Hartnett House and Melbourne City Mission Maternity Home Records

Hartnett House and Melbourne City Mission Maternity Home Records is an archival collection held by the Victorian Government. Presumably these records were transferred to the custody of the Victorian government when Hartnett House ceased to be an adoption agency (in 1973) or when the children’s Home closed in around 1982. This collection comprises various records of children who lived at the Home in Brunswick, and of mothers who were admitted there before or after the birth of their child. There are also records relating to adoptions which took place out of Hartnett House.

Access Conditions

Restricted Access – Records containing personal or private information about children are closed to public access for a period of 99 years. Care Leavers (and their families) can apply for access to records via the Care Leaver Records Service.

Access to adoption information in these records is governed by the Adoption Information Act 1984.

Records

The Victorian government holds a number of archival series relating to residents of Melbourne City Mission Maternity Home and Hartnett House.

The collection includes:

• Case history record books, 1900-1974 (Public Record Office Victoria reference number VPRS 17817/P0001)
  These contain information about mothers admitted to Hartnett House, either before or after the birth of her child
• Ward files, 1962-1978 (Public Record Office Victoria reference number VPRS 18083/P0001)
  These contain case histories of state wards who lived at Hartnett House
• Name index cards to adoptions, Church of Christ and Hartnett House, 1920-1979 (Public Record Office Victoria reference number VPRS 18074/P0001)
  These indexes were produced to provide a record of adoptions arranged by the agencies.

Finding Aids

The Finding Records website page relating to Hartnett House (1900-1983) has a detailed Collection Guide with more information about these records.