The Newcastle Shelter was established in 1906 as temporary accommodation for children awaiting hearings at the local Children's Court, children who were on remand, or who were otherwise in the custody of the police. It operated from the private home of Miss King, who, along with her daughter, ran the shelter with support from the Child Welfare Department. In 1966 the Newcastle Shelter closed, and was replaced by the Worimi Shelter.
The Newcastle Shelter had capacity for 6 boys and girls, with somewhere between 50 and 100 children on average passing through each year. It accepted children from infancy up to the age of 18. Children typically spent only a short time at the shelter, ranging from a few hours to a few days, however at least two children had lived at the shelter permenantly during its operation. Due to the short period of time children spent at the shelter it had no formal education or recreational programs. It was described in the 1939 Annual Report of the Child Welfare Department as 'merely a place of detention and remand.'
In 1947 the operator of the shelter, Miss King, retired. However, annual reports of the department suggest that the shelter continued in some form (possibly at another location) until 1966, when it was replaced by the Worimi Shelter.
Sources used to compile this entry: 'Life of Service to Children Comes to Close', The Newcastle Sun, 3 November 1947, p. 5, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article158776774; Child Welfare Department, Annual Report: Child Welfare Department of New South Wales, New South Wales government, 1923-1970. Also available at https://www.opengov.nsw.gov.au/main.
Prepared by: Constance Thurley-Hart
Created: 19 July 2023
Last updated: 4 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/nsw/biogs/NE01737b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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