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Nazareth House, Ballarat

Nazareth House, Ballarat, was opened in December 1888 to cater for aged people and girls aged between 6 and 16. The support of children at Nazareth House discontinued in 1976. In 2011, Nazareth House is an aged care facility. Nazareth House was opened in December 1888 to cater for aged people and young people who…

Burton Hall Training Farm

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…

Dhurringile Rural Training Farm

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, Burwood

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…

Kilmany Park Farm Home for Boys

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…

Kilmany Family Care

Kilmany Family Care came into being in 1979. It operated family group homes in East Gippsland, including one house specifically for Aboriginal children, with an Aboriginal cottage mother. In 2002, the organisation became known as Kilmany UnitingCare. Kilmany Family Care came into being in 1979 when the Uniting Church appointed a new Council to be…

Convent of the Good Shepherd, Abbotsford

The Convent of the Good Shepherd at Abbotsford was established by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in 1863. A number of different institutions operated on the site at Abbotsford on the banks of the Yarra River, including an industrial school, reformatory, orphanage, female asylum and school. In 1961, it was designated by the department…

The Presbyterian Society for Neglected and Destitute Children

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

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, North Melbourne

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…