A new experience at Hobart’s Cascades Female Factory is putting visitors in the jury box to decide the fate of four women who faced execution in 1800s Tasmania.
The ‘Condemned’ experience examines real murder trials of female convicts held at the historic site. Over 90 minutes, visitors hear the evidence and decide whether the women were guilty or innocent.
The tour covers four cases spanning three decades of colonial justice. They include Mary McLaughlin, who was executed in 1830 for child murder and Eliza Benwell, hanged in 1845 as an accomplice to murder.
It also looks at the cases of Mary Sullivan, executed in 1852 for child murder and Margaret Galvin, executed in 1862 for killing her husband.
Cascades Female Factory Manager Shelly Kube developed the idea after discovering that while 22 women convicts received death sentences, only four were actually executed.
“Condemned is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before at Tasmania’s World Heritage convict sites,” Kube said.
The experience questions whether these women were criminals or victims of harsh colonial justice.
Port Arthur Historic Site CEO Will Flamsteed said the stories were important to share, despite their dark nature.
“The stories of these women are harrowing, emotional and deeply thought provoking,” he said.
“There is nothing like our convict history anywhere else in the world and we want to do everything we can to preserve and share that complex history.”
The tour coincides with the state’s winter ‘Off Season’ campaign, with 50 free tickets available through the Paint the Town Red initiative.
Due to graphic content, the experience is adults-only and includes content warnings.
Condemned runs Saturdays at 2:30pm until August 30 at Cascades Female Factory Historic Site. Tickets cost $60 adult, $50 concession.
