Archives



Dunlea Centre

The Dunlea Centre was opened in Engadine in 2010. It had been called Boys’ Town Engadine, but became the Dunlea Centre when it included the Margaret residential unit for young women. In 2012 the Dunlea Centre provided a range of services to adolescent children and their families including life skills education and residential out of…

Methodist Church in New South Wales

The Methodist Church preached its first services in New South Wales in 1812. In the 1880s, faced with a declining congregation in Sydney, the Methodist Conference resolved to try a new style of worship, and opened the Central City Mission. The new church was so popular that, although the Methodist faith survived, the activities of…

St Michael’s Church of England War Memorial Children’s Home

St Michael’s Church of England War Memorial Children’s Home was officially opened at Kelso, a suburb of Bathurst, on 4 May 1957, by the Anglican Youth Council and Children’s Home Council of the Bathurst Anglican Diocesan Synod. There were three homes in the complex: one was for children of kindergarten age, one for older boys…

Protestant Orphan School

The Protestant Orphan School was established in Parramatta in 1850 by the New South Wales Colonial Government. It replaced, and brought together, what had been the Female Orphan School and the Male Orphan School. The Protestant Orphan School housed hundreds of children at a time. It was closed in 1881, after the boarding out system…

Ohio Boys’ Home

Ohio Boys’ Home, located in Walcha, was operated by the Church of England (Anglican Church) from 1950. Run by a committee of management, it was a companion home to the Coventry Home, in Armidale, which was for girls. When Ohio Boys’ Home closed in the mid-1960s, its boys were transferred to Coventry Home. In 2012…

Uniting Burnside

Uniting Burnside is a member of the Uniting services. It is one of the largest providers of child and family services in New South Wales and in 2010 worked with 13,000 children, young people and family members. Uniting Burnside holds the records of Burnside’s various operations on the North Parramatta site, and of Burnside group…

Aborigines Protection Association

The Aborigines Protection Association was set up in 1881 to both control Aboriginal people and ‘protect’ them from the effects of white society. It was inspired by Christian missionary work conducted by Daniel Matthews at Maloga and Reverend J.B. Gribble at Warangesda and later expanded to include Brewarrina. In 1897 it was wound up and…

Our Boys’ Home

Our Boys’ Home was established in 1890 in Camden by the Society for Providing Homes for Neglected Children. It was a farm training home for boys between nine and fourteen years old. Initially the home was intended to accommodate 12 boys, however from at least 1915 there were an average of 20 boys in residence….

Leith House

Leith House was established around 1960 in Pennant Hills as a children’s home by the Baptist Homes Trust. In 1986 Baptist Homes Trust changed its name to Baptist Community Services. Leith House operated as a medium to long term supported care facility for youth aged 14 to 18. Leith House closed on 30th September 2013.

Carramar

Carramar, also called Carramar Maternity Home and Carramar Hostel, was an Anglican home for unmarried mothers at Turramurra. It was run by the Home Mission Society and at its peak held up to 27 women. Mothers who kept their babies were sent to a post-natal cottage at Berowra. Its staff also arranged adoptions and the…