Female Factory: Female Convicts Exiled from Britain to Van Diemen's Land
Australian History Social History Convict History Young Adult Non-Fiction True Crime Genealogy & Family History Women's History Colonialism
Female Factory: Female Convicts Exiled from Britain to Van Diemen’s Land is the only illustrated, reader-friendly chronicle that follows Britain’s transported women from London docks to the notorious Cascades Female Factory in Hobart. In 199 tightly-written pages, Tony Rayner reconstructs individual voyages, punishments, romances and rebellions, giving names and faces to the 25,000 exiled mothers, pick-pockets and political protestors who became the founding mothers of modern Tasmania. For family historians, the book is a gold-mine of passenger-list references, surgeon-superintendent diaries and Tasmanian Archive record numbers; for students it is a vivid classroom resource that meets the Australian Curriculum’s depth-study on colonial impact.
What makes this 2012 paperback special is its rare combination of academic rigour and photographic evidence. More than 60 historic images—convict ID photos, colour shots of surviving sandstone wards, and Rayner’s own maps—let you walk the Factory yard and see exactly where the women slept, spun wool and received their dreaded “haircuts.” The clean, unmarked copy on offer is in near-mint condition: tight binding, no previous-owner writing, no dog-eared corners, only a tiny scuff on page 1, making it shelf-ready for collectors and gift-givers alike.
Because the title is already out of print in most Australian bookshops, a well-preserved second-hand copy is the fastest way to secure this sought-after reference. Whether you are tracing a convict ancestor, writing a school project on colonialism, or simply want a compelling true story of female resilience, Female Factory delivers an unforgettable window into Australia’s convict past.
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