Female Factory, Cascades, 1880 - 1920, courtesy of Tasmanian Images: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office.
Details
The Lying-in Home for single mothers opened on the site of the former Female Factory at Cascades in 1888. The government ran it assisted by a voluntary women's visiting committee. In 1895, the committee of the Home of Mercy briefly took over the management of the Lying-in Home. That same year, it moved to the New Town Charitable Institution. In 1900 it closed.
The Lying-in Home occupied three rooms in Yard Three.
A Miss Galvin, who was a certified midwife, ran it.
To gain admission, mothers needed a referral from an officer in the Charitable Grants Department. Eventually, the ladies' Committee that ran the Home was able to offer referrals.
Less than 20 mothers had their babies at the Lying-in Home every year. Some of them stayed at the New Town Charitable Institution until their confinement and others went there after the birth. They mostly kept their babies and were helped to find work in order to support them.
Sources used to compile this entry: Brown, Joan C., 'Poverty is not a crime': the development of social services in Tasmania, 1803-1900, Tasmanian Historical Research Association, Hobart, 1972, 192 pp; 'Cascades Female Factory Ruins', in Australian Heritage Places Inventory, Australian Government, https://web.archive.org/web/20190308091043/https://dmzapp17p.ris.environment.gov.au/ahpi/action/search/heritage-search/record/RNE11027; Scripps, L. and Hudspeth, A, The Female Factory Historic Site: Historical Report, unpublished report for Department of Parks, Wildlife and Heritage, 1992.
Prepared by: Caroline Evans
Created: 16 January 2012, Last modified: 25 March 2014
Last updated: 4 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/tas/biogs/TE00329b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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