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Hooker Creek Native Settlement

Hooker Creek Native Settlement, 550 kilometres south west of Katherine, was established by the government in 1948. A large number of Aboriginal people from Yuendumu Native Settlement were moved there. A school opened in 1954 but no dormitories were used. Missionaries from the Australian Baptist Home Mission resided there from 1962. The settlement was handed…

St Joseph’s Mission, Daly River

St Joseph’s Mission, Daly River opened at New Uniya in 1891. Run by Jesuit missionaries, it replaced the Queen of the Holy Rosary Mission. Although missionaries set up a school for children, no dormitories were built. The mission was forced to close in 1899 due to severe flooding. St Joseph’s Mission, Daly River was opened…

Sacred Heart Mission

The Sacred Heart Mission was established at Serpentine Lagoon on the Daly River by Jesuit Missionaries in 1889. It was the second Jesuit mission on the Daly River after the Queen of the Holy Rosary Mission. The Mission struggled to operate for two years. The residents were devastated by epidemics and the crops planted to…

Methodist Missionary Society of Australasia

The Methodist Missionary Society of Australasia ran a number of Missions in the North of Australia from 1916. The Missions included Goulburn Island, Milinginmbi and Elcho Island. In the mid 1930s the Methodist Missionary Society of Australasia gradually became known as the Methodist Overseas Mission.

Yuendumu Native Settlement

The Yuendumu Native Settlement was established at Mount Doreen, 350 kilometres north west of Alice Springs, in 1946 as a government ration depot. That same year missionaries from the Australian Baptist Home Mission began welfare work at the settlement. Although two dormitories were constructed in 1947-48, it is unclear for how long they were used….

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart

The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are a missionary order of Priests and Brothers of the Roman Catholic Church, founded in France in 1854. The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart came to Australia in 1885, first establishing in Sydney before spreading to other parts of the country. They ran a number of Missions in the…

Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart

The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is an order of the Roman Catholic Church. They were founded in France in 1874 as the sister order to the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. They first arrived in Australia in 1885, establishing themselves in Sydney before spreading to other parts of the country. They…

Papunya Native Settlement

Papunya Native Settlement was officially opened by the government in 1959. It was established to accommodate Aboriginal people moved away from the Haasts Bluff Native Settlement and others brought in by the government from desert areas. A school was built but no dormitories were established. A Lutheran missionary sent out from the Hermannsburg Mission was…

Haasts Bluff Native Settlement

Haasts Bluff Native Settlement began as a government ration depot in 1941. In 1942 missionaries from the Hermannsburg Mission, also known as the Finke River Mission, began to provide welfare services to the Aboriginal residents. Although no school or dormitories were established at Haast’s Bluff, missionaries resided there and it operated as an outpost of…

Somerville Cottage Homes

Somerville Cottage Homes was established in 1968 and comprised six suburban cottages in the suburbs of Darwin. The cottages were run by Somerville Homes, an organization formed by the United Church in Northern Australia and the Methodist Overseas Mission. Each cottage accommodated up to eight children in a family group setting under the supervision of…