Good Shepherd Archive collection of records of provision of residential care in Victoria

The Good Shepherd Archive collection of records of provision of residential care in Victoria dates from 1863 to around 1981. The collection includes the records of the various orphanages and other residences run by the Good Shepherd Sisters in Abbotsford, Albert Park, Bendigo, and Oakleigh. The collection includes admission and discharge records, which usually contain the names of girls, their place and date of birth and parents’ names. Certain supplementary records are also held, such as a range of baptismal and confirmation records, and partial records of admissions to the public Day Schools at Abbotsford and Oakleigh.

Access Conditions

Care leavers (and their families) wanting to find information about their time in care, or access personal files can contact Good Shepherd Archives..

All requests for personal information must be accompanied by some form of personal identification such as a copy of your birth certificate or a copy of your current driver’s licence. If you are applying for information about another person, their permission is required. If you are applying for information about a person who is deceased, proof of death is required. Proof of your relationship to the deceased person is also required.

Records

Records of the various orphanages and other residences run by the Good Shepherd Sisters are in the custody of the Good Shepherd Archives. Since 1981, the Sisters have not been providers of out-of-home care. The collection of the Good Shepherd Sisters dates from 1865. The records relate to the Sisters’ provision of out-of-home care at institutions in Abbotsford, Albert Park, Bendigo, and Oakleigh. The surviving records are admission and discharge records, which usually contain the names of girls, their place and date of birth and parents’ names.

Certain supplementary records are also held such as a range of baptismal and confirmation records, and registers recording many admission to the public Day Schools at Abbotsford and Oakleigh. Admission records are also held for three hostels: one adjacent to the Albert Park Convent (partial records held only, covering 1956 to 1962), one in St Kilda and one near the Abbotsford Convent. The St Kilda and Abbotsford hostels for young women operated from the mid-1970s until around 1981.

At Abbotsford organisations such as the Abbotsford Convent Foundation and the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) have been active in documenting the heritage of the site in recent years and their published documents form part of the Good Shepherd Archive’s collection of contextual records.

More specifically, the collection includes:

• Admission and discharge records from the Convent of the Good Shepherd, Abbotsford (1863 to 1971)
• Admission and discharge records from the Convent of the Good Shepherd, Albert Park – for senior girls and women for the period 1892 to 1943, and for a small group of long-term residents, including a number of people with disabilities, for the period 1920 to 1971
• Admission and discharge records from the Convent of the Good Shepherd, Bendigo (1905 to 1981)
• Admission and discharge records from the Convent of the Good Shepherd, Oakleigh (1883-1981)