Just got this from Tasmania, people who save Australias Heritage. I am writing as President of the Female Convicts Research Centre, based at the Cascades Female Factory, Hobart. We have more than 3,000 members worldwide who are involved in researching the experiences of convict women transported to Van Diemen’s Land. The importance of the Cascades Female Factory site has been recognized internationally through World Heritage Listing. We are very aware that the earliest convict women’s site in Australia still in existence is the Parramatta Female Factory, the model for the later factories. At a time in the nation’s history when attention is focused on the story of the ANZACS, it is especially important that stories of women do not get lost, and among the most abidingly significant of these is the story of convict women. Their contribution to the early years of European settlement and to the building of nation needs to be acknowledged and celebrated. As we know well from our experience with the Cascades Female Factory Historic Site, even a few remnants of walls and buildings can play a crucial role in bringing the convict story alive. On the Parramatta site, you are very fortunate to have so many surviving structures and spaces. They represent an irreplaceable heritage not only for the local community and the state of New South Wales, but also for the rest of us in Australia, and for the many families overseas who are scanning the internet to learn their own stories of origin. Many are discovering convict ancestors they never knew they had, ancestors who connect them too to Australia. We strongly urge you to protect the Parramatta Female Factory as a site of national and international significance; and we urge you to explore the potential for using the surviving precinct as an opportunity to tell the female convict story.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 08:38:00 +0000
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