DRINKING in public, petty theft and insolence were enough to land some unlucky women in the George Town Female Factory.
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Alison Alexander, the editor of Convict Lives at the George Town Female Factory, which was released yesterday, said it was difficult to know what conditions would have been like.
‘‘It would have been a nicer climate than Cascades,’’ she said.
Convict Lives at the George Town Female Factory follows the plight of 31 women incarcerated in a building on what is now Regent Square.
The house of correction operated from 1822 to 1834.
Dr Alexander said the research had been fascinating.
‘‘We had one that went off and joined the bushrangers,’’ she said.
‘‘Others were in trouble for breaking their spinning wheels we don’t know why, unfortunately.’’
The book combines the work of 26 authors ranging from amateur to professional historians.
Dr Alexander said the book had been compiled in about 18 months.
It is the fourth in a series about Tasmania’s five female correctional facilities.
‘‘I loved doing it,’’ she said.
‘‘We worked very closely with the George Town Historical Society.’’
Convict Lives at the George Town Female Factory is available from Fullers and Petrarch’s bookshops in Launceston.
Recommended price is $25.