Australian History: Women Convicts
Twenty per cent of these first convicts were women. The majority of women convicts, and many free women seeking employment, were sent to the 'female factories' as unassigned women. Convict women were regarded as low-id, foul mouthed and having no morals, nevertheless on arrival, they were lined up for inspection so that free settlers could choose them as servants, housekeepers, wives and mistresses. Once chosen the women were under the control of their masters, but usually were treated kindly. However if a woman was to break the rules, become pregnant or wasn't required anymore, their master would send them away.
The Female Factory in Parramatta was a place where women convicts lived when they had nowhere else to go. This was also a place for punishment for women who committed crimes in the colony. From 1804 the Factory had been on the first floor of the gaol at Parramatta. In 1819 work began on a new factory, designed by a convict architect, Francis Greenway. It was a three storey building with enough room for 300 women who were designated textile jobs such as sewing, spinning and weaving wool to make clothes. In the Factory there were three groups/ides of women. There was the First id, where you were allowed to do some work for wages after any completed government jobs. After being in the First id for a year or so, you were eligible to be chosen again by free settlers to work for them. Convicts who misbehaved in the Factory were put into the Third id, where they were punished and were distinguished by having their hair shaved off. Other punishments for women include an iron collar fastened round the neck, or having her head shaved as a mark of disgrace. Often these punishments were for moral misdemeanours, such as being 'found in the yard of an inn in an indecent posture for an immoral purpose', or 'misconduct in being in a brothel with her mistress' child'. Further misbehaviour resulted into being placed into solitary confinement in tiny cells. As women were a scarcity in the colony, if they married they could be assigned to free settlers. Often, desperate men would go looking for a wife at the Female Factories