Parramatta Female Factory Friends

17/03/2025

BIMONTHLY SPEAKERS' PROGRAMME 2025

In April we have been lucky enough to have Dr. Mark Dunn whose topic is 'The Convict Valley'.

To secure a spot please click on this link:
https://bit.ly/theconvictvalley

Newcastle, at the mouth of the Hunter River is largely a forgotten convict town, despite its foundation story being a convict story and its first twenty years being one of convict toil, punishment and endeavour. The talk will focus on the story of Newcastle in the years before1830, including its foundation as a convict penal station, interactions with Aboriginal people and the exploitation of the area’s coal and timber resources. The talk will also touch on the establishment of the Newcastle Female Factory with the transportation of women from Parramatta.

Dr. Mark Dunn is a professional historian with broad-based historical research over 25 years. He has a PhD in history from the University of New South Wales focusing on the colonial interactions of Newcastle. He is author of ‘The Convict Valley: The Bloody Struggle for Australia’s Early Frontier’ (2020) which was short-listed for the Prime Minister’s Award for Australian History, 2021. Mark is a member of ICOMOS Australia and sits on the editorial board for the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

03/03/2025

WORKSHOP

Part 2 of the sellout - Keeping Your Family History Alive with EHive.

President of the Parramatta Female Factory Friends will be conducting Part 2 of the Keeping Your Family History Alive with EHive.

Make sure you get your tickets before they sell out:

https://bit.ly/AlivewithEHive.

You may have enjoyed the Workshop, Home Curator part 1 which covered the basics of caring for your family history collections. Part 2 goes into more depth and gives you skills in cataloguing and sharing your family history collections, learning how to use the eHive collection management tool.

Track your objects, keep their provenance and stories, and cover their condition in one easy tool and save them for family and future generations. Learn how to use this easy professional tool that anyone can use and help ensure that those important family connections to your treasures survive.
For this workshop you will need to bring an object, your laptop and a digital photograph of your object. This session does not depend on having attended part 1.

Gay Hendriksen is currently President, Parramatta Female Factory Friends and Coordinator of the ‘Friends’ Research Centre. She has worked as a TAFE cultural history teacher and as an art and history curator, a writer and educator. She has worked in museums for over 30 years as curator and collections manager. Her museum work has included Parramatta Heritage Centre, Museums of History NSW, State Archives of NSW and several local government areas.

26/02/2025

Big shout out to our newest top fans! 💎 Joy Nandan, Victoria Burke, Joanne-Peter Hart, Nicola Noakes

Drop a comment to welcome them to our community,

22/02/2025

IWD (International Women's Day) Event on 8 March 2025

Change of Speaker
We are thrilled to have Ronda Gaffey speaking on the topic of 'Banished Beyond the Seas' as our guest speaker on IWD on the 8th March 2025.

Ticketing remains the same at Eventbrite by clicking on this link:

bit.ly/PFFF-IWD-8-Mar-2025

It's shaping up to be a momentous day. ☺️

14/02/2025

Big shout out to a new rising fan! Sussan Marisa Hollis

14/02/2025

IWD 2025 - 8 MARCH 2025 - COME AND JOIN US

The Parramatta Female Factory Friends are hosting a special event on International Women's Day on 8 March 2025 with a Talk, a Tour, a Tea.

Please check out the flyer for our special event.

Bookings are essential through - https://bit.ly/PFFF-IWD2025

Bookings are for the talk and the guided walking tour will be offered for a special IWD discount of $10 which can only be purchased at the event.

Our amazing Ann Gordon Tea Room will be open for refreshments of tea and scones or coffee and cake.

The impressive Research Centre will be open for those who are searching for their ancestors. We have researchers who can help you finding your resilient, strong, and tenacious female convicts.

25/01/2025

BI-MONTHLY GUEST SPEAKERS' PROGRAMME - 2025.

We start the year with a much-anticipated talk from Gary Carter, author of two books on Parramatta.

Gary did extensive research into Parramatta's history and has put together a book called The Colonial Nation's FIRST BIG STEPS, Parramatta the Cradle City—List of the Hundred Firsts.

It is on Friday, February 21st, at 1 p.m. in our 'Friends' room inside the 1918 Francis Greenway-designed Matron's Quarters, Administration, and Stores building.

Here is the link to book tickets:
https://tinyurl.com/PFFF-Feb2025

Please book early as there is limited seating and try the new Light Rail (the Station is only 100 m from our rooms or come by car and park in the Parramatta Leagues Club carpark - it's FREE.

Don't forget to stick around for a lovely AFTERNOON TEA in our Matron Ann Gordon Tea Rooms.

See you there!

18/01/2025

WRITERS AWARD PROGRAM - APPLY NOW

The Parramatta Female Factory Friends Inc is offering a Writer in Residence Program
in 2025. This is in acknowledgement of the World Heritage value of the Parramatta
Female Factory. Our organization is looking for a creative response to the
significance of the site and social history of the Parramatta Female Factory,
associated histories and its contribution to the Australian Identity. The sections are:
1. Writer in Residence Award $3,000
2. Highly Commended Award $1,500
3. Student Writing Award $ 500

The successful applicants will be elected by an expert panel, according to specific
criteria: historic subject relevance, originality, excellence, authenticity.

1. The Writer in Residence Award recipient will have access to the Parramatta
Female Factory Friends Research Centre by arrangement on Fridays and access to
our hard copy collection (general book collection and rare books), our digital
resources and onsite access to our research subscriptions and six months of public
programs free (talks, workshops, tours). The recipient will also receive free
Parramatta Female Factory Friends membership for one year. From research to final
product will be six months, culminating in a presentation at our Annual It’s a Riot
Day event commemoration and a written publishable result.

2. The Writer in Residence Highly Commended Award will have the same access to
the Parramatta Female Factory Friends Research Centre resources, public programs
and membership. From research to final product will be six months, culminating in a
presentation at one of our public program talks and a written publishable result.
3. The Student Writing Award will have the same access to the Parramatta Female
Factory Friends Research Centre resources, public programs and membership. The
period of the research to final product will be six months with a written publishable
result.

To apply, email us at [email protected] and we can send you an Application Form. For more information, please contact Gay Hendriksen, President and Research Coordinator on 0447189137.

17/01/2025

HAVE YOUR SAY ON THE PARRAMATTA NORTH REZONING

Parramatta Female Factory Friends,

This week was the release of the NSW State Government led rezoning plan and application.

Briefly, while respect has been shown in not putting any new buildings on the Female Factory and Institutions Precinct site, and a positive in the plans that gives some affordable housing and new green space along the Parramatta River there are serious issues to be addressed.

The rezoning plans back up against the curtilage and impinge on the Parramatta Female Factory Friends proposed buffer zone and impacts the sightlines (which are still to be determined for application for World Heritage listing) and brings the pressure of 2,000 new accommodation in units and townhouses, significantly reduces the current greenspaces, increases traffic and obvious parking issues.

Of key concern is the possible location and heights of the new buildings both in curtilage and buffer zone areas. Can we urge you as Friends of the Parramatta Female Factory to look closely at the overview and the many documents released and send your feedback as response in the Have Your Say email by the end of next week if you can.

There are some public forums, and an online webinar, so please click on the link for information on those.

There is a deadline of February 10 for comments submitted in the link - Have Your Say. We intend to send a PFFF response but as a Friend, you could also send your individual responses so that your concerns are heard. See links in this email for the information released.

https://www.dpie.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-property/our-business/precinct-development/parramatta-north-precinct

https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/draftplans/exhibition/parramatta-north-precinct-state-led-rezoning-proposal.

HISTORY - HER STORY - OURSTORY



Please feel free to repost.

Covering 42-hectares of Government-owned land, the Parramatta North Program is a whole-of-government, major urban renewal initiative.

03/01/2025

Big shout out to our newest top fans! 💎 Joy Nandan, Victoria Burke, Nicola Noakes, as part of our fans

Welcome, Top Fans of the Parramatta Female Factory Friends!

We are thrilled to have you as part of our passionate and supportive community. Your dedication to preserving and sharing the rich history of the Parramatta Female Factory is truly inspiring.

As top fans, you play an essential role in keeping the stories of resilience, struggle, and triumph alive. Your engagement helps us honor the legacy of the women who shaped Australia's history and ensures their voices are never forgotten.

Stay tuned for exciting updates, exclusive insights, and special events just for you. Together, we can continue to advocate for the preservation of this significant heritage site and share its remarkable history with the world.

Thank you for your ongoing support—let's make history together!

- The Parramatta Female Factory Friends Committee

24/12/2024

A NEW EXPERIENCE AWAITS - LIGHTRAIL TO THE PARRAMATTA FEMALE FACTORY

Have you travelled on the new light rail? Follow us on a trip from Parramatta Square which is 71m from Parramatta Railway Station and takes you to within 100m from the Parramatta Female Factory, remember to alight there at Ngara as the light rail continues to Westmead and returns.

Book a guided walking tour in 2025 by emailing [email protected] and catch the Parramatta light rail. Step from 2025 into 1818 where female convicts lived, worked in the factory, endured cruel punishments, had children removed from their care, were assigned to work in the colony and many were selected to be married and released from custody.

23/12/2024

MEDIA RELEASE
The Newly Opened Parramatta Light Rail is a Gamechanger for Western Sydney and A Gamechanger for Parramatta Heritage! At last the National Heritage Parramatta Female Factory and World Heritage value site is on the Map! A Jewel in the Heritage Crown of Parramatta is now accessible to all Australians

Alight at NGARA, Factory Street, North Parramatta
(Ngara - LOOK - LISTEN - THINK)
Look at the sandstone walls and wonder about the lives of the convict women who were incarcerated here! Listen for their voices of protest! Think about their resilience and survival after being forcibly removed from their land of birth! Think about the multi-histories of this extraordinary site! Walk in the convict women’s footsteps!

The Friends’ Rooms are open for information, sales and Herstory displays every Friday commencing late January 2025. The PFFF Research Room is open for family history enquiries by appointment.

Regular Tours by appointment @ [email protected].

08/12/2024

The Parramatta Female Factory Friends would like to thank you our for your support during 2024, it was a big year culminating in major events in Riot Day in October and Foundation Day in November (arguably the best ever) and well organized by the City of Parramatta. We could not have done it without our lovely group of volunteers helping out and the amazing help provided by the volunteers from Parramatta Leagues Club.

Some of you may have missed the news, the Preliminary Submission was submitted to UNESCO for World Heritage Listing in September 2024. We now nervously await (although quietly confident) UNESCO's decision to progress to the next step in the process.

See below PFFF Calendar below, print it out and pin it on the Fridge so you know when our major events are on in 2025.

Our PFFF Research Centre is now officially open, 9am every Friday. Research assistance by appointment.

We also have Bi-Monthly General Meetings where we open with a speaker at 1 pm (as part of our Speaker Program) followed by afternoon tea in our Ann Gordon Tea Room and the General Meeting commencing at 2:15PM.

Our members' morning teas were well received this year, so to our members, keep an eye on your emails for the next special invitation to our first Morning Tea for the year in March 2025.

A reminder we have Regular & Bespoke Tours, and all Tours are by appointment by contacting the Tour Coordinator at our email: [email protected].

20/11/2024

10/11/2024

Great to be with my Liberal colleagues at the Female Factory in Parramatta recently.

We are so blessed to be surrounded by many significant heritage sites in Parramatta. The Parramatta Female Factory is the earliest and most intact convict women’s site in Australia. Of the 24,960 convict women transported to Australia approximately 5,000 went through the Parramatta Female Factory. This suggests that a significant number of Australians are descended from the women who lived at the Parramatta Female Factory.

We attended the Female Factory for the launch of the the official launch of the Parramatta Female Factory Research Centre and Babette Smith Collection. We were also there for the Annual Riot Day Commemoration, which is where we mark the day in 1827 when the convict women stuck up for their rights in the face of appalling conditions. We honoured the women by laying posies of flowers at the commemorative wall.

A huge thank you to the Parramatta Female Factory Friends for all their hard work in maintaining, protecting, promoting and celebrating this important site.

If you haven’t visited the Female Factory before, it is well worth visiting and taking a tour!


Katie Mullens

03/11/2024

WORKSHOP - ANCESTRY MASTERCLASS

This Friday we are running a follow-up to the successful Ancestry 101, a beginner's workshop to Ancestry.com. This workshop follows on and takes on exploring Ancestry's billions of records and how to compile your family tree and overcome roadblocks. The workshop will show you how the NEW DNA matching works and how to organize your new DNA matches.

Most importantly, you can bring your own laptop and sign into our NBN Router by Wi-Fi or use one of our latest laptops (be sure to email us beforehand to secure a laptop).

There will be a break for tea/coffee/refreshments - ALL supplied as part of the cost of the workshop.

Parking is now much easier with the Parramatta Leagues Club offering FREE parking for those attending the Parramatta Female Factory.

STRICTLY LIMITED TICKETS.

02/11/2024

Shout out to my newest followers! Excited to have you onboard! Carole Kitteringham, Stefanie Paglialonga

02/11/2024

Shout out to our newest followers! Excited to have you onboard! Carole Kitteringham, Stefanie Paglialonga