Presbyterian Sisterhood Home

The Presbyterian Sisterhood Home, in Warrnambool, western Victoria was established around 1901. It was a refuge for ‘girls in distress’ and their babies. The Presbyterian Sisterhood was founded by the Rev. Donald A. Cameron in around 1901, and was closely connected to St John’s Presbyterian Church, Warrnambool. The Home was located in the Manse next to St John’s. It was managed by a non denominational committee and was maintained by donations from people in Warrnambool and the Western District. The Home in Warrnambool closed in 1909 and the Presbyterian Sisterhood moved to Melbourne, where they established a maternity Home in North Fitzroy.

According to an article in The Age from 1954, the work of the Presbyterian Sisterhood began in 1902, when the Rev Donald A Cameron of St John’s Presbyterian Church Warrnambool, and his wife began taking single mothers into their manse for shelter.

In 1908 the church started fundraising for a new building for the Presbyterian Sisterhood, and obtained from the Victorian Premier a promise of a grant in aid of 250 pounds (The Australasian, 1908).

The new building was never constructed. In 1909, The Age reported:

Much regret is felt locally at the decision of the board of management of St John’s Presbyterian Church to close the Presbyterian Sisterhood at the end of this month. This charitable institution was founded several years ago by the Rev. D. A. Cameron for the help of women in distress. It was undenominational in character, and relieved numerous cases. Owing to new regulations it is now impossible for the institution to admit maternity cases, so that the usefulness of the home is in a very large measure curtailed. There are at present five infants in the home, and steps are being taken to provide for them after the institution is closed. Mrs W. Manifold and the local board of the Neglected Children’s department have this matter in hand (The Age, 1909).

In 1909, the Presbyterian Sisterhood moved its operations to Melbourne and opened a maternity Home in the suburb of North Fitzroy.