St Paul's Home For Boys

The St Paul’s Home for Boys was established in 1955 by the Mission of St James and St John. It was located at Newhaven, Phillip Island, on the site of the former St Paul’s Training School. In 1979, it ceased to be a Home and became the site of the St Paul’s Discovery Centre, a holiday camp for ‘disadvantaged’ children.

In 1955, St Paul’s Training School as a ‘home for the care of delinquent boys’ was closed, due to insufficient numbers of ‘delinquents’ (more government-run Homes were opening during this period), and also because of changing ideas about the care of young offenders. Eleven remaining state wards were returned to the ‘care’ of the Department.

From this point, St Paul’s thus became eligible as a boys’ home. At this time, some boys were transferred from the soon-to-be-closed St Nicholas’ in Glenroy to St Paul’s. With this change, according to Cole, St Paul’s became ‘an entirely different kind of place’. From 1956 to 1969, it was known as St Paul’s Home for Boys.

In August 1957, St Paul’s Home for Boys was declared as an approved children’s home under the Children’s Welfare Act 1954.

In 1973, the Mission implemented the partial closure of St Paul’s, again due to a drop in numbers. Many boys were now accommodated at Andrew Kerr Memorial Home or the Blackburn South Cottages.

St Paul’s ceased operation as a children’s home in 1979 and was re-established as the St Paul’s Discovery Centre, delivering programs for socially disadvantaged children.

In 1997 the Mission of St James and St John became part of Anglicare Victoria. At this time, records of the Mission were transferred to Anglicare Victoria. These included records of the various orphanages, homes and other residences run by the Mission. The custodian of these records is Anglicare Victoria.