Blackheath, 1930?, courtesy of Care Leavers Australasia Network.
Details
The St Agnes Babies Home, in Oxley was run by the Queensland Association for the Saving of Infant Life. It opened in 1922 and was previously known as Duncan's Infant Home. In 1923, the State Children's Department refused the Home's application to be licensed to care for 20 babies instead of 10. The Committee made the decision to close the Home on 30 July 1923. Of the eleven babies being cared for at the home seven were returned to the people from whom they were received and four remained in state care.
The men's finance committee of the Queensland Association for the Saving of Infant Life, commenced work in early 1920 to raise money to open a babies' home. Originally, the committee proposed to name it the Queen Mary Home for Babies. When they were unable to register this name, the Committee decided on the name St Agnes Babies Home. The home was registered with the Director of the State's Children Department, Colonel Ferguson.
St Agnes Babies Home's new location in Oxley was a home known as 'Cliveden'. After St Agnes Babies Home closed in 1923, it was purchased by the Presbyterian Church to be used as an orphanage. The Blackheath Home for Children opened on the same site in 1924.
1915 - 1919 Corinda Infants' Home
1921 - 1922 Duncan Infants' Home
1922 - 1923 St Agnes Babies Home
Sources used to compile this entry: 'St Agnes's Home: Oxley Home for Babies. Report by Director', The Telegraph, 13 November 1923, p. 7, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article180468727; 'Babies Home at Oxley', Brisbane Courier, 3 November 1922, p. 11, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/20581344; 'Babies Home Closed: State Interference Alleged: Minister's Denial: Presbyterian Orphanage Proposal', Brisbane Courier, 9 November 1923, p. 6, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/20678161; 'The St Agnes Home for Babies', Brisbane Courier, 15 August 1923, p. 15, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/20631468.
Prepared by: Lee Butterworth
Created: 21 November 2011, Last modified: 21 January 2021