Minda Home for Weak-Minded Children

The Minda Home for Weak-Minded Children was established in Fullarton in 1898. The Home was run by a management committee and provided accommodation and special training for children with intellectual disabilities. In 1911 the children were moved to new larger premises in Brighton and the name of the institution was shortened to Minda Home.

Minda Home was established in 1898 to provide ‘maintenance, care, education and special training’ for children with intellectual disabilities. Prior to Minda Home, children with intellectual disabilities were placed in the Adelaide and Parkside Lunatic Asylums along with adults. In 1894 a number of concerned citizens approached the Chief Secretary seeking to encourage the government to assist with establishing a better quality institution specifically for the benefit and training of these children. The government promised a sum of £500 on the condition that a similar amount was raised from public donations. This was done and in 1897 a home on Fullarton Road at Fullarton was purchased with the potential to accommodate 22 children.

The Home was officially registered as ‘The Minda Home for Weak-minded children’. ‘Minda’ an Aboriginal word meaning ‘a place of shelter and protection’. Ten children moved in during May 1898. They were cared for by Matron Elizabeth Barker and educated by a teacher, Miss Edna Fox, both of whom had been brought over from England. The small home was soon filled to capacity.

After a number of years seeking a suitable location for a larger institution, a property at King George Avenue, Brighton, was purchased in 1909. The government increased its support and a new home was erected. The institution was incorporated and because many of its residents had become adults the name was officially shortened to Minda Home in September 1911. The children from Fullarton were moved to Brighton two months later.