Archives



Lisa Lodge Girls’ Hostel

Lisa Lodge Girls’ Hostel, Ballarat, was established in 1970 and was run by a committee of women, all of whom were Honorary Probation Officers. It provided residential care for eight adolescent girls at a time. Lisa Lodge was located in a number of different properties around Ballarat. The Hostel closed in 1994. Some time after…

George Street Children’s Home

The George Street Children’s Home was established in 1916 and run by the Ballarat Town and City Mission. In 1920 or 1921, the George Street Children’s Home amalgamated with the Canadian Rescue and Children’s Home to become the Ballarat Town and City Mission Rescue and Children’s Home.

Ballarat Town and City Mission Rescue and Children’s Home

The Ballarat Town and City Mission Rescue and Children’s Home was established around 1921. It provided accommodation for single mothers and their babies. The Alexandra Babies’ Home, also managed by the Mission, was on the same site. The organisation came into being when it took over the Canadian Rescue and Children’s Home, and the George…

Ballarat Benevolent Asylum

The Ballarat Benevolent Asylum opened in 1859, in a building in Ascot Street. Until institutions specifically for children were established in Ballarat, many children were housed there. The Ballarat Benevolent Asylum closed its doors to children in 1869. Surviving records of the Benevolent Asylum include admission registers (1859-1900) and annual general reports (1859-1970). These records…

Tracy Dutton House

Tracy Dutton House was a family group home in Mitcham run by the Carry On Club Victoria from 1964. The home focused on short term care of the children of ex-servicemen and women, aged between 4 and 13. Carry On closed the Home in1970. Tracy Dutton House was located at 10 Harrison Street, Mitcham. It…

Seaside Garden Home for Boys

The Seaside Garden Home for Boys was established in around 1921 in Newhaven, on Phillip Island and run by non-denominational committee of management. Following the death, in 1933, of Rex Ronnie Simpson from a beating from Superintendent, William Baye, the Home was taken over by the Mission of St James and St John. In 1934,…

Hurlingham

Hurlingham was established by The Carry On Club Victoria in Brighton in 1946. It accommodated ‘under-privileged boys aged 10-16 who were the sons of ex-servicemen and women’, including some wards of state. Hurlingham was closed in 1963. In 1955, the Carry On Club of Victoria applied for Hurlingham to be declared an ‘approved children’s home’…

Minton Boys Home

The Minton Boys Home was established in Olivers Hill, Frankston in 1924. It was previously known as the Seaside Home, Frankston and Melbourne Ragged Boys’ Home in Melbourne. The Minton Boys Home accommodated boys until the age of eighteen. In 1943, it was renamed The Menzies Home for Boys. The services provided by the Melbourne…

Glastonbury at Colac

‘Glastonbury at Colac’ was established in 1977 when Glastonbury Children’s Home in Geelong purchased St Cuthbert’s Children’s Home. It operated three family group homes on the site. The Geelong-based organisation Glastonbury Children’s Home had a longstanding concern for children in Victoria’s Western District. Glastonbury purchased St Cuthbert’s Children’s Home in Colac when it closed in…

St Joseph’s Home for Children, Christian Brothers

St Joseph’s Home for Children in Flemington came under the management of the Christian Brothers in 1991. Previously, it was run by the Sisters of St Joseph. In July 1997, St Joseph’s Home for Children became part of MacKillop Family Services.