Former residents (and their families) should contact the Uniting Heritage Service to find information, and access personal files. The Uniting Heritage Service is a free service that helps individuals access information about them or family members, as well as access appropriate support should they choose. Heritage Service staff prefer to release records to past residents or their family members in person, where possible, in order to give greater meaning and context to the information.
The collection includes a complete set of individual files and records relating to Kildonan residents dating back to 1881, and these are well documented. For example, it includes the admission and after care books details of those children taken into care from 1881. Individual paper files were produced from 1912, and these have been catalogued and filed. A separate card index was also in use from 1951 - 1983 recording the details of those children in care.
Limited records are available before the 1960s, generally containing a card file and correspondence between the Home and parents, but more detailed information is available from then on. From the 1960s, there are large individual file records and day book entries. The collection contains some memorabilia and Committee minutes and records dating from 1918 - 1964, and a selection of Annual Reports.
The collection includes a large collection of photographs dating from approximately 1940 - 2000. In 2013 a Commonwealth Government Grant enabled the description of the photographic and slide collection that were commissioned for fundraising and promotional activities, and identified as many children and workers as possible with the help of past residents. The focus was on photos of children in care from 1940 - 1980, and, on making those photos available to past residents.
Below is a detailed list of the types of records in the collection:
Minutes of Committees:-
Objects, videos and films:-
The records are catalogued in a MS Access database. From 2006, records that were requested have been digitised.
This collection of records contains some items about Dhurringile Rural Training Farm (i.e. Admission registers with names, and committee meeting minutes that refer to Dhurringile). Please note that this collection does not contain the Client Files from Dhurringile Training Farm.
There is an MS Access database which lists the location and box number of all individual client files from 1912 onwards.
There are some copies of Annual Reports and other general reports at the following archives:
1. Scots Church - older Annual Reports, newsletters etc. from 1881 to 1977
2. Presbyterian Archive - Annual Reports, newsletters etc. from 1881 to 1977
3. UnitingCare and Uniting Church Archives - from 1977 to present day Annual Reports, newsletters etc.
We do not currently have any records linked to this organisation, but records may exist. The Find & Connect Support Service can help people who lived in orphanages and children's institutions look for their records.
We do not currently have any photographs linked to this entry. If you know of any additional photographs, please contact us.
The Find & Connect Support Service can help people who lived in orphanages and children's institutions look for their records.
Last updated:
28 July 2023
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/vic/E000699
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License