Cascades Female Factory Historic Site

Cascades Female Factory Historic Site Tragic and triumphant stories of Australia's convict women. Women were incarcerated here as punishment or while waiting to be assigned.

Australia’s most significant site associated with female convicts sits in the shadow of Mount Wellington, a short distance from the Hobart CBD. With guards, nurses and babies, up to 1000 people lived here at any one time. Discover the stories of female convicts and their children on a guided tour or experience morning tea with the matron.

The stories of convict women were once pushed to the edges of history.At Cascades Female Factory, those stories stand at...
24/06/2026

The stories of convict women were once pushed to the edges of history.

At Cascades Female Factory, those stories stand at the centre. Walk through the yards where thousands of women lived, worked, gave birth, formed friendships and endured punishment within the colonial convict system.

The Convict Women’s Tour explores the deeply human experiences behind the records and reveals how they helped shape Tasmania’s history, even when history tried to forget them.

Cascades Female Factory is one of the most significant sites connected to female convicts in Australia.Between 1828 and ...
23/06/2026

Cascades Female Factory is one of the most significant sites connected to female convicts in Australia.

Between 1828 and 1856, thousands of women and children passed through these yards as part of the colonial convict system. The site operated as a place of punishment, assignment, labour and confinement, but it was also a place where women formed friendships, raised children and fought to retain their identity.

Today, the stories of these women continue to reshape our understanding of Australia’s convict past.

What does justice look like in a convict colony? Condemned explores the lives of four women sentenced to death in Van D...
18/06/2026

What does justice look like in a convict colony? Condemned explores the lives of four women sentenced to death in Van Diemen’s Land, uncovering the circumstances, choices and hardships that shaped their stories.

Inside these walls, the line between guilt and survival often becomes blurred. Listen carefully before delivering your verdict.

Bridget Hehir was transported for stealing a cow. Pregnant while serving punishment at Cascades Female Factory, she gave...
16/06/2026

Bridget Hehir was transported for stealing a cow. Pregnant while serving punishment at Cascades Female Factory, she gave birth to a son who lived for only six days.

Her life is one of grief, survival and uncertainty. After multiple marriage applications, Bridget eventually wed fellow convict John Appleby and later had six children, but hardship continued to follow the family.

The stories held within these walls are not simple. It's history of motherhood, loss and resilience. Walk through Cascades Female Factory and discover the lives history nearly left behind.

Who decided which women were “notorious”? At Cascades Female Factory, many women arrived carrying convictions shaped by...
13/06/2026

Who decided which women were “notorious”?

At Cascades Female Factory, many women arrived carrying convictions shaped by poverty, survival and desperation. Yet history often reduced them to a single word or stereotype.

The Notorious Strumpets Tour explores the realities behind these labels and reveals the humanity of the women who lived within these walls.

Hear the stories history almost left behind.

Image credit Sarthure

For many convict women transported to Van Diemen’s Land, the journey began at the waterfront before continuing uphill to...
08/06/2026

For many convict women transported to Van Diemen’s Land, the journey began at the waterfront before continuing uphill to the Cascades Female Factory.

Their crimes were often acts of desperation. The theft of food, clothing or small items committed during times of poverty, hunger and uncertainty. Yet thousands of women and children were separated from family and sent across the world to an unfamiliar colony.

Today, their stories stand in the light rather than the shadows.

The Footsteps Towards Freedom sculptures at Hobart’s Macquarie Wharf honour the women and children who arrived on these shores during the nineteenth century. Each figure reflects a different story of hardship, survival and resilience, reminding us that many of Tasmania’s founding stories began with women whose voices were too often forgotten.

At Cascades Female Factory, we believe those stories deserve to be heard, and we continue to share them in the very place where many of these women once lived, worked and endured.

Image credit Rosemary Noble

Nature continues to soften a place once built for punishment.Trees line the pathways, the rivulet flows beside the walls...
05/06/2026

Nature continues to soften a place once built for punishment.

Trees line the pathways, the rivulet flows beside the walls, and native wildlife now shares space with one of Australia’s most significant convict sites.

On World Environment Day, we recognise the importance of preserving not only our built heritage, but the natural environments surrounding it.

Behind these walls were women history tried to reduce to numbers, sentences and punishment.But the stories survived.Stor...
04/06/2026

Behind these walls were women history tried to reduce to numbers, sentences and punishment.

But the stories survived.
Stories of overcrowded cells, separation from children, hard labour and lives shaped by a system that offered little mercy. Stories that still sit heavily within the walls of Cascades Female Factory today.

Condemned invites you to confront the choices, fears and injustices that led four women to the gallows.

Not every verdict is easy.

Image credit: University of Tasmania, https://eprints.utas.edu.au/3561/, James Walker, Cascades' Female Factory, Hobart, November 1892.

Hidden amongst the stories of Tasmania are a little bit of magic and wonder.The beautifully illustrated Faeries of Tasma...
30/05/2026

Hidden amongst the stories of Tasmania are a little bit of magic and wonder.

The beautifully illustrated Faeries of Tasmania books are now featured in our Gift Shop, including Volume 2, home to a very special Cascades Female Factory fairy.

A charming keepsake for dreamers, storytellers and lovers of Tasmania’s hidden tales.

The past is not always visible.Through archaeology, we uncover traces of lives once lived within these walls.Each find h...
21/05/2026

The past is not always visible.
Through archaeology, we uncover traces of lives once lived within these walls.
Each find helps us better understand the site.

Address

16 Degraves Street
South Hobart, TAS
7004

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Friday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Saturday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Sunday 9:30am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+611800139478

Website

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