Cascades Female Factory

The Cascades Female Factory operated in South Hobart from 1828 to 1856. After it ceased operation as a female factory in 1856, it continued as a gaol under the administration of local authorities from 1856 until 1877. There were eventually 5 yards operating at Cascades Female Factory. The Factory opened with Yard 1 in 1828, Yard 2 opened in 1832, Yard 3 opened in 1845, Yard 4 opened in 1850, and Yard 5 opened in 1853, the last year of transportation. Governor George Arthur purchased the site at Cascades for the female factory in 1827 from the owner of a failed distillery, TY Lowes. The factory's first intake of female prisoners was in December 1828, from the prisoners at Hobart Town Female Factory. It gradually expanded to hold 700 female convicts and their children, though at its peak it was even more overcrowded than usual, holding 1,200 women and children. Rules and regulations for the management of the Factory were published in 1829. The Cascades Female Factory was purpose-built in 1828 and operated as a convict facility until 1856. It was intended to remove women convicts from the negative influences and temptations of Hobart, and also to protect society from what was seen as their immorality and corrupting influence. The Factory was located, however, in an area of damp swamp land, and with overcrowding, poor sanitation and inadequate food and clothes, there was a high rate of disease and mortality among its inmates.