Some children at Gill Memorial Boys' Home were there under court orders, some were state wards, some were child migrants, some were placed there 'informally', for example by a parent.
The Gill Memorial Boys' Home was mentioned in a number of submissions to the 2004 Senate Community Affairs Reference Committee Inquiry into Forgotten Australians and Child Migrants. Some former residents recall sexual abuse and most described a harsh routine, where numbers were used instead of names.
One former resident, who described regular bashings and abuse in his submission, also wrote out the words of a song the boys used to sing:
'THE BOYS AT THE GILL VERSION OF THE "ROAD TO GUNDAGAI"
There's a gaol on the hill
and they call it the Gill
along the road to Goulburn High.
You can hear the Sallies singing
and hear the stockwhip ringing
beneath the Goulburn sky.
When my mummy and daddy are thinking of me
I'm in the Sallies office copping six, four or three.
There's a gaol on the hill
and they call it the Gill
along the road to Goulburn High.
We used to sing this song on the way to school and after school, anywhere we could, just so long as the officers didn't hear it because we were well aware of the consequences. [Submission 336]'
Last updated:
07 June 2023
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/nsw/NE00228
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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