St James' Church, Melbourne, c. 1902
Details
The St James' Visiting Society was established in April 1845 by parishioners of Melbourne's first Protestant Church, St James Old Cathedral, in King Street, Melbourne. In June that year, some Anglican women established the St James' Dorcas Society. The Society began sheltering orphaned children in 1849, in a building in Queen Street, Melbourne. In 1851, its name changed to St James' Orphan Asylum and Visiting Society. When the decision was made in 1853 to separate the provision of residential care from emergency support for families, the name Melbourne Orphan Asylum was adopted.
c. 1845 - 1853 St James' Orphan Asylum and Visiting Society
1853 - 1926 Melbourne Orphan Asylum
1926 - 1965 Melbourne Orphanage
1965 - 1987 Melbourne Family Care Organisation
1987 - 1993 Family Action
c. 1987 - Windermere Child and Family Services
1993 - OzChild
Sources used to compile this entry: 'Melbourne Orphan Asylum (Vic.) (1853 -)', in Australian Women's Register, Rosemary Francis, National Foundation for Australian Women, 22 October 2003, http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0611b.htm; Barnard, Jill; Twigg, Karen, Holding on to Hope: a history of the founding agencies of MacKillop Family Services 1854-1997, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, 2004.
Prepared by: Cate O'Neill
Created: 10 March 2009, Last modified: 27 March 2014
Last updated: 7 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/vic/biogs/E000181b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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