Our Lady's Orphanage (1862 - 1912)

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Our Lady's Orphanage was established by the Sisters of Mercy at Newtown, Geelong in 1862. Prior to this, from 1859 to 1862, the Sisters of Mercy had provided care to girls at St Augustine's Orphanage at Newtown, Geelong.

In 1865, the St Joseph's Industrial School opened at the Orphanage.

The home changed its name to St Catherine's Orphanage in 1912.

Barnard and Twigg suggest that the Sisters saw a need to distinguish the Orphanage - which shared a site with Sacred Heart Boarding School and a day primary school - as a cause in its own right in terms of fundraising and bequests.

In 1997, records of the Sisters of Mercy were transferred to MacKillop Family Services. These included records of the various orphanages, homes and other residences run by the Sisters of Mercy. While custodianship of the records about people in 'care' became the responsibility of MacKillop Family Services at this point, it was formally agreed that the intellectual property in these records would not change hands.