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Western Australia - Organisation

Waif's Home, Parkerville (1903 - 1909)

From
1903
To
1909
Categories
Anglican, Home, Orphanage and Protestant
Alternative Names
  • Children's Home, Parkerville (also known as)
  • League of Charity Home (also known as)
  • League of Charity Home for Waifs and Stray Babies (also known as)
  • League of Charity Home for Waifs and Strays (also known as)
  • Parkerville Home (also known as)
  • Parkerville Orphanage (also known as)
  • Parkerville Orphanage and Parkerville Homes (also known as)
  • Parkerville Orphanage for Infants, Parkerville (also known as)
  • The Parkerville Orphanage, Parkerville (also known as)
  • Parkerville Waifs Home (also known as)
  • The Waifs Home (also known as)
  • Waif's Home, League of Charity, Parkerville (also known as)

The Waif's Home, Parkerville began in 1903. It was founded by the Sisters of the Church. Sister Kate Clutterbuck has had the strongest association with the Home, which was the pioneer in Western Australia of 'cottage care' and keeping children from the same family together. In 1909, the Waif's Home, Parkerville became a subsidised orphanage under the State Children Act 1907 and it was known thereafter as Parkerville Children's Home.

Details

On 5 May 1903, one of the Sisters of the Church, Sister Jane, left Fremantle railway station with six of the older boys (all aged under 12) and arrived at the 10 acre property that the Sisters had purchased in the bush at Parkerville, in the Darling Ranges. The following day, Sister Kate arrived. At first, the boys slept in the barn and the Sisters in a hut on the property. A roofless cottage, known as The Lodge, was built for the babies who were transferred to Parkerville from the Sisters' premises in Perth and Fremantle in July 1903.

By 1904, Whittington (p.88) reports there were 14 'toddlers under four years of age' at Parkerville. The young English boys who had come to Parkerville in 1903 continued to give help in establishing and building new cottages, clearing land and building tracks.

At a meeting of 'subscribers' (supporters) of the Home at the Perth Town Hall on 16 May 1907 (Whittington, p.131), it was reported that there had been around 60 children on average at the Home for the past two years. At April 1907, there were 46 children aged under four years, including 17 infants under one year old. Six of the girls who had arrived with the Sisters from England in 1901 were 'employed' at the Home, being paid 'without any cost to the institution, except their food and clothing'.

In 1909, the Waif's Home, Parkerville became a subsidised orphanage under the State Children Act 1907 and it was known thereafter as Parkerville Children's Home.

Events

1903 - 1909
Location - The Waifs' Home' was situated on 19 acres of bush in the Darling Ranges outside Perth (later became Beacon Road, Parkerville).. Location: Parkerville

Timeline

 1903 St Peter's Boys' School, Fremantle
       1903 - 1909 Waif's Home, Parkerville
             1909 - 2005 Parkerville Children's Home
                   2005 - Parkerville Children and Youth Care (Inc)

Related Organisations

  • Malcolm Street Receiving Home (1907)

    Malcolm Street Receiving Home is recorded as being established because of insufficient places at the Waif's Home, Parkerville.

  • Perth College (1902 - )

    Perth College accommodated 'destitute babies' who were later transferred to the Waif's Home, Parkerville.

Publications

Books

  • Whittington, Vera, Sister Kate: a life dedicated to children in need of care, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia, 1999. pp.73, 85, 88, 91, 104-105, 131. Details

Reports

  • Annual report of the State Children Department, State Children's Department, [Perth, W.A.], 1908-1927. Annual Report 1909, p.5; Annual Report 1910, p.16. Details

Online Resources

Sources used to compile this entry: Annual report of the State Children Department, State Children's Department, [Perth, W.A.], 1908-1927. Annual Report 1909, p.5; Annual Report 1910, p.16.; Whittington, Vera, Sister Kate: a life dedicated to children in need of care, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia, 1999. pp.73, 85, 88, 91, 104-105, 131..

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