Preface
The establishment of the Women's Prison Factory above Parramatta Prison in 1804 was the beginning of the government's management of women exiles, and its establishment is significant in the history of the development of women's prison factories.
In the early development of women's prison factories, the government focused too much on the economic development of the factories and neglected the management of female prisoners.
As a result, the women's prison factories during this period gave rise to a number of problems, such as the harsh conditions in the factories that deepened the suffering of female exiles, and the bad influence of the factories on the inhabitants of colonial society.
In a more strict sense, this women's prison factory is fundamentally different from the women's prison factory that was established later, it existed more as an economic entity than as a correctional institution for female exiles, and its punitive function for female exiles accounted for only a small part of it.
Problems that arise in early development
First of all, in the early days of the establishment of the women's prison factory, too much attention was paid to the economic function of the factory and the management of female exiles was neglected, which made the living conditions of female prisoners even worse.
After the establishment of the first women's prison factory in 1804, it became the main place for the British government to manage female exiles. The women's prison factory was not only a workplace for female exiles, but also a place of residence for female exiles and a place of punishment for female prisoners.
For the government, the factory is a win-win solution to the government's financial problems and the management of female decorate prisoners by making full use of the labor force of female decorates.
Therefore, on the whole, the development of women's prison factories during this period mainly showed the following characteristics:
First, from the perspective of its functions, it was mainly economic and supplemented by punishment functions: second, from the perspective of its management, the management of female exiles in the women's prison factories during this period was relatively lax, and the punishment of female exiles was not fully utilized.
Judging from the original intention of the establishment of this women's prison factory and its actual operation, the economic function of the women's prison factory clearly prevailed during this period.
Most of the space in the factory was used for textile machines, and only a small part of the space was dedicated to women prisoners, but in fact the two were combined, i.e. the factory was used by day as a workplace for women in exile and at night as a place of imprisonment for women sentenced to imprisonment by magistrates.
As early as 1804, when the factory was completed, "nine textile machines were installed in the factory: two for worsted spinning, two for cotton weaving, two for wool weaving, one for weaving burlap and two for textile canvas, all of which could produce 100 yards of cloth in a week."
In March 1804, Governor King wrote to Lord Hobart, Secretary of State for War and Colony, that "the spacious space above the new Parramatta prison will be used for the production of coarser flax and spinning..... and we have now increased our flax seed to 40 bushels, which will make the textile mill run well."
In 1805 the Prison Factory produced "3,732 per cent yards of canvas, burlap, belly straps (belts for horses, etc.) and linen, 2,201 per cent yards of blankets, flannels, coarse cloths, and semi-rigid collar cloths, including those portions of the wool supplied to the mill by individuals, and 4,647 fathoms, metering ropes, and twine."
It can be seen that the women's prison factories were relatively successful in their economic functions during this period. In 1808, Palmer, the colony's quartermaster general, told MacArthur that the women's prison factory was "of great benefit to the colony."
The success of the women's prison factories in textile manufacturing would not only partially solve the problem of female prisoners' work, but also reduce government spending.
However, if the development of a thing focuses too much on the development of one side, then it will often neglect one at the expense of the other.
It is precisely because the government has paid too much attention to the economic development of women's prison factories and operates them as factories rather than using prison management methods that it has neglected the management of women prisoners.
From the previous directors of the women's prison factory, whether it is George Milmaker, Benjamin Barrow or Francis Oakes, they were all appointed by the government as factory directors based on their textile skills or economic conditions.
George Mealmaker was a former exile who had worked as a weaver before that and was exiled to Australia in 1800.
Francise Oakes, on the other hand, is an opportunist, a baker and a police officer in Parramatta (ChiefConstable).
As a general rule, "the supervisor of the women's prison factory does nothing about the women workers except to distribute rations to the prisoners and assure the government that everything is safe among the women workers."
As a result, female exiles were free to enter and leave the women's prison factories after completing their daily assignments. Their work in the factory includes sorting, spinning and carding wool.
They are assigned a certain number of tasks each day, and when their tasks are completed, usually at 1 p.m., they will be allowed to return to their homes.
Thus, with the exception of those sentenced to imprisonment, not all female exiles were required to stay in the factory at night, and they could live in a wooden hut near the factory or find accommodation in the town of Parramatta, "with an average of 4 shillings a week for lodging and baking".
Thus, Commissioner Bigge noted in his 1822 Bigge Repon that between 1804 and 1821, women exiles preferred to live in women's prison factories rather than to be rationed, because life in women's prisons was relatively free and the punishment for timely mistakes was less severe, while in rationing they were required to be mindful of their words and actions.
Causes of problems in early development
While the women's prison mill in Parramatta prison partially solved the problem of female exiles working in the colony and reduced the Government's burden of supporting female prisoners, it also provided a relatively safe place for women who were unable to earn a living.
However, the problems that arose in the early days of the women's prison factories created a new problem for the colonial government, namely, that the poor conditions inside the women's prison factories did not improve the living conditions of women prisoners, but on the contrary deepened their suffering.
The situation of women prisoners in the women's prison factories was of concern to prominent members of colonial society, who strongly called for the improvement of the situation of women prisoners and the establishment of new women's prison factories.
The problems that arose in the early days of the construction of the women's prison factory were not only due to government factors, but were also closely related to the social environment at the time.
First, the level of socio-economic development of the colonies had a direct impact on the early development of the women's prison factory. In the early years of Australia's construction, the implementation of colonial policies was always constrained by two factors:
The first is government expenditure, and the second is the effective implementation of the exile system. In fact, the two are theoretically completely compatible.
Compared to the implementation of the British penal system in North America from 1718 to 1776, the exile of Australian convicts seems to face a greater problem. The former may have been institutionally deficient, but the situation in Australia is not so good in terms of the resettlement of exiles once they arrived in the colonies.
During the British exile to North America, the British government mainly adopted the method of entering into contracts with shipping merchants, who transported prisoners, and the government only paid the shipowner the transportation fee according to the number of criminals.
The shipbuilders were not only responsible for the transportation of the convicts, but also for the placement of the convicts in the colony. "When the ship arrives at its destination, the merchant sells the convict to the local big farmer, and the public auction is used, so that the highest bidder can buy the cheap labor, which brings a lot of return to the merchant."
It can be said that the implementation of the early British exile system in North America benefited the British government a lot, not only to eliminate a large number of criminals in the country, but also to save the government budget, which can be described as the best of both worlds.
At this time, the implementation of the exile system in Australia imposed a huge financial burden on the government.
During this period, the British government continued to transport convicts by entering into contracts with shipping merchants, who paid for the transportation on a per capita basis, except that the British government would be solely responsible for the placement of convicts in the colonies, and the shippers would have completed their work when they had transported the convicts to the colonies.
Unlike North America, Australia was a completely isolated place, where there was neither fertile land, nor wealthy farmers, and the colonies depended on the mother government for all their expenses.
Moreover, because Australia and Britain were far away, government supplies often did not arrive on time, so the colonies often fell into a state of famine.
In such a context, it is almost impossible to achieve a balance between fiscal savings and effective management of offenders. Nonetheless, the officials serving in the colonies did their best to strike a balance between the two.
Since the government was responsible for the placement of convicts, in the early colonization, it was mainly dependent on the labor of convicts.
According to the government authorities, this was not only a punishment and rehabilitation for criminals, but also conducive to the construction of the colony.
With the development of the colonies and the gradual increase of free immigrants, the government assigned the convicts to the free settlers as servants, and the food and lodging of the convicts were borne by the free settlers, which was called the labor assignment system or rationing system.
With the implementation of the exile system in the colonies, this method of convict placement gradually developed into a fixed pattern, that is, when the convicts arrived in the colony, some of them worked for the government and the other part went to private settlers.
There may seem to be nothing wrong with this system, but the authorities seem to have overlooked an important issue, namely the placement of women in exile.
In the early days of colonial construction, female exiles were once regarded as a financial burden on the government, believing that they would drain the colonial economy, because in the early days of colonial construction, there were really no suitable jobs for female exiles, although some women worked for the government or were assigned to private settlers, but under the extremely immature economic development of the early colony, the job opportunities for female exiles were very limited.
Moreover, there were many female exiles who arrived in the colonies in pregnancy and lactation, unable to earn a living at all, and completely dependent on government handouts.
Therefore, given the socio-economic development of the colony, the government made every effort not to burden women in exile, and it is not difficult to understand that the government focused only on the economic value of the factories and neglected the management of women prisoners in the early days of the establishment of the women's prison factories.