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Reopening 3 July
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Cascades Female Factory Historic Site aims to foster a greater understanding and appreciation for the largely untold story of female convicts sent to Australia. Cascades Female Factory Historic Site is the most significant site associated with female convicts in Australia, it is listed as one of the 11 sites that together form the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Property, inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2010.

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16 Degraves St
South Hobart
Tasmania 7004
Australia

Phone: 1800 139 478

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Port Arthur Historic Site

Port Arthur Historic Site is a special place of vivid history, cultural heritage and stories so compelling, you’ll want to hear them again and again. It’s a place of global significance.

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Cascades Female Factory

Cascades Female Factory Historic Site aims to foster a greater understanding and appreciation for the largely untold story of female convicts sent to Australia.

Coal Mines Historic Site

The Coal Mines Historic Site is an outstanding example of the 19th-century European global strategy of using the forced labour of convicts.

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We are reopening!⠀ ⠀ On Friday 3 July, Cascades Female Factory Historic Site will be reopening its doors to the public. After 105 days closed, we can't wait to swing open our gates again to share in the immensely powerful stories of our convict women. ⠀ ⠀ To celebrate our reopening, we are offering free entry to children from 3 July until 31 December 2020. Bring your family along to experience one local attraction among what we hope is a very long list to discover in our beautiful home state this year. ⠀ ⠀ The health and safety of our staff, visitors and community continues to be our highest priority. For all of the up to date information on what we have available during your visit as well as our Covid Safe work plans, please see our website via the link in our bio.⠀ ⠀ Thank you for your ongoing support and we will see you soon! ⠀ ⠀ Photo credit: Hobart Walking Tours ⠀ ⠀ #cascadesfemalefactory #discovertasmania #australianconvictsites #worldheritage #womenshistory #covid19 #hobartandbeyond #tassiestyle #holidayherethisyear #travel #seeaustralia #weekendsaway @cascadesfemalefactory

Want to brush up on your knowledge of convict history? Getting to the end of your isolation reading list? One of our favourite books, ‘Repression, Reform and Resilience. A History of the Cascades Female Factory’ might just be the answer! ⁣ ⁣ Published in 2016 by Convict Women’s Press, ‘Repression, Reform and Resilience’ is an overview of the history of the Cascades Female Factory site from its earliest beginnings in 1828 in a converted distillery in South Hobart through to its World Heritage Status in 2011, when the site came under the management of the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority.⁣ ⁣ Prolific local historian and expert on convict history Dr Dianne Snowden AM says, ⁣ ⁣ “A highlight of the book is the 70 stories about individuals connected to the Site, interspersed with oral history recollections and newspaper snippets. Importantly, it addresses some of the myths of the site’s history. ⁣ ⁣ Editor Alison Alexander contributed several chapters. Other significant contributors include Colette McAlpine (‘Life and death at Cascades from inquest records’), Brian Rieusset (‘The due course of the law: executions from the Cascades Female Factory’) and Lucy Frost (‘The Convict Nurseries’). ⁣ ⁣ ‘Repression, Reform & Resilience’ is a beautifully presented publication, with clear and useful images, including some of the site at various stages of its history and several rare images of female convicts. It is recommended for those with an interest in female convict history as well as local residents who want to find out more about their area”. ⁣ ⁣ The book is available for purchase for $45.00 plus postage, please email greta.mcdonald@femalefactory.org.au or phone 0419 690 435. ⁣ ⁣ #femaleconvicts #tasmanianhistory #worldheritage “Visited the Female Factory today and was particularly delighted by the one woman show - The Proud and The Punished. We watched Claire Dawson who embodied her six characters superbly. If visiting the Factory, plan it around this performance!” @nomesarnold Thanks for sharing your experience Naomi 🙌🏼 #australianconvictsites #hobartandbeyond #discovertasmania #seeaustralia #convicthistory #womenshistory #history #travel #tour #performance #livetheatre #emotional #heritage #holidayherethisyear Meet Sarah Mason, a petty criminal who rallies against the system of punishment and redemption inside the prison walls in this new 45-minute tale of tragedy and triumph brought to life at the Cascades Female Factory. Described by the playwright Finegan Krukemeyer, “Sarah Mason lived a life which reflects the female convict experience well – as a petty criminal sent to it, an injured victim of it and a mouthy challenger against it. The few words which record her for posterity suggest someone embattled by the system, but never quite crushed by it. Despite her early death, there is contained in her years a complex, evocative life which serves to both help us judge history’s structural ills, and also celebrate history’s individual strengths.” Launched today the new Proud and the Punished dramatised tour will be offered at 2:30pm, six days a week. For details and tickets go to our website. photo: @al_bett #discovertasmania #hobartandbeyond #worldheritagesite #tasmanianconvictsites #tasmania #hobart #femaleconvicts #herstory #history Are you a teacher working in the Hobart area? We would love to see you at our free Teacher Open Day this Thursday. Join us for a Heritage Tour at 11:30 or Her Story performance at 1:30 and have a chat to our education officers about how we can help bring convict history to life in your classroom. Phone us on 1800 139 478 to reserve your spot or simply turn up on the day! @festivalofvoicestasmania has arrived to Hobart and this time next week we will be basking in the loveliness that is @thevelvetones, an all-female Jazz quartet who will be performing a special repertoire at the Site. Where: @cascadesfemalefactory When: Thursday 11th July, at 1.00pm How much? Completely free! We’ll see you next week! . . #festivalofvoices #hobartandbeyond #discovertasmania #cascadesfemalefactory This gorgeous Mallard duck has been popping into the Female Factory recently to say good morning and drink from our puddles. Another reason to brave these chilly winter mornings beneath the mountain. . . . . #discovertasmania #hobartandbeyond #australianconvictsites #mallardduck #femalefactory #kunanyi The descriptions found on the walls as you enter Yard 1 from the front gates have come from the records of the women as they arrived, although you would be forgiven for thinking these feelings of claustrophobia, cold, alone and worn were what they experienced during their time within the walls of the Female Factory. We wonder how @anna_jakab_me felt when she took this photo? . . . . . #discovertasmania #hobartandbeyond #australianconvictsites #femalefactory #herstory #convictwomen We can’t quite believe how fast the year is going at the Cascades Female Factory and with Easter almost upon us we’re excited to be bringing back kids activities this school holidays. Join us from 1:30pm to 3:30pm on Tuesdays, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s from the 16th to 25th April where your little ones can try their hand at peg doll making or learning the art of 19th century letter writing, all for free! Today we had a visit from Leonie Mickleborough, a contributor to the marvellous ‘Convict Lives’ series by publishing group Convict Women’s Press Inc. The focus of Leonie’s chapter is Louisa Goslin, a member of a notorious body-snatching ring orchestrated by her husband, Thomas Goslin. For 13 years Thomas and Louisa dug up graves, returned the burial clothes and sold the snatched bodies onto surgeons seeking to further their medical research. That was until police raided their home, found two bodies, over 200 human teeth and a number of stolen grave clothes. For this Louisa was transported in 1830 and found herself serving at least two sentences at the Cascades Female Factory for insolence during her seven year sentence. You can read more stories like Louisa’s in the ‘Convict Lives’ series found in our gift shop! We are delighted to tell our followers that we have a new dramatized tour launching at the Cascades Female Factory! The Proud and the Punished’ is a one-woman show that centres on Sarah Mason, a petty criminal who is both embattled by the grisly system of punishment found inside the Female Factory walls and empowered to rail against it. Sarah represents the shared experience of convict women across Australia who were not only able to survive, but rise above the hardships thrown at them. ‘The Proud and the Punished’ will be offered Tuesday - Friday at 2:30pm. Bookings may be made online at www.femalefactory.org.au or by phoning 1800 139 478. Stay tuned for more details. How would you describe yourself? How would others describe you? Is a woman best described by her physical characteristics or by her character and skills? On this International Women's Day it's important to reflect on how we describe ourselves and how, more often, we are described by others. Thanks to @birrellidesign for sharing this image of Yard 1. As convict women arrived off the ships in Hobart Town, they were walked through the streets up to the Female Factory. It was here in Yard 1 that they were described by their male wardens according to their appearance, temperament and crime class. Over time, through hard work and strength of character, many women were able to not only survive, but to rise above this hardship. They were the women who went on to be the founding mothers and entrepreneurs of this new land. #hobartandbeyond #internationalwomensday #worldheritage Dramatic skies added to the eerie feeling at the Cascades Female Factory last week as fires burned in Tasmania's wilderness World Heritage Area and the smoke crept over kunanyi/Mount Wellington - #cascadesfemalefactory #hobartandbeyond #femaleconvicts #discovertasmania #bushfires #worldheritagearea #eeriesky #nofilter

Port Arthur Historic Site

Cascades Female Factory

Coal Mines Historic Site

Urgent Notice

Cascades Female Factory Historic site is currently CLOSED

The Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority (PAHSMA) is continuing to closely monitor the impacts and spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Our site and tours will REOPEN to visitors from 3 July 2020 from 10.00am until 4.00pm.

As we open our sites, our teams are taking every precaution to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our visitors, staff and community. We ask everyone to adhere to safe social distancing and gathering instructions while once again enjoying our World Heritage Sites.

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