Salvation Army Australia, Records of Homes in the former Eastern Territory

Salvation Army Australia, Records of Homes in the former Eastern Territory is a collection relating to Salvation Army children’s institutions in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. The Salvation Army also holds records relating to maternity Homes and adoptions conducted in its Eastern Territory. The surviving records vary for each institution however the collection includes records like: admission and discharge records, client files, personal record cards, case notes and photographs.

Access Conditions

Former residents and clients can access information about themselves after providing proof of identity. Access to information may be given to a third party providing they have written permission from the person to whom the information relates, can prove a connection with that person, or show evidence that the person is deceased. All other applications for access will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Access to information about adoptions is subject to the provisions of the NSW Adoption Act 2000 and the QLD Adoption Act 2009.

Records

Photographs of Salvation Army Children’s Homes (1922-1993), NSW and QLD
Photographs of Salvation Army Children’s Homes (1922-1993) consists of approximately 400 photographs of Salvation Army children’s homes across New South Wales and Queensland, taken from 1922 to 1993 at 13 different Salvation Army children’s homes. The NSW homes included in the photographs are Algate House, Arncliffe Girl’s Home, Bexley Boys’ Home, Dulwich Hill Family Group Home, La Perouse Women and Children’s Home, Canowindra Girls’ Home, and Stanmore Children’s Home. The Queensland homes include Alkira Salvation Army Home for Boys, Home for Boys Riverview, Salvation Army Home for Girls, Yeronga, and Salvation Army Girl’s Home, Toowong.

These photographs are a mixture of official photographs taken of the homes, as well as personal photos that were donated by various people.

The official photographs of the various homes show the interior and exterior of the children’s homes; the children, staff, managers and Salvation Army officers who were stationed there across the time period. Many of these photographs have been dated and identified by retired and current Salvation Army officers, and people who grew up and were a part of The Salvation Army children’s homes.

The photographs of people are both formal and informal. They show children and staff participating in recreational activities; such as sport, excursions, holidays and Christmas parties, as well as events; such as local fetes, church events, Christmas day, school and group portraits, and the children’s homes brass bands and musical groups. The Salvation Army officers (managers) were often photographed in the Salvation Army uniform.

These photographs are located at The Salvation Army Heritage Centre in North Bexley, Sydney.

Adoption Records from Salvation Army Homes in Queensland, 1892?-1970?

The Adoption Records from Salvation Army Homes in Queensland relate to adoptions that were arranged from maternity hospitals and other institutions for single mothers run by the Salvation Army. These records often include notes about the mother’s labour and notes from the nursery.

The Salvation Army in 2012 advised the Find & Connect web resource that the adoption records from Queensland rarely mention details of the adopting parent/s or family. These records are arranged by the name of the birth mother. Therefore, a person trying to locate records may well need to know the birth mother’s name.

These records are held by the Salvation Army and are located in Sydney, New South Wales.

QUEENSLAND INSTITUTIONS

Any surviving records relating to institutions in Queensland run by the Salvation Army are now located in Sydney. Anyone interested in seeking information about their time in ‘care’, or a family member, should contact the Salvation Army Australia.

NEW SOUTH WALES INSTITUTIONS

The following details about records relating to institutions in New South Wales were published in the 1998 guide, Connecting Kin. This guide is available online and contains more detailed descriptions of what type of information is recorded.

Algate House

Client Files, 1970s-1980s.
Register, 26.10.1968 – 11.04.1995

Arncliffe Girls’ Home/The Nest Children’s Home

Admission Register 1918-1968
Notification of Reception 31.1.1946 – 9.8.1962
Notifications of Discharge 15.02.1946 – 9.07.1959

Bathurst Maternity and Rescue Home

Women’s Career Statement, 1897-1917
Register, 9.1.1904-20.11.1919

Bexley Boys’ Home

Client Files, 1970s-1980s
Inmates Register, 7.01.1927 – 13.11.1985
Personal Record Cards, 1960s-1980s
Notice of Reception, Discharge, Death or Admission to Hospital of a Child, 9.04.1974 to 11.01.1980

Bethesda Mothers’ Hospital

Adoption Register (Completed adoptions), 30.11.1967 to 2.04.1974
Adoption Request Registers, 1963-1973
Case Notes, 1956-1973
Details of Unmarried Mothers’ Babies for Child Endowment and Adoption, 25.09.1970 – 4.07.1973
Unmarried Mothers’ Register, 9.2.1967 – 28.6.1973
Register of Patients, 18.12.1966-3.8.1973

Burwood Maternity Home

Women’s Career Statement, 13.11.1896-13.3.1905 (contains biographical information for each woman admitted).
Girl’s Statement on Admission, Final Statement and After Career 6.07.1897 – 23.04.1906
Record Book 26.04.1906-11.08.1917

Canowindra Girls’ Home

Clients Records, 1942-1977
Notification of Reception, 18.2.1947 – 20.02.1970
Notifications of Discharge, 11.02.1942 – 11.03.1976
Register, 10.5.1955-6.2.1968
Register: Particulars of Illness of Children, March 1942-September 1954

Dee Why Home for Boys

Gill and Dee Why, Inmates’ Register, 16.07.1928-9.10.1936 – The volume contains the Inmates’ Register for the Gill Memorial Home for Boys, Goulburn, 10 Sep. 1936 to 18 Oct. 1993 and Dee Why Home for Boys, 16 Jul. 1928 to 9 Oct. 1936.
Register, 1.12.1919-27.02.1932

Dulwich Hill Family Group Home

Client Files, 1980s-1990s

Earlwood Family Group Home

Client Files, 1980s-1990s

The Fold Girls’ Home and Canowindra Girls’ Home (Lyndon House)

Admission Register, 18 April 1924 – 19 September 1976

Gill Memorial Boys’ Home

Notification of Reception, 9.1.1942 to 3.2.1970
Notice of Reception, Discharge, Death or Admission to Hospital, 18.12.1978 to 27.01.1984
Client Files 1933 – c.1983 (foremost from the 1950s to early 1980s) – these Client Files, comprising 4 cartons, date foremost from the 1950s to the early 1980s. The earliest of these files pre-date the opening of the Gill Memorial Home; they relate to boys who were initially admitted to Bexley Boys’ Home and subsequently transferred to the Gill Memorial Boys’ Home in Goulburn. The amount of information available varies from file to file, depending on the circumstances of each case. There are also a small number of files from the 1930s and 1940s, which contain an application form, and correspondence about the child. In a number of instances the correspondence is from the parent or guardian to the manager of the Home, conveying money or clothes for their child.

See also the Gill and Dee Why, Inmates’ Register, 1928-1936

Hopeleigh Maternity Home

Record Books, 18.03.1905-22.03.1928

Narwee Family Group Home

Client Files, 1980s-1990s. A number of the files pre-date the opening of the home, as they relate to children who had previously been in another of the Salvation Army’s homes.

Newtown Maternity and Rescue Home

Inmates Register, 22.03.1892-3.6.1906

Newcastle Maternity and Rescue Home

Girl’s Statement on Admission, Final Statement and After Career, 16.7.1897 – 1.05.1906
Inmates’ Register, 1891-1906 (this volume has been used as the Inmates’ Register for several Homes, including Bathurst Maternity and Rescue Home from 5 July 1897 to 28 May 1906, Newtown Rescue Home from 1 June 1891 to 28 May 1906 and Newcastle Rescue Home from 16 July 1897 to 11 June 1906. Each Home is listed in a separate part of the volume).
Record Books 25.05.1906 – 23.04.1927
Women’s Career Statement, 16.7.1897-26.2.1914

Salvation Army Foster Care Program

Case Files, c.1984 to c.1994
The case files from the Foster Care Program (Salvation Army) include case notes, social worker’s notes, admission forms, school correspondence, etc. for each child or young person admitted to the foster care program. Occasionally there are school reports, medical reports, copies of court orders and mandates, case conference minutes, and photographs.

Stanmore Children’s Home

Client Files, 1970-1980s. Some of the children admitted to Stanmore Children’s Home were later transferred to one of the Family Group Homes (e.g. Dulwich Hill, Earlwood, Narwee), and there are also files for those children in the relevant group home’s records.

Stanmore Rescue Home

Girl’s Statement on Admission, Final Statement and After Career 9.6.1900 – 5.7.1906
Record Books 4.8.1905 – 13.01.1928
Registration Book, 5.2.1969 – 5.12.1987
Women’s Career Statement, 25.11.1906 – 9.3.1903