Difficult Histories

On an extremely wet Sunday in July I visited 1 Fleet Street, Parramatta.  This site, located on the traditional land of the Burramatta clan of the Darug people, has had a varied history.  An orphan school, a training and industrial school for girls and a correctional centre for juvenile offenders.

In this day and age, the names of these institutions sound terrifying: Roman Catholic Orphan School, The Parramatta Female Factory and The Parramatta Industrial School for Girls.

We know from the 2014 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that some of the former occupants of these buildings were perpetrators of crimes against the vulnerable young women admitted to Parramatta Girls Home and into whose care they had been entrusted.

Some of the 19th century buildings remain, however the cottages have been demolished and a memorial to the survivors of institutional abuse  constructed.  Bricks from the demolished cottages outline the footprints of these buildings, but what cannot be seen are the memories they have for survivors.  By confronting this difficult history, society must acknowledge and learn from the wrongs of the past.

As I captured images of the buildings, I felt an oppressive sense of menace.  Not caused by the gloomy weather, but my thoughts clouded by the suffering of young females within these walls.