The Cascades Female Factory in South Hobart operated between 1828 & 1856 as a “correction facility”.

The first female convicts arrived from England on the Harmony in January 1829. Within 12 months there were almost 200 women & children incarcerated there.

After women weaned their babies (between 6 & 9 months), the babies would be left in the nursery with another convict woman who had the care of multiple children. The mother would then be punished for the ‘crime’ of having gotten pregnant by being sent back to work with other “Crime Class” women.

At the age of 3, the children would be sent from the Cascades to the Queen’s Orphan Asylum in New Town.

The Cascades Female Factory was well known for the high rate of infant mortality. Between 1830 & 1838, for example, 26% of the infants born there died

After the female factory closed in 1856, it continued as a prison between 1856 until 1877.

https://www.dcceew.gov.au/parks-heritage/heritage/places/national/cascade-female-factory