Parramatta’s rich female history has been put in the spotlight at the recent Foundation Festival.
Throughout history, there have only been a handful of female uprisings, including one that happened right here in Parramatta.
In 1827, the Parramatta Female Factory saw convict women come together to rise up against the injustice they were forced to experience.
Inspired by the tale of survival, acclaimed playwright and historian Cate Whittaker has since transformed the true stories into a play called ‘Forgotten’.
“They’re all true case studies of convict women and I know from history there’s less than five female uprisings recorded in history, one of them occurred at the Parramatta Female Factory at the penitentiary,” she said.
“220 women broke out, it was huge – they were fired on and they were chased with bayonets, both illegal.
“[When] they got down to the town, there was no riot, no smashing, all they [said] was ‘we are starving’.”
As the women were incarcerated and couldn’t earn money to afford food, it was the Governor’s duty to feed them. However, Ms Whittaker said that it’s thought the matron’s son was stealing the food and selling it at the Parramatta markets, forcing the women to slowly starve.
But despite their struggles, it’s the message of sisterhood among the women that led Ms Whittaker to create the play.
“One of the wonderful things about the story of the convict women is they were torn away from everybody who loved them, including their children, and they found these sisterhoods that supported each other,” she said.
“And after the uprising… they were after the ringleaders but the women wouldn’t give them up.”
Originally performed in 2019 at Riverside Theatre, the play ‘Forgotton’ made its long-awaited return recently at the Foundation Festival where the first scene was performed at the Parramatta Female Factory.
With a young cast made up mostly of new drama graduates, Ms Whittaker said it’s great to be able to share such an important part of Parramatta’s history with the younger generation.
“I’m an unashamed female historian, unfortunately our history is ‘his-story’ not ‘her-story’,” she said.
“We’ve got to know that the women before had the courage to [fight for equal rights] – we stand on their shoulders.”
‘Forgotten’ returns to Riverside Theatre on January 27 to 28, 2023. To find out more go to http://www.riversideparramatta.com.au.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.