The Methodist Church of Australasia ceased to exist in 1977 when most of its congregations joined the Presbyterian and Congregational Union of Australia Churches to form the Uniting Church in Australia. However some independent Methodist congregations in Australia continued from 1977.
BoysTown, run by the De La Salle Brothers, was established in 1961. It was situated in Telemon Road, Beaudesert. BoysTown accommodated boys aged between 12 and 16 in seven cottages. The Beaudesert residential accommodation closed in 2001, and the buildings were demolished in 2017 or 2018. More than 1,000 boys passed through BoysTown during the…
The De La Salle Brothers is a worldwide religious teaching congregation within the Catholic Church. The De La Salle Brothers arrived in Australia in 1906 to establish Catholic schools. By 1932 a De La Salle school was established in Roma, Queensland, and in 1955 they set up a school and community in Scarborough. In 1961…
Family Spirit was created in 2018 through the merger of the Marist180 and CatholicCare Sydney adoption services. Family Spirit deals with all forms of foster care and adoption and guardianship services. Family Spirit provides access to records relating to adoptions and some former Homes run by the Catholic Church.
The Sydney Female Refuge Society was established in 1848 with the motto ‘GO, AND SIN NO MORE’. It was established by a group of Protestant philanthropists to assist and restore women working in prostitution, as well as single pregnant women. The Society ran the Sydney Female Refuge, located in Pitt Street, Sydney and later in…
The Sydney Female Mission Home was established on 17 November 1873. It was an institution for single pregnant women. It also admitted some single mothers together with their infants. It was a Protestant organisation run by a committee of women, with a non-sectarian admission policy. It was located in premises on Elizabeth Street, Sydney, overlooking…
The Good Shepherd Archive was established in 1983 and is located in Abbotsford, Melbourne, Victoria. The Archive cares for the records of the Good Shepherd Sisters in Australia and New Zealand. The records, from Good Shepherd institutions around Australia, date from 1863 to the present day. The Good Shepherd Archive’s collection includes many records about…
Wongala Junior Red Cross Home in Turramurra was established in 1947 as one of several children’s homes run by the Australian Red Cross. Wongala was described in The Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser ‘as a holiday home for the delicate sons of service and ex-servicemen’. There were 10 boys already living at Wongala when it…
Eleanor MacKinnon Memorial Junior Red Cross Home was officially opened on 15 February 1938 as a boys’ home in Ramsgate. It had, however, already taken in groups of boys over the preceding summer. In 1942-1943, the Home temporarily relocated to ‘Belltrees’, near Scone. After moving back to the Ramsgate location, the Home closed in early…
The Secretary to the Governor was a position established when the Colony of New South Wales was founded on 26 January 1788. The Secretary to the Governor was an executive officer appointed by the Governor to complete duties at his discretion. These duties generally related to administration and recordkeeping of the new colony. The office…