The Ballarat Boys’ Reformatory opened in 1879, in a building formerly used as an industrial school for girls. Before that, boys had been at the Jika Reformatory in Coburg. The Ballarat building had accommodation for 200. In 1879, there were 95 inmates, with the department hoping to increase it to 121 when the last boys…
The Immigrants’ Home was the name that early colonists gave to ramshackle buildings on either side of St Kilda Road south of Princes Bridge (Swain). This was where the Immigrants’ Aid Society provided aid to new arrivals to the colony of Victoria, later expanding its activities beyond this. Over time, the Immigrants’ Home came to…
The Boys’ Farm School at the Macedon State Nursery was established around late 1882 or early 1883. Boys and young men from industrial schools or in boarding out placements were placed there to be trained in gardening skills. It closed around 1885. The Macedon State Nursery had been established in 1872, to provide trees to…
The Boys’ Farm School, Dookie opened in 1881. It provided training for boys from Victorian industrial schools and boarding out placements in farming. It closed in 1886 when a government agricultural college opened on the site. The 4800 acre property was in north-eastern Victoria, with “a short frontage to the Broken River on the south,…
The Warrawong Kindergarten for Emergency Care in Ringwood East began to provide temporary emergency care in the 1960s. Run by the Graduates Association of the Melbourne Kindergarten Teachers College, it started off as a holiday home for children attending kindergartens affiliated with the Free Kindergarten Union. Opening in 1937, it was a “sister” institution to…
Collaroy Convalescent Home opened in July 1921 to accommodate children recovering from illness or needing ongoing hospital stays and treatment. The Home was located on the beachfront in Collaroy and was donated to the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children. The Home continued to operate until 1969 when it closed and became an annexe of the…
The Salvation Army Maternity Home opened at Charters Towers in September 1898. It was located in a large house owned by Mr Tubbs on Gordon Street, at Richmond Hill. It had capcity for 7 women and 9 babies. Women staying at the home were expected to do sewing work to help supplement the home’s income….
Bakhita Village was opened in the Darwin suburb of Coconut Grove in January 1972 by the Canossian Daughters of Charity, a Catholic order from Italy. It was a small complex of five family-style homes that provided long and short term residential care for children. Bakhita Village was open for just short of three years before…
St Mary’s Home, Rockhampton, was opened in 1907 at “The Range”, Jessie Street, as a Home for unmarried mothers and their babies. It was run by a committee of the Anglican Diocese of Rockhampton, although the home accepted women of any denomination. Initially women were expected to stay at the home for at least eight…
The Newcastle Shelter was established in 1906 as temporary accommodation for children awaiting hearings at the local Children’s Court, children who were on remand, or who were otherwise in the custody of the police. It operated from the private home of Miss King, who, along with her daughter, ran the shelter with support from the…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
