Cascades Female Factory Historic Site

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Cascades Female Factory Historic Site Nestled in the shadow of kunanyi, are some of Australia's greatest untold stories. Discover the lives of the convict women at the Cascades Female Factory.

Tours depart daily. Australia’s most significant site associated with female convicts sits in the shadow of Mount Wellington, a short distance from the Hobart CBD. Women were incarcerated here as punishment or while waiting to be assigned. 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.

02/11/2026

Transported at 13 years old 🚢

"It's almost impossible to imagine a 13-year-old girl coming into a place like this and having to fend for herself. Yet somehow, despite all that hardship, she, through her strength, courage and resilience, was able to survive that."

This is the third in a 6-part series about convict woman Ellen Miles and her endurance, defiance and survival.

📖 Watch the full story: youtube.com/
📷 Mike, Tour Guide

30/10/2026

“What’s really important is that the stories are told authentically, honestly and with historical accuracy. And most of all, with respect to the women that we’re talking about during the tours.”

This is the second in a 6-part series about convict woman Ellen Miles and her endurance, defiance and survival.

📖 Watch the full story: youtube.com/
📷 Mike, Tour Guide

26/10/2026

Defying the system, or trapped within it? ⚖️

"She lived to the ripe old age of 95, which is quite extraordinary given she was born into poverty in England, [and] by the age of 11 she had been before the court on multiple occasions.”

This is the first in a 6-part series about convict woman Ellen Miles and her endurance, defiance and survival.

📖 Watch the full story: youtube.com/
📷 Mike, Tour Guide

22/10/2026

A lifetime of endurance ⏳

"You really get the sense of a woman who has come a long way… who has been through some really tough years in the convict system, but who has been strong enough to start again.”

This is the final in a 5-part series about convict woman Margaret Fitzgerald and her courage, resilience and resistance.

📖 Watch the full story: youtube.com/
📷 Marcelle, Tour Guide

18/10/2026

The voices history forgot 💭

“To be able to tell those stories is to uncover hidden history… it sets a precedent for telling hard history.”

This is the fourth in a 5-part series about convict woman Margaret Fitzgerald and her courage, resilience and resistance.

📖 Watch the full story: youtube.com/
📷 Marcelle, Tour Guide

14/10/2026

Could you survive six days in the dark? 🕯️

"She will spend the first time, 6 days, locked in a dark cell. The dark cells are so small, they're not much longer – or wider – than the women."

This is the third in a 5-part series about convict woman Margaret Fitzgerald and her courage, resilience and resistance.

📖 Watch the full story: youtube.com/
📷 Marcelle, Tour Guide

10/10/2026

Survival against the odds 🕊️

"We strongly encourage people to think about their resilience, their capacity as survivors."

This is the second in a 5-part series about convict woman Margaret Fitzgerald and her courage, resilience and resistance.

📖 Watch the full story: youtube.com/
📷 Marcelle, Tour Guide

06/10/2026

How do you earn the name ‘Sovereign Eater’? 👀

“She’s starting to get this reputation as the ‘Sovereign Eater’, which is exactly as it sounds.”

This is the first in a 5-part series about convict woman Margaret Fitzgerald and her courage, resilience and resistance.

📖 Watch the full story: youtube.com/
📷 Marcelle, Tour Guide

Why was Cascades chosen as the site of the Female Factory?Part of the answer was surprisingly practical: the walls were ...
29/09/2026

Why was Cascades chosen as the site of the Female Factory?

Part of the answer was surprisingly practical: the walls were already there.

The site had previously been a distillery, and its existing high walls made it an appealing and cost-effective solution when the Female House of Correction in Hobart Town became overcrowded.

But there were warnings.

The site was damp, dark, shaded by the mountain and positioned beside a rivulet known to flood. Despite these concerns, it was purchased and converted into the Cascades Female Factory, opening in 1828.

Almost two centuries later, those same environmental conditions remain an important part of understanding what life here would have been like.

Imagine seeing Hobart for the first time from the deck of a convict ship.Behind you were months at sea.Ahead was a place...
28/09/2026

Imagine seeing Hobart for the first time from the deck of a convict ship.

Behind you were months at sea.

Ahead was a place you had never seen.

For thousands of transported women, arrival in Van Diemen's Land marked an extraordinary turning point.

Their journey did not end at the waterfront.

For many, another chapter would eventually lead them to places such as Cascades Female Factory.

On World Maritime Day, we remember the voyages behind the women whose stories we tell today.

Image credit: Hobart Town, Tasmania. James Charles Armytage (1820 - 1897)

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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