Range of solitary cells erected at the Female Factory at Parramatta [cartographic material] : accompanying plans and estimates of buildings proposed by Captn. Maconochie, R.N. /Transverse Section through a Range of Cells erected at the Female Factory, Parramatta

Description

Rare architectural plan of the Female Factory Parramatta dated 1841.

The plan shows the remodelling of the 1821 Female Factory which was built in 1796 at Parramatta.

The plan features only those revisions to the original design around 1839-1840 drawn by Royal Engineer H.H. Lugard. Those revisions involved the construction of a set of solitary cells. This was probably due to increasing convict unrest as a result of massive overcrowding at the Parramatta facility. Alexander Maconochie, a penal reformer far ahead of his times, who had in March 1840 taken up the appointment as commandant of the penal colony on Norfolk Island, then a brutally run gulag, used the updated plans of the Parramatta Female Factory that provided correction through solitary confinement to support his own proposal for a similarly designed prison on Norfolk Island. Major George Barney in his letter to the Colonial Secretary dated Feb. 20, 1840 compares both maps in terms of costs to support Maconochie in his endeavour before the British House of Commons

Sections on map:
Side elevation of the 72 cells 72 and Elevation of the Keeper’s House.
Ground Floorplan of the 36 cells and Keeper’s House, ground floor.
1st & 2nd floor’s cells, 18 of each and the upper floor of the Keeper’s House.

Ancillary section:
Transverse section through a range of cells erected at the Female Factory, Parramatta.