Designed under the influence and direction of Francis Greenway, James Barnet, William Buchanan, Walter Liberty Vernon, Frederick Norton Manning, Henry Ginn, and Charles Moore, the imposing Old Colonial, Victorian Georgian, and Classical Revival sandstone structures were completed during the nineteenth century.

Governor King brought from Norfolk Island a convict millwright, Nathaniel Lucas, and Alexander Dolliss, master boat builder, to assist in that year.

Dispossession, disease and displacement led to widespread disruption of the lives of Burramatta people and their culture along with the rest of the Darug clan, contributing to the decline in armed resistance in the early 1800s.

[1] The first known British use of the area now known as the Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct was a land grant to former convict Charles Smith in 1792, who farmed wheat, maize and pigs for approximately a decade.

[5][1] The practical difficulties of establishing a colonial settlement in NSW meant that accommodation for convicts was a much lower priority than essential works such as those relating to food production and transport.

[2] The new building, intended for 300 women, was built "at the extremity of a large, uninclosed tract of sterile ground" adjoining the river, which in flood came close to the wall of the new Factory.

His modifications included removing windows on the ground floor to increase punishment and reducing cell sizes, changes which horrified the British designers.

Anderson and I went before, Captain Westmacott gave directions for the soldiers – the women had collected large heaps of stones and as soon as we entered the third class they threw a shower of stones as fast as they possibly could...The end of transportation of convicts to New South Wales in 1840 did not immediately cause the closure of the Parramatta Female Factory and in fact led to an increase in numbers, as other female factories were closed down and women were relocated to Parramatta.

The mentally ill in New South Wales had been held in Castle Hill (closed in 1825), Liverpool and a new asylum at Gladesville (Tarban Creek), but even the latter was already overcrowded less than a decade after its construction.

Following a visit in 1855 by the new Governor, William Denison, a government report found severe faults in both Roman Catholic and Protestant orphan schools, remarking that the "utter inefficiency of the Establishments, as now conducted, to produce any good effect upon the Children maintained in them".

The commissioners praised the matron, Sister Magdalene Adamson, for achieving outstanding levels of internal management and acknowledged a proficiency in teaching equal to "the ordinary unsectarian schools of the colony".

[1][53] The continued chronic underfunding combined with the broader reform movement for boarding out children led to a stark reduction in numbers in the early 1880s at the Roman Catholic Orphan School.

[1][54] Despite the intentions to create an educational, reformatory environment, what transpired over the next nearly hundred years at the Parramatta Girls Industrial School was a form of care emblematic of the treatment of children in institutions across Australia into the late 20th century.

Residents of the Girls School experienced widespread abuse, both mental, physical and sexual, as well as a lack of emotional support and care essential to childhood development.

These reports, largely instigated by the courage of survivors to tell their stories, provide detailed descriptions of the suffering faced by young girls at the Industrial School.

The Stolen Generations arose from the forcible separation of Indigenous children from their families and communities since the very first days of the European occupation of Australia by governments and missionaries.

In the late 19th century, this practice developed into a systematic and widespread attempt to assimilate Indigenous children into European society and to break their familial and cultural heritage.

[57] There was little recognition that girls who were absconding and uncontrollable were often reacting to mistreatment at the hands of those around them, situations such as violent families, sexual abuse or poor treatment in the foster system.

[65] As time progressed there were increasing attempts to include academic schooling as part of the girls training, such as in response to the Public Institution Act 1901, but such educational options remained limited.

... he [Mr Johnson] was a brutal man and within that week I had seen him bash and kick a girl that he had been molesting to try and induce a miscarriage...The frequent riots at the institution throughout its operation gave government authorities and the wider community evidence of what was going on behind closed doors.

As girls and in adulthood the women who lived in the school were commonly disbelieved and disregarded when trying to tell their stories, impacting on their self-worth as well as the community's recognition of their experiences.

The palette of plants reflects those both in fashion and distributed by Charles Moore, Director of the Botanic Gardens Sydney (1848–96), via the State Nursery at Campbelltown in the 19th century.

[3] The Norma Parker Centre consisted of three separate accommodation areas: Winmill Cottage, Morgan House, and a section located above the facility's offices for women on Work Release.

[1] The Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct is an outstanding example of a place which demonstrates Australia's social welfare history, especially regarding the institutionalisation of women and children over the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct can act "as a bridge and a shared cultural space for witnessing nation-wide experiences of institutionalisation and incarceration" (Tumarkin 2016).

Through this original fabric, the site demonstrates the distinctive experience of institutionalised women and children, who were subject to the system of care and control at the core of welfare institutions.

This archaeological evidence has the potential to contribute to understanding of the lives of convict women, providing a perspective on their experiences which is not accessible from existing written sources.

The Precinct demonstrates how colonial and state governments chose to address the perceived problem of vulnerable women and children, who they regarded as needing protection and control, through the use of institutions as a core element of the welfare system.

[1] This value is expressed in the remaining physical fabric of the Parramatta Female Factory (North-East and South-East Ranges, Penitentiary Sleeping Ward and remaining walls) and Roman Catholic Orphan School and Girls Industrial School (Main Administration Building, Covered Way, South-West Range, Chapel, Laundry, Bethel House and the Gatehouse), also known as the former Norma Parker Centre/Kamballa Site.

[1] This value is expressed by the remnant built fabric and archaeological evidence found within the place relating to the original area of Parramatta Female Factory.