Archives



Newtown Maternity and Rescue Home

Newtown Maternity and Rescue Home opened around 1892 in King Street Newtown, before moving to an address in Wilson Street, and then Brown Street, Newtown. It was a Salvation Army rescue home and maternity hospital. At the Brown Street location the home had capacity for 17. In July 1893 there were “14 girls and four…

Hillcrest Hospital

Hillcrest Hospital was a maternity hospital in Curry Street, Merewether that was run by the Salvation Army from 1933. Previously, the institution was called the Maryville Mothers’ Hospital. Adoptions were arranged from Hillcrest. Hillcrest Hospital closed in 1977. Hillcrest Hospital was described in a newspaper article from 1939: “Hillcrest” nestles in the hills at Merewether,…

Maryville Mothers’ Hospital

Maryville Mothers’ Hospital, in Curry Street Merewether, was a maternity hospital run by the Salvation Army. As well as providing services to local women, this was a hospital from which adoptions were arranged. Maryville Mothers’ Hospital had its name changed to Hillcrest Mothers’ Hospital in 1933. Maryville Mothers’ Hospital was established in the building formerly…

Newcastle Maternity and Rescue Home

Newcastle Maternity and Rescue Home was opened in Albert Street, Islington (in Newcastle) in July 1897 and was also known as ‘The Lighthouse’. It provided accommodation for homeless girls and women, including unmarried mothers, and married mothers. In May 1924 it moved to Merewether, and became known as Maryville Mothers’ Hospital.

Burwood Maternity Home

Burwood Maternity Home, run by the Salvation Army, was opened in a house called Clythe at Lucas Road Burwood in October 1898, having moved from Newtown. It provided accommodation for homeless girls and unmarried mothers and also operated as a maternity home. It moved to Marrickville in 1910. According to Connecting Kin (1998), this Home…

Hopeleigh Maternity Home

The Hopeleigh Maternity Home, run by the Salvation Army, opened in Marrickville in 1911. It was also called Marrickville Maternity Home and, from 1927, Bethesda Maternity Hospital. It was a rescue home, a babies’ home, and a hospital and lying-in home for both married and unmarried pregnant women. In 1957 a new Bethesda Maternity Hospital…

Bethesda Maternity Hospital

Bethesda Maternity Hospital was a Salvation Army maternity home, rescue home and hospital located at Victoria Road and Lester Street, Marrickville. The Bethesda Hospital was a new building, erected on the same grounds as the Hopeleigh Maternity Hospital (which had also been referred to as ‘Bethesda’ since the 1920s). This Bethesda Hospital in Marrickville was…

Bathurst Maternity and Rescue Home

Bathurst Maternity and Rescue Home, also known as the Ebenezer Maternity and Rescue Home, was a Salvation Army maternity and rescue home located at Richmond Cottage in Piper Street, Bathurst. It opened in 1897. At the time of opening it had accommodation for eight people in two dormitories. In 1904, it moved to Durham Street….

St Anthony’s Home Croydon

In 1925, St Anthony’s Home, which was run by the Society of St Vincent De Paul, moved from Petersham to Croydon. It was a home for unmarried pregnant women and cared for them and their babies for up to 12 months after the birth. Mothers then chose whether to keep their child or adopt the…

St Anthony’s Petersham

St Anthony’s was opened in 1922 by the Society of St Vincent De Paul, first in St Peters, and then in Petersham. It was not intended to provide long term residential care. Several hundred adoptions and foster placements were arranged from Petersham. In 1925 the home became St Anthony’s Home Croydon. St Anthony’s was developed…