Babies' Home Walkerville Records

Babies’ Home Walkerville Records is a collection of records created between 1912-1968 by staff of The Babies’ Home Walkerville. The records collection for the Home includes financial records, annual reports, minutes and correspondence.

Access Conditions

Former residents of the children’s Homes of the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide and Church of England, or members of their families, can apply to the Diocesan Archivist to be provided with information and/or copies of records relevant to their time in care. Physical access to the historical records of the children’s Homes or the church’s Social Welfare Bureau is not permitted due to the fragility of the material and the need to protect the privacy of third parties.

Records

Record keeping practices varied significantly from one Home to another and from one time period to another, with respect to the quantity and types of records that were created and preserved. Many of the following records are fragmentary or incomplete, or were created only for specific time periods during the overall duration of the Homes.

Babies’ Home Walkerville Records includes financial records, annual reports, minutes and correspondence. The collection also includes a small number of historical research and study notes. After closure of the Home in 1945, the Home’s finances continued to be maintained until 1962, when its assets were transferred to St Mary’s Home for Children.

Records in this collection were listed and indexed as part of the Records Access Documentation Grants in 2017.

The records in this collection include:

• Annual reports, 1938, 1940 – These do not provide much information but give a broad outline.
• Financial records, 1923-1945 – Include payments, cash book and financial ledger.
• Receipts cash book, 1944-1964
• Committee of management minutes, 1944-1962
• Collections for Charitable Purposes – correspondence, 1940-1943
• Correspondence, 1964-1968 – General correspondence of the committee pertaining to financial matters and land.