The St James’ Visiting Society was established in April 1845 by parishioners of Melbourne’s first Protestant Church, St James’ Church of England, on the corner of William and Little Collins Streets. In June that year, some Anglican women established the St James’ Dorcas Society. The Society began sheltering orphaned children in 1849, in a building…
The Melbourne Family Care Organisation came into being in 1965. It was formerly the former Melbourne Orphanage. The change reflected a shift away from institutional ‘care’ for children towards family group homes. In 1987 the organisation became known as Family Action. Melbourne Family Care Organisation ran a number of family group homes. Records from the…
Family Action was the new name given in 1983 to the former Melbourne Family Care Organisation. In 1993, Family Action merged with Family Focus and the National Children’s Bureau of Australia to form OzChild.
The Burton Hall Training Farm, run by the Church of England, was one of the institutions in Victoria to receive child migrants. In around 1950, the Church of England Boys’ Society closed its Training Farm at Yering, and its residents were transferred to the Burton Hall Training Farm. From this time, the Society’s activities in…
The Dhurringile Rural Training Farm in Tatura was established by the Presbyterian Church in 1951. It was purchased to accommodate child migrant boys aged 8 to 14 sent out from the United Kingdom by the Church of Scotland. Dhurringile was also set up to take in local orphans or homeless boys. It housed 50 children…
Kildonan was a children’s Home in Burwood run by the Presbyterian Church of Victoria from 1937. Formerly, Kildonan had operated a children’s home in North Melbourne. Kildonan accommodated boys and girls, aged between 2 and 15. In 1961 the government-run Allambie Reception Centre opened on the site. The Kildonan home in Elgar Road, Burwood was…
The Kilmany Park Farm Home for Boys in Sale, Gippsland, was established by the Presbyterian Church in 1924. It operated as a farm for boys aged between 10 and 16. Many boys from Kildonan’s homes in North Melbourne and Burwood were sent to Kilmany Park Farm Home, especially in 1933 to 1934. Kilmany Park was…
The Presbyterian Society for Neglected and Destitute Children was established in 1893, with prominent child rescuer Selina Sutherland as its agent. In late 1894, there was a very public disagreement between Sutherland and the Presbyterian Church over a dictate that the Society would only receive children under legal guardianship, and over preference given to Presbyterian…
The Presbyterian and Scots’ Church Children’s Aid Society was established in 1895, bringing together the Presbyterian Society for Neglected and Destitute Children (established in 1893) and the Scots Church Neglected Children’s Aid Society (established in 1881). The end date for this organisation is unclear. There are surviving records from the Presbyterian and Scots’ Church Children’s…
Kildonan was a children’s home in North Melbourne, established in 1890, and run by the Presbyterian Church. It usually housed children waiting to be ‘boarded out’ in the country, but some children were housed for longer periods. In 1937, the children were transferred from North Melbourne to a new Kildonan Home in Burwood. Kildonan in…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
