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Bedford Park Boys’ Training Centre

Bedford Park Boys’ Training Centre was established by the government in 1961 at Bedford Park. It operated as a reformatory and took boys from the Boys’ Reformatory at Magill and temporarily housed girls from Vaughan House in separate sections. From 1962 it accommodated up to 50 boys above school age only. The home closed in…

Christian Brethren/Open Brethren Assemblies of South Australia

The Christian Brethren, also known as the Plymouth Brethren, are an Evangelical Protestant church with no ordained ministers and a strong lay involvement in their activities. They originated in England and Ireland in the 1820s, and by the 1850s had spread to Australia. Sections within the Christian Brethren movement include the Exclusive Brethren, the Open…

Umeewarra Mission Children’s Home

Umeewarra Mission Children’s Home opened near Port Augusta in 1937. It was run by the Christian Brethren as a Home and school for Aboriginal children.. In the 1950s-60s between 50 and 70 children lived at the Home. In 1964 the Mission came under government control and was renamed Davenport Reserve. The Open Brethren Assemblies of…

Sisters of Mercy, Adelaide Congregation

The Sisters of Mercy, Adelaide Congregation, a Catholic religious order of women from Argentina via Ireland was established in 1880 in South Australia. They ran the St Vincent De Paul Orphanage and Yoorana Cottage, St Vincent de Paul Group Homes. In 2011, the Sisters of Mercy, Adelaide Congregation was dissolved and merged with 15 former…

St Vincent de Paul Orphanage

St Vincent de Paul Orphanage was established by the Catholic Church in 1866 in Gilberton. In 1867 it took in Catholic children from the Grace Darling Hotel. The Orphanage moved to Adelaide in 1868, to Mitcham in 1872, Burnside in 1875 and Millswood in 1888. The Orphanage was run by the Orphanage Board from 1866…

Sisters of the Resurrection

Sisters of the Resurrection is a Polish Order of Catholic nuns that was established in Rome in 1891. In Melbourne an order of the Sisters of the Resurrection was established in 1952 and ran ‘Resurrection House’ in Essendon from 1952 to 1971. Between 1956 and 1978, the Resurrection Sisters ran St Stanislaus House in Royal…

St Stanislaus House

St Stanislaus House was opened in 1956 in Royal Park. Also known as the Polish Orphanage, it was run by the Resurrection Sisters and accommodated orphans, children from broken homes and children whose mothers were out at work or were ill. Some children were of primary school age and attended local Catholic schools. Staffing shortages…

St Vincent’s Trust Endowment Society

St Vincent’s Trust Endowment Society ran St Joseph’s Refuge, Fullarton between 1992 and 2001.

St Joseph’s Refuge

St Joseph’s Refuge was established in Adelaide by the Catholic Church in 1868. Run by the Sisters of St Joseph, it provided refuge for unmarried mothers and children to the age of three years. Older children went to St Joseph’s Orphanage, Largs Bay. The refuge moved to Mitcham, Norwood and then Fullarton in 1901. In…

Adelaide Catholic Archdiocesan Archives

The Adelaide Catholic Archdiocesan Archives holds records created by the successive bishops and archbishops of Adelaide and their associated parishes, diocesan offices and agencies. The Archives holds administrative, historical and photographic records related to Homes run by the Catholic Church. It also holds all issues of The Southern Cross newspaper, 1889 to present. No personal…