shelter was in place. The Fleet

Street entrance to this yard remained in tact but it was closed c November or December

1865 when alterations to the Orphan School next door caused the gate to be blocked,

thereby preventing passage of the night soil carts from what had become known as the

Green Yard.2

Constraints of time did not permit anything other than a most cursory glance at a couple

of files in the Archives of New South Wales but the indications are that no major new

structural alterations took place other than the enclosure of the open area in the cell

block previously mentioned. The following minor alterations were noted. In March

1864 the medical superintendent requested ventilators for the doors of the cells to

improve ventilation In June 1865 a section of the outer wall of the female airing

ground measuring about 35 yards in length fell down. Other correspondence with the

colonial architect suggests that collapse of sections of walls in the area was' not an

uncommon occurrence. In 1866 some part of the boundary wall needed replacement. In

September and October 1865 there are letters about proposed alterations amongst which

were the renewal of the fence (slabbed fence) around the female exercising yard and the

construction' of new stone privies to replace the delapidated wooden ones in the

women's yard. A verandah was proposed for the cell block extending to the sheds to

form a covered way. There was nd indication that this was done. Lengthening of the

principal shed to meet with the smaller one was also suggested. In August 1866 there

is reference to curbing and forming a floor in the women's shed by brea19.ng stone,

grouting it and covering the whole with cement and this was subsequently ·done.

Tables and forms were provided for the women as this was their day time shelter and it

was also where they took their meals. Other than a roof these sheds provided no

1 Medical Superintendent to the Colonial Architect 19.1.1866, Ibid. 2 Medical Superintendent to the Colonial Architect 24.10.5865, Ibid.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 'I I I I I I I

protection whatever against the weather, 1 but in 1879 reference was made to the

windows in the old day shed2 indicating that some sort of additions had been made to the shed since 1868.

Drainage appears always to have been a problem and in a report on the buildings of the

institution in September 1865 the medical superintendent sa~d that "a great deal of the

drainage of the establishment is imperfectly carried off the whole requires revision. The

drain in front of the Asylum should be covered in and the side drain cleared out."3

Complaints from the Orphan School officials that the drainage and sewerage from the

Lunatic Asylum caused illness amongst the children were many.4 There are several

references to drains being placed to relieve the situation. The plan referred to in the

Cumberland Museum of July 1880 clearly shows and water and sewer line and? gas

pipes running straight across the Artisan's Compound and, leaving it near the water gate.

From the foregoing it is clear that sometime between 1855 and 1859 the grounds

around the cell block underwent division, the women occupying the river side and

some of the men occupying the Fleet Street side. The men's airing ground within the

compound rapidly become known as the Green Yard. Possible structural changes to

these areas are discussed below.

2. The Cell Block and Women's Airing Yard

Each year in their reports the Inspector-General and the Medical Superintendent

deplored the continued use of the cell block which with the exception of the invalid area

was the only area allocated to women. In 1876 the Board of Visitors referred to the

building as being -

1 Medical Superintendent to Colonial Architect 11.6.1864; Medical Superintendent to Colonial Secretary 21.9.1865; Letter dated 25.10.65; Contractor to Colonial Architect, 21.8,1866, Ibid. " Progress Report of the Inspector of Charities Respecting Certain Pub lic Charitable Institutions, /868- 9, p. 12 2 Report of the inspector General of the Insane 1 879, p. 1 3. 3 Medical Superintendent to Colonial Architect 3.2.1864; Medical Superintendent to Colonial Architect 21.9.1865, Ibid. 4 For example, Vicar-General to Chief Secretary, 26.5.1862; Medical Superintendent to the Colonial Architect 28.5.1864. Reference here is made to a "sort of swam p" between the Asyl um and the River caused by water, suds, etc. "running from the Asylum and settling in a hollow near the river," A drain was laid from the Asylum to the river. Ibid.

I I I I I I I I I I

I I

I I' I I I I I

... one of the most repulsive and objectionable features in the Asylum,

and the accommodation it affords is inferior to that provided for the

lowest type of criminals in a modem gaol; the cells possess narrow

fissures in the thick walls, through which no ray of sunshine can enter,

but which admit freely blasts of cold air and driving rain; they have no

glazed windows and the floors are of sandstone. The doorway is only

18 inches wide and is guarded on one wide of the wall by a grating

formed of thick iron bars, and on the other by a heavy wooden door

fastened by a large conspicuous iron bolt.

They commented that the accommodation available meant that women of all ages and

conditions and coming from disparate backgrounds were all lumped together. This

bleak picture was enhanced annually. In 1879 the Inspector General wrote that lOOn

October 28th the visitors reported that 'the main building (female division) is more

repulsive than ever, the small associated rooms at the end are' painfully overcrowded

(the, beds being within a few inches of each other), and lately four or five patients have

been placed in a mere 10ft at the top of the stairs among the roof-beams'."l

There can be no doubt that conditions were appalling in the cell block that seemingly

underwent little modification between 1839 and 1884. Usually described as tidy and

clean the women's quarters apparently defied description. Apparently the airing ground

in which they spent their days was equally depressing. The Freeman's foumalin 1877

found that-

The recreation (?) ground consists of a blank-looking patch for drying

. the clothes, and a paddock, which reminds one of the Valley of the

Shadow of. Death. There is not a flower to be seen in either of these

places, although this want is somewhat counterbalanced by the

appearance at the far end of the large yard of three gigantic rabbit

hutches, each standing in its own barred enclosure, every one of which . .

contained a refractory patient. 2

With the excep.tion of the ablutions block, there is nothing to suggest any significant

structural changes in the cell block or the women's airing ground during the period

under consideration.

1 Report from the Board of Visitors Respecting the Condition of the Lunatic Asvlum, Parramatta, 1876, p.3; Report of the Inspector General of the Insane, 1879, p.12. 2 The Freeman's ,journal 25.8.1877, p. 17.

I I I I I I I , I I I I I I I I I 'I I I I

3. The Green Yard

Illus 5.2 and 5.4 dated 1861/3 and 1895 show only one structure in the Green Yard,

th ~ day time shelter shed for the men confined in that yard. 1 his wOu.ld suggest no

structures of any consequence were erected in that area between 1861 and 1900.

Like the women's shed it too was inhospitable and open to the weather, and it too

served as the dining-room for that yard. However, in 1880 the Inspector-General,

obviously concerned about the welfare of the patients, recommended that the shed be

extended and one side boarded in and fitted with a fireplace. He indicated plans were

already in train 1 and Illus 5.4 dated 1895 suggests that the additions were made.

There seems every indication that the Green Yard was one of the pleasanter areas of the

Hospital and this contrasts strangely with the description of the women's airing yard.

In 1877 the Cumber land Mercury provided the following description -

The. Greenyard occupies the front wing of the Asylum and adjoins the

Roman Catholic orphan school grounds, and viewed from outside it

presents a prison-'like appearance in reason of the high stone wall which

surrounds it. But. the enclosure is planted with trees and shrubs, and the

general arrangement for the comfort and amusement of the patients

cannot be too highly commended. In the centre of the yard is a

commodious covered building with open sides, furnished with forms

and tables, whilst books, papers and cards, seem to be plentifully

distributed among the inmates.

The Freeman's Journal of the same year described the area as follows -

This enclosure is devoted t6 the use of moderately quiet patients, and is

surrounded by four high walls, which are profusely 0I1?-amented on the

inside by designs of ships,executed in various coloured chalks by the

patients. Some of the lunatics, I understand, pass the whole of their time

designing these vessels and rubbing them out again. The yard is laid out

with patches of turf and some flower beds, and there is a fountain there,

Annual Report of the Inspector-General for the Insane 1880, p. 15.


which was manufactured by a patient named Watson, a stonemason,

during a period of six months. l

In 1879 the Medical Superintendent reported improvements therein: -

A great deal has been accomplished in endeavouring to render more

cheerful and pleasant the recreation yards in which the different classes

of patients pass their days. The green yard, occupied at all times by the

most orderly class of patients, has been thoroughly renovated. The beds

have been freshly laid out, and more space for walking allowed. Recent

labour has so much improved it that with the addition of a well stocked

aviary of rural appearance, little can be desired. This yard with its birds,

fountain, and gold fish, is as nice a place of retiremeI;l.t and recreation as

could be looked for ... 2

Follow the demolition the old cells in 1884 the Green Yard as such appears to have

ceased to exist. Occupation of the criminally insane was a recurring concern to the

authorities hampered by problems of security but the newly vacated compound with its

high walls presented an ideal enclosure for these patients and in 1886 the Inspector

General reported -

There has been a very decided increase in the number of those [the

criminal insane] actively employed, and during the last six months of the

year this averaged daily 65 per cent of the inmates. Most of them are

engaged in laying out and working, as a vegetable garden, the walled

yard from which the old buildings for women were removed about two

years ago. The employment has served to render the patients more

orderly and contented. 3

In 1887, in addition to reporting the success of this venture, the medical superintendent

commented that all of the wood for the Hospital "has been sawn and cut up by them".

In 1891 he reported that

1 Cited in Graham A. Edwar .. ds, "Factory to Asylum: The Early Years at the Parramatta Psychiatric Centre," Unpublished Paper, n.d.; The Freeman's ,journal, 18.8.1877 p. 17. 2 Annual Report of the Inspector-General for the Insane 1879, pp. 35-36. 3 Annual Report of the Inspector-General of the Insane 1886, p. 18.


The great value of the vegetable garden, in which the majority of the

patients from this division find occupation, is more amply demonstrated

as year succeeds year ... The outdoor occupation tends very largely to

the health and contentment of the. inmates, and serves to prevent many

an attack of irritability and excitement. 1

From these comments and the layout of Illus 5.4 dated 1895 there seems little doubt

that the Compound was used for a garden and wood yard for at least the remainder of

the nineteenth century ..

1 Annual Reports of the Inspector-General of the Insane 1887 and 1891,


6.0. SITES OF COMPARABLE INTEREST

Because of the unique nature of the Australian penal colonies, only in Australia can

sites in any way comparable with the Female Factory at Parmmatta be found.

A. The Australian Mainland

On the Australian mainland, very small female factories were to be found at the

settlements of secondary punishment, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, and Moreton Bay.

On the whole, these factories acted as depots providing temporary accommodation for

women on the way to assignment. They also had a punitive role on occasion and at

least at Moreton Bay afforded employment in the penal settlement .. There was also a

factory at Bathurst which was certainly more a place of temporary accommodation than

a place of punishment. Only for a period in c 1830s did that institution have a punitive

role. 1

(a) Newcastle

The secondary penal settlement of Newcastle was established in 1804 and one room in

the gaol was given to some women, others living in the settlement itself. In 1820 there

were 51 females in the settlement and Governor Macquarie ordered the erection of a

new barracks to accommodate 50 women. In December 1836 there were 23 women and

five children. It is not known when this factory closed but there is evidence to suggest

it may still have had a role in the early 1840s.2

(b) Port Macquarie

The female factory at Port Macquarie formed part of the penal station which existed in

that settlement from 1821-1830. The factory remained when the area was opened to

free settlement in 1830 and was finally closed in 1842 when the women were

transferred to Parmmatta.3

Very little has been written about these factories but L.M. Heath in "The Female Convict Factories of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land ... " has a brief summary, pp.309-311. 2 Ibid, p. 309 3 Ibid, pp. 309-10


Cc) Moreton Bay

The penal settlement of More ton Bay was established in 1824 and as with the above,

women were sentenced to that settlement for punishment. There women were employed

in domestic chores and some in the fields at Eagle Farm. A plan of the Moreton Bay

Factory is to be found in the Heath thesis and in the penitentiary section women were

strictly confined. When Moreton Bay was opened to free settlement c 1839 the 57

women confined in the Factory were sent to Parramatta. 1

Cd) Bathurst

The factory at Bathurst was founded in 1817 as a staging depot but it also had a

punitive role from c 1833. It was closed in April 1846 when the women were sent to

Parramatta.2

B. Van Diemen's Land

The first factories in Van Diemen's Land were not established until the early 1820s,

partly because most women were absorbed in the assignment system before that date

and partly because Governor Macquarie was reluctant to establish that type of

institution there at that time. Up to 1818 female convicts sentenced to punishment in

Van Diemen's Land were sent to Parramatta.3 However, in 1821 a factory was

established at Hobart and in 1824 in George Town. The next decade saw the

construction of major factories at Launceston and Hobart. As with Parramatta these

institutions provided asylum for unassigned women and some employment and as with

Parramatta they had a significant punitive role but according to Heath, the corrective

element manifested itself at an earlier date in Van Diemen's Land,4 a situation

undoubtedly triggered by British attitudes to penal reform at a time when factory

construction was taking place and when the numbers of women were not of

unmanageable proportions. However, at least to 1840 the Van Diemen's Land factories

reflected the Parramatta experience. They were multipurpose, they lacked funds to

1 Ibid, pp. 310-311 2 Ibid, p. 310 3 Ibid, p. 162 4 Ibid, pp. 10-11; pp. 170-172.


effect improvements, the Launceston factory in particular, was unable to provide

suffucient employment for the women and overcrowding was an incipient problem. 1

With the cessation of transportation to New South Wales in 1840, Van Diemen's Land

as the repository for all convicts faced a crisis and new policies were adopted in an

effort to cope with the problems of control of the women. A "network of nine

interdependent establishments" were created which included corrective and .. probationary institutions, hiring depots, nurseries, and a hospital.2 By the late 1840s

the progressive system through the various grades of institutions and then parole was

replaced by a task work system which afforded women incentives to "improve" and

this system remained in force until the cessation of transportation to Van Diemen's

Land in 1854.3

(a) George Town

George Town Factory was established in 1824. It consisted of a two storey building

with four small dormitories for the women, a: sick bay and space for the superintendent.

By 1829 it was in a very rundown state. Nevertheless it remained in existence until c

1838 when the women were transferred to Launceston. It is not known how the

buildings were used after that date.

(b) Launceston

The Launceston factory which was completed in November 1834, was the only Factory

in the. Australian colonies designed from the beginning as a house· of correction. With

elements of prison architecture, it was a two storey cruciform structure "set in an

octagonal perimeter wall with radial separation walls between the arms." Each of three

wings contained all facilities for one of three classes of convict, including cells for

solitary confinement. The fourth wing contained a hospital, nursery, dispensary and

offices. These facilities proved adequate until the crisis of 1841.4

1 Ibid, p. 161 2 Ibid, pp. 10-11 3 Ibid, p. 201. 4 Ibid, pp. 172- 3; J.S. Kerr, Design for Convicts, Sydney, 1984, p. 93.


Cb) Hobart

The construction of a building in 1821 adjacent to the gaol with space for 100 women

comprised the Lst female factory in Van Diemen's Land. rhel'e were fou~ poorly

ventilated rooms for the women and four "insecure dark cells" and the structure rapidly

became inadequate. 1 In 1827 the Cascades Distillery in Hobart was purchased for

conversion to a female factory and in June 1828, ~he women moved from the old

factory.

The alterations consisted of constructing a two storey building along the

length of each side wall with rooms about 12 feet wide. A chapel

connected the original central building with the rear buildings of the

distillery. At the front of the courtyard two-storied ,staff quarters 60 by

17 feet were added, the upstairs being for the Superintendent's family,

the downstairs for offices and the gatekeeper. The courtyard was

divided into seven yards, one for the ent~nce and offices, and one each

for the Nursery, Hospital and Kitchen. There was also a yard for each •

classification of the female convicts ... A range of twelve cells were

included in the'north-west corner building of the old distillery.2

The internal organisation,reflected the Parramatta example with segregation of women

according to class, each with its own facilities,3 and by 1835 Cascades had officially

become a house of correction in response to the British governments urging to make

transportation more of a deterrent.4

The female factory occupied the site for over fifty years. Initially designed for 200

women by 1841 it was severely overcrowded with 396 women. The institution grew

with the continuing influx of women, eventually encompassing "an area about five

times the size of the distillery and' [it] held about 1200 people.'>5 In addition, to cope

with overcrowding and to facilitate operation of the system of punishment, probation

1 L,M. Heath, "The Female Convict Factories of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land ... ", p. 166 2 Tony Rayner, Historical Survev of the Femflle Factory Historic Site Gascades Hobart, National Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania, 1981, p. 7, 3 L.M. Heath, The Convict Factories ... p. 169, 4 Ibid, pp. 175-6 5 Tony Raynor, Historical Survev .. , p. 1


and control between 1842 and 1850 ancillary buildings in an around Hobart were used

as nurseries, hiring depots, etc. Even the Anson hulk was fitted into the system. 1

As with Parramatta a separate confinement system was introduced c 1843 and both

Cascades and Launceston had separate confinement cells constructed, 112 being erected

at Cascades in 1844.

In October 1855 Both Hobart and Launceston factories were proclaimed Houses of

Correction to be controlled by the sheriff and in 1864 the last of the women were placed

"under colonial discipline",2

The fate of the Launceston factory is not known but from 1869 the buildings at

Cascades were used for a variety of purposes which included"Invalid Depots, Boys

Reformatories, A Lunatic Asylum [for Imperial Convicts], a Contagious (Venereal)

Disease Hospital, a Lying-in Home and the Home of Mercy run by the Anglican

Church. The Female Factory and Nursery were closed down in 1877." The site was

sold to private buyers c 1904/1905 and the internal buildings were demolished in 1924

although the original outer walls of the distillery were still standing in 1981 as were

some foundations of a later wall, and two or three houses. "Some artificial water

courses are the only obvious remnants of the establishment."3

L.M. Heath, The Conv'ict Factories ... pp. 203- 240 2 Ibid, p. 243. 3 Tony Raynor, Historical SUrV8)/, p. 1.


7.0. STATEMENT OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

In its role as the principal benevolent asylum, hiring depot, lying-in hospital,

workhouse, marriage mart and penitentiary the Female Factory at Parramatta was a

most sensitive barometer of the legal, economic and social pressures peculiar to early

New South Wales society, particularly as those pressures directly and indirectly

affected large numbers, if not the majority, of women in the years New South Wales

was a. penal colony. For this reason alone the site is of major social and cultural

significance. In addition, it was the first institution of its kind and the first built for the

purpose, Parramatta pre-dating Launceston by fourteen years. As an institution it

therefore played a different role in the history of the treatment of convict women and

penal refonn.

The use of the Factory buildings, in particular the cells, for the continued incarceration

of destitute female lunatics further reflects the nature of society and government in

nineteenth century New South Wales and adds to the social and cultural significance

of the site.

-' ! •

:. , .-, , .>


8.0. BIBLIOGRAPHY

ARCHIVES OFFICE OF NEW SOUTH WALES

1. Maps and Plans

Copy of Part o(The.General Map ofParramatta transmitted from Colonial Secretary to

Surveyor-General about the beginning of 1844 - A.O. Map 4802

J.J.Galloway, Section of Plan of the North Side ofParramatta from Brickfield Street to

ParramattaRiver, 1843 - A.O. Map 4801

E.L. Burrows, Plan of land authorised as a training ground for Children of the Roman

Catholic Orphan School, Fleet Street, Parramatta North ... 15th April, 1853 - A.-O. 4850

New South Wales Surveyor-General, Plan of the Town of Par ram at ta, 1823, Colonial

Secretary Microfiche 3263

Parramatta - Old plan, no .reference to numbers, date or surveyor (4 sheets) - A.O. Map

4724

Kirkby, Sketch showing proposed boundaries for a park for the town of Parramatta,

the portion proposed to be temporarily appropriated ·as a farm in connection with the

Lunatic Asylum, February 1858 - A.O. Map 4807

Grimes (attributed to), Undated map attributed to Grimes - A.O. Plan SZ 407

Preston, Parramatta c 1814 - A.O. Plan SZ 328

Lewis (Draftsman), Plan showing the proposed alignment of Factory Street from Fleet

Street to the Parramatta River, 1859 - A.O. Map 4808

J.J.Galloway, Plan of the North part ofParramatta. Shows the survey of S. Marsden's

36 acres, August, 1846 - A.O. Map 4804·

I I I I I I I I I· I I I I I I I I I ·1 I I

E. 1. Burrowes, Survey of allotments applied for by E.H. Stratham bounded by

Factory, Fleet, Albert and Cardwell Streets, North Parramatta ... 26th April, 1853 -

A.O. Map 4847

Section of Plan of the Town ofParramatta, 3rd edition, 31st January, 1920 - A.D. Plan

60421

Johnstone, Map ofParramatta compiled from Richards Survey, 1836 - A.O. Map 4799

E. Knapp, Map of Parramatta. Survey of all the s.treets in the town of Parramatta North

for the purpose of aligning same, 1855 - A.O. Map 4805

2. Correspondence

Colonial Secretary Letters Received 18184/1740; 18434/2610.1

Colonial Architect, Correspondence 1837-1896, Lunatic Asylum 1856-1866, 2/618C

3. Miscellaneous

Surveyor General, Surveyor's Field Books No. 31 and 73, 1806 and 1814, J.

Meehan, 2/4709; 2/4740.

MITCHELL LIBRARY

1. Maps and Plans

W. Meadows Brownrigg, Plan ofthe Town ofParramatta and adjacent properties.

Litho. byE.D. Badow, Sydn~y, 1844 - ML'M3 811. 130VI844/1(2)

G.W. Evans, Plan of the Township ofParramatta , c 1813 (Corrected to 1804) Mitchell

Library

New South Wales Department of Lands (ParramattaDetail Series 1895-1898), Section

of Sheet 41 and Sheet 42 - ML M SerA1811.130Vl


2. Manuscript Sources

Banks Papers, Vol. 20, ML MSS FM4/1753

Bonwick Transcripts, Boxes 1,8, 19,20,26,27

Hams Papers, ML MSS C226

Lachlan Macquarie, Diary 1818-1822, ML MSS A 77 4

New South Wales Governor, Transcriptions of Missing Despatches, ML MSS A267/6

3. Illustrations

Small Picture File - see under "Parramatta - Hospitals" "Pamimatta - Public Buildings"

OFFICIAL SOURCES

Bigge, J. T., Report of the Commissioner of Inquiry into the State of the Colony of

New South Wales, London, 1822

Historical Records of Australia, Series I, Vols. Il, X, XI, XII, XIV, XIX, XX, XXI,

XXII, XXVI

Historical Records of New South Wales, Vols. Ill, IV, V

Inspector of Insane Reports 1875- 1877

Inspector~General of the Insane Annual Reports 1879-1900

New South Wales Legislative AssembJy Votes and Proceedings 1855-1900

Plan of the Lunatic Asylum Parramatta, [Colonial Architect 1855], Votes and

Proceedings of the Legislative AssembJ~ 1855


Plan of the Lunatic Asylum Parramatta, [Colonial Architect 1861, Amended 1863],

Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative AssemblJfJ 1863-4

Pngress Report of the Inspector of Charities Respecting Certain PuL.ic Charitable

Institutions 1868-1869

Report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Lunatic Asylums of New South Wales,

1855

Report on Lunatic Asylums 1868, F. N orton Manning M.D.

R:eport From the Board of Visitors Respecting the Condition of the Lunatic Asylum,

Parramatt~ 1876

NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS

Sydney Gazette, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1818, 1820

Sydney Morning Herald, 1848

The Freeman's Journal, 1877

PUBLISHED BOOKS

Garton, Stephen, Medicine and Madness: A Social History of Insanity in New South

Wales 1880-1940, Sydney, 1988

Jervis, James, The Cradle City of Australia: A History of Parramatta, 1788-1961, G.

Mackaness (ed.), Sydney, 1961

Kerr, J .S., Design for Convicts: An account of design for convict establishments in the

Australian Colonies during the Transportation era, Sydney, 1984

MaIjoribanks, Alexander, Travels in New South Wales, London, 1847

Rayner; Tony, Historical Survey of the Female Factory Historic Site Cascades Hobart,

National Parks and Wildlife Service, Tasmania, O<;casional Paper Number 3, April,

1981.


I I

ARTICLES

"The Rose Hill Government Farm and the Founding of Parramatta", Journal of the

Royal Austrnlian Historical Society, Vol. XII, Pt. 6, 1927

Huntington, H. W .H, "History of the Milling Industry in Australia, No. 3," The Millers

Journal,20.6.1903

J ervis, James, ''The Mental Hospital Parramatta", Journal of the Royal Australian

Historical Society, Vol. XIX, 1933

Jervis, James, "Parrnmatta During the Macquarie Period", Journal of the Parramatta

and District Historical Society, Vol. IV,. 1935

Jervis, James, ''The Development of Settlement in the Town ofParrnmatta," JournaJ of

the Parramatta. and District Historical Society, Vol. IV, 1935

Weatherburn, Hilary, "The Female Factory", in J. Mackinolty and H. Radi (eds.), In

Pursuit of Justice: Australian Women and the Law 1788-1979, Sydney, 1979

UNPUBLISHED PAPERS AND THESES

Cummins, C.J., ''The Administrntion of Lunacy and Idiocy in New South Wales 1778-

1855", Department of Health, January, 1967

Edwards, Graham A., "Factory to Asylum: The Early Years at the Parrnmatta

Psychiatric Centre," [Medical Superintendent, Parrnmatta Psychiatric Centre] n.d.

ij:eath, L.M., ''The Female Convict Factories of New South Wales and Van Diemen's . . .

Land: An Examination of their Role in the Control of Punishment and Reformation of

Prisoners Between 1804-1854," MA Thesis, Austrnlian National University, 1978

MacLeod Morgan, H.A., "An Account of a Water-Mill Erected at Parrnmatta in New

South Wales", ? held in the Librnry of the Royal Austrnlian Historical Society

Stenning, Eve, ''Textile Manufacturing in New South Wales 1788-1851", MA Hons.

Thesis, University of Sydney, 1986

I I I I I I I I 'I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Weatherbum, Hilary, "The Female Factory, Parramatta 1804-1848", BA Hons.

Thesis, Sydney University, 1978

UNPUBLISHED REPORTS

New South Wales Planning and Environment Commission in conjunction with the

Council of the City of Parramatta [H. Proudfoot and Mark Horn], "Historic Buildings

and Sites Parramatta," February, 1975

I I I I· I. I I I I I I I I I I ·1 I I I I I

9.0. APPENDIX

Letter from E.H. Statham to the Colonial Architect 1.12.1859

Colonial Architect's Correspondence, Parramatta Lunatic Asylum 1858-1860, Pt. Il,

Archives Office of New South Wales V618C

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I ltb I DRAINAGE DIVERSION, I FLEET STREET, I TIA, N.S.W...

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