Thursday 2nd December 2010 – To get a better understanding of the lie of the land in Hobart, I joined the Hop On Hop Off bus today. The driver was really excellent and gave a very informative commentary of the history and geography of Hobart. One of the stops was the Female Factory which was the old female prison in the days of transportation. After serving their time here for various crimes and misdemeanours, the women would be placed with free settlers, many of whom were men who had left their families at home. Needless to say, the “servants” either willingly or unwillingly became the object of their affections and usually ended up pregnant – a crime for which they were sent back to the Female Factory again. Most of the babies were then born there too but few survived and something like 1,200 were buried on the site of the old prison. I’m not usually too concerned with women’s issues, but I found this to be a really shocking story.