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Nautical School Ship Vernon

The Vernon was a tall ship purchased by the New South Wales Government in 1867 and converted to a Nautical School Ship. It was a reformatory and industrial school and housed more than 100 boys, training them in nautical and other trades. The Vernon was first anchored between Garden Island and the Government Domain, and…

Liverpool Asylum

The Liverpool Asylum was an asylum operated by the Benevolent Society of New South Wales from 1851 to 1862. It was for infirm and destitute men. It was taken over by the New South Wales Government in 1862 and renamed the Liverpool Asylum for the Infirm and Destitute. Records of the Hospital and Home were…

Our Boys’ Home

Our Boys’ Home was established in 1890 in Camden by the Society for Providing Homes for Neglected Children. It was a farm training home for boys between nine and fourteen years old. Initially the home was intended to accommodate 12 boys, however from at least 1915 there were an average of 20 boys in residence….

Leith House

Leith House was established around 1960 in Pennant Hills as a children’s home by the Baptist Homes Trust. In 1986 Baptist Homes Trust changed its name to Baptist Community Services. Leith House operated as a medium to long term supported care facility for youth aged 14 to 18. Leith House closed on 30th September 2013.

Carramar

Carramar, also called Carramar Maternity Home and Carramar Hostel, was an Anglican home for unmarried mothers at Turramurra. It was run by the Home Mission Society and at its peak held up to 27 women. Mothers who kept their babies were sent to a post-natal cottage at Berowra. Its staff also arranged adoptions and the…

Sobraon Training Ship

The Sobraon Training Ship replaced the Nautical School Ship Vernon as a reformatory in 1892. It was three times the size of the Vernon and housed more than 200 boys at a time. After the Neglected Children’s and Juvenile Offenders’ Act of 1905 introduced probation, numbers declined on the Sobraon. Boys were either discharged to…

Lisgar Hostel

Lisgar Hostel at Arncliffe was a hostel for young women operated by the Church of England Deaconess Institution (now known as Anglican Deaconess Ministries) from 1953. It was initially located in the grounds of the Pallister Girls’ Home on River Road, Greenwich, however following a fire in 1955 it relocated to Knight Street, Arncliff, where…

Deaconess Children’s Home, Strathfield

The Deaconess Children’s Home in Strathfield, also known as Lisgar House and Agincourt, was established by the Church of England Deaconess Institution in a house called Agincourt in Albert Street. Girls from the Deaconess Children’s Home Lisgar, in Marrickville, were moved there in 1929. This property was renamed Pallister Church of England Girls’ Home in…

Lisgar Training Home for Domestic Servants

Lisgar Training Home for Domestic Servants was begun in Ashfield by Captain David and Mrs Maria Scott in 1870 and became part of the Church of England Deaconess Institution in 1893. It trained young women in domestic service, including state wards aged 14, and some Aboriginal girls. From 1900 The Deaconess Children’s Home was co-located…

La Perouse Training School for Girls

The La Perouse Training School was opened in 1928 in Yarra Bay House at Phillip Bay at La Perouse as an annexe of the Parramatta Girls Training Home. It held girls who had been committed to Parramatta but who were generally younger and was deemed less problematic. In 1940 La Perouse Training School closed and…