Montrose was a house in Burwood that was turned into a maternity hospital and infants’ home in 1920 by the State Children’s Relief Department, caring for unmarried mothers and their babies, and infants who were state wards. By 1936 it had been converted to Montrose Hostel by the Child Welfare Department.
Montrose was one of a number of homes established by the State Children’s Relief Board under the Infant Life Protection Act 1904 to assist young unmarried mothers and to nurse ‘illegitimate’ babies. The State Children’s Relief Board hoped that keeping babies together with their mothers would help the mothers breastfeed and get the babies through the first months and years of life. Babies whose mothers could not nurse them were extremely vulnerable, leading to high rates of infant mortality. The mothers in the home could also help care for infants who had been separated from their own mothers and were in state care.
From
c. 1920
To
c. 1935
Alternative Names
Montrose Maternity Hospital
Montrose Infants' Home
Montrose
1920s - 1935s
Montrose Maternity Home was situated on Lucas Road, Burwood, New South Wales (Building Still standing)
Subsequent
