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Waif’s Home, Parkerville

The Waif’s Home, Parkerville began in 1903. It was founded by the Sisters of the Church. Sister Kate Clutterbuck has had the strongest association with the Home, which was the pioneer in Western Australia of ‘cottage care’ and keeping children from the same family together. In 1909, the Waif’s Home, Parkerville became a subsidised orphanage…

New Norcia Mission

New Norcia Mission is the collective name for St Mary’s Mission (1848-1974) for boys and St Joseph’s Native School and Orphanage (1861-1974) for girls. These institutions were run by Benedictine monks and nuns until they closed in 1974. New Norcia Mission was the collective name for the St Mary’s Mission (from 1848) and the St…

Dulhi Gunyah

Dulhi Gunyah Orphanage was run by the Western Australian State Council of the Australian Aborigines Mission from 1909 to 1918. It was a children’s Home rather than an Orphanage and was set up to admit Aboriginal girls under the age of 14 years and boys under eight even if they weren’t orphans. The children came…

St Joseph’s Catholic Orphanage for Girls

St Joseph’s Catholic Orphanage for Girls was established in Perth by the Sisters of Mercy in 1868, for girls from the Poor House. Children who were destitute were accommodated, along with orphans. In 1901, the Home moved to Subiaco and became the St Joseph’s Girls’ Orphanage. An orphanage for Catholic girls was first established in…

Collie Boys’ Home

The Collie Boys’ Home was established by the Salvation Army in 1902. It was for boys aged from 4 years, including children who were sent by relatives. Around 1920 the Collie Boys’ Home closed permanently and it is possible that the boys were sent to the Salvation Army’s Boys’ Home in the Perth suburb of…

Swan Boys’ Orphanage

Swan Boys’ Orphanage was opened in 1876 in Middle Swan. It had previously been the Perth Boys’ Orphanage in Perth. In 1942, the boys were joined by girls who had been evacuated from from the Perth Girls’ Orphanage due to World War II. In 1943, Swan Boys’ and Perth Girls’ orphanages were combined to form…

Perth Boys’ Orphanage

A Church of England orphanage for boys was opened on the same site as the Perth Girls’ Orphanage on 1 June 1869, with four boys admitted. The boys and girls’ orphanages were separated by a ‘five-foot high close-picket fence’. In 1876 the boys were transferred to the new Swan Boys’ orphanage at Middle Swan.

Subiaco Boys’ Orphanage

Subiaco Boys’ Orphanage for Roman Catholic boys was established by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Perth in 1872 and run by Benedictines (1872-1876) then the Sisters of Mercy (1876-1897), and the Christian Brothers (from 1897). In 1901 the orphanage moved to Manning and became known as Clontarf. The St Joseph’s Girls’ Orphanage was then established…

St Joseph’s Native School and Orphanage, New Norcia

St Joseph’s Native School and Orphanage, New Norcia, dates from 1861 when it established by the Benedictine Fathers. From 1904 until it closed in 1974, it was run by the Benedictine Missionary Sisters. Aboriginal girls and young women lived and went to school there. Tilbrook (1983) reports that sisters ‘Elizabeth and Helen (or Ellen) Tainan…

Independent Order of Oddfellows’ Orphanage

The Independent Order of Oddfellows (IOOF) Orphanage was established in Cottesloe in 1905, for the children of deceased members of the IOOF and, from 1919, children of deceased soldiers. The IOOF managed the orphanage and gave the children training in agriculture and domestic service. The IOOF Orphanage was closed by 1940. The Independent Order of…