The Holy Child Orphanage was established in Broome by the Sisters of St John of God in 1941. It was a Home for school-aged Aboriginal girls and young women up to 20 years of age placed by relatives or the Department of Native Affairs. Holy Child closed in December 1962.
The Holy Child Orphanage was established by the Sisters of St John of God in 1941, in Broome. School-aged Aboriginal girls and young women who were working were accommodated there. Girls and young women were placed by their families and by the Department of Native Affairs.
From 1942 to 1945, during World War II, Holy Child Orphanage moved to Beagle Bay, as Broome had been declared a military town and women and children were not permitted to live there.
School children attended St Mary’s School in Broome. They wore blue uniforms and were known as the ‘blue army’ by people seeing them march to and from school.
Patricia Jones, who lived at Holy Child Orphanage around the 1950s, shared her experiences at the institution in a newspaper article in 2023:
We’d be deprived of food as punishment a lot of the time. Although, a meal was usually pretty basic – sometimes onion soup, which was just raw onion in hot water.
One day, a few of us were sent to the home of a pearl farmer’s wife in town to clean up her garden. When we were done, she gave us a penny each. As kids, we were thrilled.
We went to the shop and bought chocolates. When we got back, we were all given a good flogging – made to lift up our skirts and bend over so the nun could whack us with a bamboo stick.
That’s just one of many examples. It was a horrible place (Molloy, 2023).
The Holy Child Orphanage closed in December 1962.
From
1941
To
1962
Alternative Names
HCO
March 1941 - 1962
The Holy Child Orphanage was located near the Barker Street Convent in Broome, Western Australia (Building Still standing)
