Boothville Mothers' Hospital

Boothville Mothers’ Home, in Windsor, was operated by the Salvation Army. It was established in 1924 as a maternity home for single mothers and their babies. In the 1970s a brick maternity ward was added. Boothville closed in 1994.

A 1947 report on Boothville Mothers’ Hospital made by an inspector for the Child Endowment scheme stated that the hospital had capacity for 33 residents, spread over five wards. The report stated that although the home was primarily for single mothers it did also admit a small number of married mothers to “help the financial side towards the upkeep of the Institution” (NAA A885 B96, 1947). According to the inspectors report from the previous year, the majority of children born at Boothville Mothers’ Hospital were adopted out.

Mothers stayed at Boothville for varying lengths of time following the birth of their child, depending on their needs. Unmarried mothers could stay at the home if they did not have anywhere else to go, with one case in 1947 staying for at least 8 months. Babies did not remain at the hospital after their mother’s were discharged.

A publication from 1968 stated that Boothville provided private hospital accommodation for obstetric cases as well as a “waiting home and hospital for unmarried mothers”. It had accommodation for 50 single mothers and 21 hospital patients and babies (Social Services Queensland, 1968, p.167).

Boothville Mothers’ Hospital was mentioned in the Commonwealth Contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices Report (2012) as an institution that was involved in forced adoption.