Archives



Mater Misericordiae Hospital

The Mater Misericordiae Hospital for Women and Children was a maternity hospital established at Crows Nest by the Sisters of Mercy, North Sydney Congregation, in 1906. In 1910 the Mater moved to North Sydney. It cared for mothers who were unmarried, and destitute before and after the birth of their babies. Babies for adoption were…

Royal Hospital for Women

The Royal Hospital for Women is a maternity hospital that was established at Paddington in 1901 by the Benevolent Society. It was designated the Royal Hospital for Women in 1904 and a new building opened in 1905. The Royal Hospital for Women organised many of the adoptions of babies in New South Wales. Since 1992…

Crown Street Women’s Hospital

Crown Street Women’s Hospital was established in Hay Street in 1893 and moved to Surry Hills in 1897. It was a public women’s and maternity hospital. In addition to being a general women’s hospital, Crown Street accommodated many single mothers, including state wards and Aboriginal wards, and its staff arranged a high proportion of New…

Biloela Industrial School, Cockatoo Island

Biloela Industrial School was an industrial school for girls that was established on Cockatoo Island by the Comptroller of Prisons in 1871 to replace the Newcastle Industrial School for Girls. It usually held up to 120 girls at any given time aged from about 18 months to 14 years. Biloela Industrial School was located on…

Parramatta Girls Industrial School

The Parramatta Girls Industrial School was established in 1887 in the old Roman Catholic Orphan School buildings at Parramatta by the Department of Public Instruction. It accommodated around 160 to 200 girls at a time, and some younger boys, most of whom had been charged with crimes or committed for welfare reasons. In 1912 the…

Yawarra Training School

Yawarra Training School was established at Kurri Kurri by the Child Welfare Department in 1969. It was for young men under the age of eighteen years transferred from Corrective Services. The School provided facilities to train the boys in a craft or trade. Yawarra closed in 1979 and was converted to a unit for males…

Yarra Bay House

Yarra Bay House, at Phillip Bay, was the site of a number of government-run children’s Homes from around 1917 to the mid 1980s. It was built in 1903, originally as part of the Cable Station at La Perouse. The first children’s institution at Yarra Bay House was established by the State Children’s Relief Department around…

Yasmar Shelter

Yasmar Shelter, also called Yasmar Child Welfare Home and Ashfield Remand Home, was established at Haberfield in the grounds of Yasmar Children’s Court by the Child Welfare Department in 1946. It was a remand home for boys. Various additions were made to the buildings over the years. Yasmar Shelter closed in 1994. Yasmar was located…

Worimi Shelter

Worimi Shelter was established at Broadmeadow, near Newcastle, by the Child Welfare Department in July 1966, replacing the former Newcastle Shelter. It was for the reception of children awaiting court hearings or on remand. At the time of its opening Worimi had capacity for 13 boys and girls up to the age of 18 years….

Werrington Park

Werrington Park was established at Werrington, near St Marys, by the Child Welfare Department in 1954. It was originally a home for boys defined as intellectually disabled and taught farming and basic life skills. Starting with 12 boys, the home held 120 by the 1970s. In 1978 Cobham Children’s Court and Remand Centre were built…