Some people may find content on this website distressing. Read more
New South Wales - Organisation

Winbin (1954 - 1975)

  • Winbin

    Winbin, 1955 - 1990s, courtesy of NSW Department of Family and Community Services.
    Details

From
1954
To
1975
Categories
Children's Home, Disability Institution, Government-run, Home and Temporary Care
Alternative Names
  • Winbin Depot

Winbin, in Strathfield, sometimes referred to as Winbin Depot, was purchased by the Child Welfare Department in 1954 and converted to a children's home. It provided short-term care for around 20 preschool-aged boys and girls. It was, at first, a disability institution. It had a kindergarten teacher on site. From 1974 four female wards lived in and assisted in the running of the home. Winbin closed as a preschool in 1975. The same building was later reopened as a hostel for working-age female wards and pregnant wards.

Details

Winbin was a private home that had been built in 1914 by Ernest Laurence, a solicitor, and had originally been called 'Bellevue'. Alfred Heine bought the property in 1936, subdividing surrounding grounds. The house was bought by the Child Welfare Department in 1952, renamed Winbin and proclaimed as a home for the reception and maintenance of children or young persons admitted to State control on 6 October 1954.

In 1955 a review of the Child Welfare Department described the home as caring for mentally and physically disabled children, aged three to six years of age, who were judged unsuitable for adoption or placement with foster parents but could not be cared for by their birth parents. The home held up to 20 children.

The Care Leavers Australia Network website records that a descendant of Alfred Heine's, Fred Heine, stated Winbin's terracotta fountain had come from the Paris Exhibition of 1913. The CLAN site states that previous owners of a neighbouring property, the McKenzies, recall children moving in lines, two by two, wearing pinafores, around the fountain, which was planted in lavender and that the Child Welfare Department expanded the west wing of the property, adding a dormitory for 20.

According to State Records, Winbin catered for 20 children who stayed only for short periods. The older children were taught by trained kindergarten teachers. In 1974 four female wards receiving domestic training lived in and assisted with the daily domestic duties. In 1975 Winbin closed as a pre-school unit.

According to research done by the staff of the Northern Territory Department of Health, it was a place where children from the Northern Territory were sent, after time in Bidura.

Location

6 October 1954 - 1975
Address - Winbin was situated at 6 Victoria Street, Strathfield. Location: Strathfield

Publications

Books

  • McLean, Donald, Children In Need: An account of the administration and functions of the Child Welfare Department, New South Wales, Australia: with an examination of the principles involved in helping deprived and wayward children, Government Printer, Sydney, 1955, 173 pp. Details

Resource Sections

Online Resources

Photos

Winbin
Title
Winbin
Type
Image
Date
1955 - 1990s
Source
NSW Department of Family and Community Services

Details

The kindergarten at Winbin
Title
The kindergarten at Winbin
Type
Image
Date
c. 1963
Publisher
New South Wales government

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: Jones, Cathy, ''Bellevue' 81- Victoria Street, Strathfield', in Strathfield Heritage, 2012, http://strathfieldheritage.org/houses/federation-housing-in-strathfield/bellevue-victoria-street-strathfield/; Winbin, State Records Authority of New South Wales website, State of New South Wales through the State Records Authority of NSW 2016. Also available at https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/agency/571; Communication from Find & Connect South Australian team about research by staff of the Northern Territory Department of Health into institutions where children from the Northern Territory were sent, dated 10 April 2012.

Prepared by: Naomi Parry