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Presbyterian and Methodist Child Care Service

In 1971, the Methodist Department of Childcare merged with the Presbyterian Department of Social Services to create the Presbyterian and Methodist Child Care Service. Graeme Gregory was the Director. The merger led to a reorganisation of the adoption services of the Presbyterian and Methodist Babies’ Homes. The Child Care Service was the sole Victorian agency…

McOwan Boys’ Training Farm

The McOwan Boys’ Training Farm, run by the Presbyterian Church, was established at Yarra Junction in around 1953 and officially opened in 1956. The Farm was for boys between the ages of 14 and 18. It appears to have closed around 1957. The McOwan Boys’ Training Farm, run by the Presbyterian Church, was situated in…

Regent House

Regent House was a Presbyterian girls’ home. It was first established in 1907, in West Brunswick, when it was known as the Presbyterian Girls’ Home. In 1909 it relocated to larger premises in Regent Street, Elsternwick. From at least the 1950s, it was known as Regent House and it was a hostel for young women….

Craig Memorial Hostel

The Craig Memorial Hostel, Camberwell, was established by Presbyterian Church in around 1926. It accommodated young women studying away from home. The Hostel closed in around 1929 and became the Presbyterian Babies’ Home. The Craig Memorial Hostel was situated in the mansion ‘Linda’, the former home of WJ Craig. His daughter donated the property to…

Presbyterian Sisterhood Home

The Presbyterian Sisterhood established a maternity Home in North Fitzroy in 1909. Previously, it had run a refuge in Warrnambool, in western Victoria. The Presbyterian Sisterhood Home housed single mothers and their babies. In 1953, the Mary Dickens Hospital Wing, a small maternity hospital, was added to the Home. The Home operated until around 1978….

Presbyterian Sisterhood

The Presbyterian Sisterhood began in Warrnambool in western Victoria. It was established by the Rev. Donald A. Cameron, who was Director of Home Missions within the Presbyterian Church of Victoria. The aim of the Presbyterian Sisterhood was ‘to rescue and help women in distress’ (Argus, 1908). From around 1901, the Sisterhood ran a refuge in…

Kildonan Residential Units

Kildonan Residential Units came into being in around 1958, when Kildonan set up its first family group home next-door to the Kildonan children’s Home in Burwood. The Burwood Home was sold in 1960, and seven more family group homes were purchased in the eastern suburbs. In 1989, Richmond Community Care Inc. Took over the management…

Kildonan Admission Centre

Kildonan Admission Centre, Hawthorn, was established around 1960. It assisted in placing children from 3 to 18 years into the Kildonan Homes for Children in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. In 1978, the facility became an adolescent unit, known as the Teenage Unit. Kildonan Admission Centre was established around 1960 in Hawthorn. It was located in a…