Warburton Mission, 1958-1961, 1958 - 1961, by Young, Mervyn, courtesy of State Library of Western Australia.
Details
Warburton Mission, 579 kilometres north-east of Laverton, was established in 1933 as an outstation of Mount Margaret Mission until it became a separate facility in 1937. Aboriginal children either lived at the mission with families or were sent there for schooling. The head of the government departments responsible for Aboriginal welfare was the guardian of these children until 1963. In 1968, 211 children lived at the mission. In 1971 there were 136 children attending a Government school on Warburton Mission. It closed in 1977.
According to the State Solicitor's Office in Western Australia (Guide to Institutions Attended by Aboriginal People in Western Australia 2005, p.140) R. Schenk, who was the Manager of Mount Margaret Mission, established the Warburton Mission as an outpost of Mount Margaret. In 1937, Warburton was recognised by government authorities as a separate mission. Both Mount Margaret and Warburton Missions were run by the United Aborigines Mission.
In its early days the mission had few adults living there but the Guide (p.140) states that children were sent there for schooling. By 1949, there were 45 children living at the mission, with a total population of 64 people. Through the 1950s and 1960s, the mission population grew enormously and by 1968 (p.149) there were 211 children and a total population of more than 400 people. At that time, the mission had a 'small hospital staffed' staffed by two nursing sisters and '118 children attended a four teacher government school'.
By 1971 (Wilson and Robinson, quoted in Signposts 2004, p.549) there were 136 children enrolled at the mission school.
Sources used to compile this entry: Information Services, Department for Community Development, 'p.550', Signposts: A Guide for Children and Young People in Care in WA from 1920, Government of Western Australia, 2004, https://signposts.communities.wa.gov.au//pdf/pdf.aspx; Longworth, Alison, Was it worthwhile?, An historical analysis of five women missionaries and their encounters with the Nyungar people of south-west Australia, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, 2005, http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/163/2/02Whole.pdf. pp.298-299..
Prepared by: Debra Rosser
Created: 15 March 2011, Last modified: 12 September 2014
Last updated: 17 October 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/wa/biogs/WE00232b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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