I find one of the most intriguing things about family history is when you discover records containing words spoken by people living at the time. In the research I have been doing on my great-great-grandfather and grandmother, Thomas and Sarah Bell, who were keeper and matron at the Female Factory at Parramatta during the 1830s and 1840s, I have not only found letters written by them and about them but also, in rare cases, the words of convict women who … Continue reading