The records of the Churches of Christ are deposited at the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office. They consist of minutes, annual reports, and correspondence between 1943 and 1989. There is information about Bethany Boys’ Home in these records.
Access Conditions
Open
Records
More specifically the records include:
- Minutes of the Tasmanian District Conference of the Churches of Christ (1959-1989) – contains frequent mentions of Bethany and its staff members, including some of the debate at the Conference of 1968 about a motion to close Bethany Boys’ Home. The minutes of the 1978 Conference that agreed to the sale of Bethany are also included.
- Tasmanian District Conference Handbooks (1967-79) – a complete set that contains Annual Reports (1969-1978) of Bethany which sometimes name children.
- Inward correspondence (1 January 1983 to 31 December 1984) – includes correspondence regarding the sale of Bethany Boys’ Home at Lowelly Road.
- Miscellaneous correspondence – includes a draft letter dated 7 June 1972 to Mrs Knight, the donor of the original site of Bethany Boys’ Home at Dover, on its twenty-fifth anniversary.
- Various correspondence (1968-70) – contains some information about Bethany Children’s Home.
- Federal Conference Executive Minutes (2 February 1976 to December 1984) – contains minimal or no information about Bethany Boys’ Home.
- Various correspondence, conference papers, and records – includes the Annual Report of 1967 with a photo of the children and their names, the 1943 Annual Conference program and reports, and documents pertaining to the sale of Bethany Children’s Home in Lindisfarne.
- State Conference Minute Books (September 1959 to February 1972) – only contains minimal information about Bethany Children’s Home.
- Correspondence to and from departments, committees and organisations (mostly 1973-4) – includes documents pertaining to the appointment of the Carters as Superintendent and Matron of Bethany Children’s Home.
A Day Book kept by Ray Morffew, the Superintendent of the Home between 1955 and 1974, was supposed to have been deposited at the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office with these records but does not appear to be there.
