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Western Australia - Organisation

Fairholme (1952 - 1984)

  • Fairholme House

    Fairholme House, 25 June 2009, courtesy of Heritage Council of Western Australia.
    Details

From
1952
To
1984
Categories
Disability Institution, Government-run and Home
Alternative Names
  • Fairholme Hostel (also known as)
  • Nat Harper Homes (also known as)
  • Nathaniel Harper Homes (also known as)

Fairholme was established in 1952 as a home for 32 children 'of all ages' with intellectual disabilities who were transferred from the Claremont Mental Hospital. Fairholme, with Earlsferry, made up the Nathaniel Harper Homes owned and run by the government of Western Australia. Fairholme continued to provide out of home care in the Guildford premises, with residents gradually being relocated into modern premises from 1982. All children had been relocated by 1984. The Fairholme property is no longer used for out of home care.

Details

Fairholme was one of two Nathaniel Harper Homes owned and run by the government of Western Australia. It was opened by the Minister for Health, Dame Florence Cardell Oliver, on 27 September 1952.

Nathaniel Harper, whose child had Down Syndrome, donated money to the Mental Hospitals Department to stimulate what has been called a 'modest beginning of a new era in service provision' by the State for children with intellectual disabilities. Nathaniel Harper Homes were the 'first public sector residential facility' since the Claremont Mental Hospital began in 1903. Nathaniel Harper Homes were run by nursing staff, with visits from Claremont Mental Hospital psychologists. The Education Department set up a special school for children at the Nathaniel Harper Homes.

The Nathaniel Harper Homes were also involved in 'industrial rehabilitation', which was a type of 'sheltered workshop' employment. The young people and adults at Nathaniel Harper Homes took some of the overflow work from the industrial rehabilitation workshop at the Claremont Mental Hospital. They made glass pipettes and cleaned and re-assembled bottle-tops.

By the 1980s, Fairholme and Earlsferry were better known as separate hostels rather than collectively as the Nathaniel Harper Homes.

Events

27 September 1952 - 1984
Location - Fairholme was located on the eastern bank of the Swan River at Market Street, Guildford. Location: Guildford

Related Organisations

  • Claremont Mental Hospital (1903 - 1972)

    Children were transferred from the Claremont Mental Hospital to Fairholme.

  • Earlsferry (1952 - 1989)

    Earlsferry and Fairholme were opposite each other on the Swan River at Bassendean and Guildford. Together, they were known as the Nathaniel Harper Homes, named after the man who donated £20,000 for residential facilities for children with intellectual disabilities.

Publications

Books

  • Avery, Annette, Fairholme, Fairholme Disability Support Group Inc, 2007. p.17. Details
  • Ellis, A.S., Eloquent Testimony : the Story of the Mental Health Services in Western Australia, 1830-1975, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia, 1984. Details

Book Sections

  • Gillgren, Christina, 'Once a Defective, always a Defective: Public Sector Residential Care 1900-1965', in Errol Cocks (ed.), Under blue skies : the social construction of intellectual disability in Western Australia, Centre for Disability Research and Development, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, 1996, pp. 53-91. Details
  • Stella, Leonie, 'Normalisation and Beyond: Public Sector Residential Care 1965-1990', in Errol Cocks (ed.), Under blue skies : the social construction of intellectual disability in Western Australia, Centre for Disability Research and Development, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, 1996, pp. 92-136. Details

Reports

  • Annual Report 2006-07 [Fairholme], Fairholme Disability Support Group Inc., 18 August 2007. p.7. Details

Online Resources

Photos

Fairholme House
Title
Fairholme House
Type
Image
Date
25 June 2009
Source
Heritage Council of Western Australia

Details

Fairholme Gates
Title
Fairholme Gates
Type
Image
Date
5 June 2011
Source
Heritage Council of Western Australia

Details

Researching Your Family History in Western Australia through Mental Health Records
Title
Researching Your Family History in Western Australia through Mental Health Records
Type
Document
Date
9 May 2012
Source
Mental Health Museum of WA Inc, Info-Sheet-Family History-A4-final.pdf

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: 'Mental Home Renovations', The Daily News, 8 September 1950, p. 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article84485571; 'Homes mean opportunity for retarded children', Sunday Times, 28 September 1952, p. 21, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60099143; 'Subnormal children get homes', The West Australian, 29 September 1952, p. 9, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49055185; Annual Report 2006-07 [Fairholme], Fairholme Disability Support Group Inc., 18 August 2007. p.7.; Avery, Annette, Fairholme, Fairholme Disability Support Group Inc, 2007. p.17.; Ellis, A.S., Eloquent Testimony : the Story of the Mental Health Services in Western Australia, 1830-1975, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia, 1984; Gillgren, Christina, 'Once a Defective, always a Defective: Public Sector Residential Care 1900-1965', in Errol Cocks (ed.), Under blue skies : the social construction of intellectual disability in Western Australia, Centre for Disability Research and Development, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, 1996, pp. 53-91; Heritage Council of Western Australia, 'Fairholme Group', in inHerit, Western Australia State Heritage Office, Government of Western Australia, 8 February 2015, http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/public/p/2466. pp.1, 2.; Stella, Leonie, 'Normalisation and Beyond: Public Sector Residential Care 1965-1990', in Errol Cocks (ed.), Under blue skies : the social construction of intellectual disability in Western Australia, Centre for Disability Research and Development, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, 1996, pp. 92-136; State Records Office of Western Australia, Wards - Director's Approval to Transfer from one Institution to Another and Amend Training, Reference Code AU WA S1099- cons2607 A0191 V4 (p.73) - page numbers refer to PDF page number in digital file held by the Department of Communities (Child Protection and Family Support) in 2017.

Prepared by: Debra Rosser