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Organisation Benevolent Society of New South Wales (1813 - )
- From
- 8 May 1813
- Categories
- Adoption Agency, Care Provider and Non-denominational
- Alternative Names
- The Benevolent
- Website
- http://www.benevolent.org.au/
Summary
The Benevolent Society of New South Wales was established on 8 May 1813 and is celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2013. It was founded to provide aid to the destitute, needy, sick and vulnerable aged people, women and children. For much of the 19th century it was effectively the social welfare arm of the NSW Government, as the government paid the society to provide residential care and deliver aid to the poor of Sydney and beyond.
The first residential institution operated by the Benevolent Society was the Benevolent Asylum, opened in 1821 by Governor Lachlan Macquarie, in Devonshire Street.
The Benevolent Asylum records from 1857-1900 have been indexed and the index is available online. Please see the list of published resources to access this website.
Details
The Benevolent Asylum was located on the corner of Pitt and Devonshire Streets, Sydney on a site now occupied by Central Railway Station. The NSW Government resumed the site in 1901 when it began building the station. With the compensation the Society received it bought 'Flinton' in Paddington, then developed the Thomas Street Asylum in Ultimo.
Location
- 1813
- Benevolent Society of New South Wales founded in Sydney. Location: Sydney
Related Entries
Archival Records held by
Records Managed by
Provided 'care' at
Publications
Books
- Rathbone, Ron, A Very Present Help: Caring for Australians Since 1813, State Library of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 1994, 237 pp. Details
- Scifleet, Paul, Guide to the Records of the Benevolent Society of New South Wales in the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW, 1996. Details
Reports
- Bluett, Ros, Charity and Justice: The early days of the Benevolent Society in Sydney, ABC Radio National Hindsight, 24 March 2013. Also available at http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/hindsight/the-benevolent/4552918. Details
- Squires, Kathryn and Slater, Lisa, Living at Scarba Home for Children: A history of the Scarba Welfare House for Children (1917-1986) in the context of child welfare practice in New South Wales, Benevolent Society, Paddington, 2006, 56 pp. Details
Online Resources
- 'Royal Hospital for Women, Paddington NSW', in History Pin: The Benevolent Society, The Benevolent Society, 2011, http://www.historypin.com/profile/view/The%20Benevolent%20Society. Details
- History Pin: The Benevolent Society, The Benevolent Society, 2011, http://www.historypin.com/profile/view/The%20Benevolent%20Society. Details
- 'Scarba House for Children (History Pin)', in History Pin: The Benevolent Society, The Benevolent Society, 2011, http://www.historypin.com/tours/view/id/8285730/title/Scarba%20House%20for%20Children#. Details
- Sydney Benevolent Asylum: Index to Admissions and Discharges 1857-1900, 2007, http://www.sydneybenevolentasylum.com/. Details
- Thinee, Kristy and Bradford, Tracy, Connecting Kin: Guide to Records, A guide to help people separated from their families search for their records [completed in 1998], New South Wales Department of Community Services, Sydney, New South Wales, 1998, http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/DOCSWR/_assets/main/documents/connectkin_guide.pdf. Details
- Thompson, Geoff and Hichens, Clay, Given or Taken?, ABC Four Courners, ABC Ultimo, 27 February 2012, http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2012/02/23/3438175.htm. Details
Gallery
- Title
- Living at Scarba Home for Children: A history of the Scarba Welfare House for Children (1917-1986) in the context of child welfare practice in New South Wales
- Type
- Document
- Date
- 2006
- Source
- The Benevolent Society of NSW
Sources used to compile this entry: Scifleet, Paul, Guide to the Records of the Benevolent Society of New South Wales in the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW, 1996.
Prepared by: Naomi Parry
Created: 18 March 2011, Last modified: 14 April 2013
Last updated: 26 April 2013
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/nsw/biogs/NE00313b.htm
First published by the Find and Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Australia License