Some people may find content on this website distressing.
Read more
New South Wales - Organisation
Crusaders Camp Mission Hostel (1940 - 1946)
- From
- 1940?
- To
- 1946?
- Categories
- Mission, Home, Children's Home, Methodist
- Alternative Names
-
- Methodist Crusaders Camp
- Crusaders Camp
Crusaders Camp Mission Hostel at Otford, near Sydney's Royal National Park, was used by the Church Missionary Society in 1942 to house 98 Aboriginal children who had been evacuated from Croker Island, north of Darwin in the Northern Territory. The evacuees, who were accompanied by the Croker Island Mission staff, were wards of the Commonwealth Government. These children, who were aged 1 to 16, were defined at the time as 'half-castes'. The evacuees had left by 1946.
Read more
Less
The Cairns Post and The Argus of 20 May 1942 reported that 98 'half-caste' children from the Methodist Mission on Croker Island, Northern Territory, had arrived in Melbourne, after travelling seven weeks by lugger, truck, rail and foot via the Methodist Inland Mission in Alice Springs. The children were aged from 1-16 and the newspaper reported they would be sent to Sydney, to Otford (which The Cairns Post called 'Oxford'), under the care of Mr K. Wale, superintendent of Croker Island Mission. Wale told the newspaper they would be 'educated and fitted to take their place in society, which he considers has been denied them in the past.' The younger children from Croker Island attended Otford school during their time in the hostel, whilst the older children attended Scarborough school. Many of the high school aged girls attended Wollongong Domestic Home Science High School, and received weekly cooking classes at Burwood High School. The carers included Miss Margaret Somerville, who had been with the children since Croker Island, and Misses Olive Peek and J Marsh.
Locations
- 1940? - c. 1946
- Location - Crusaders Camp Mission Hostel was situated off Lady Carrington Road, Otford
- Series Title
- School Files (1876 - 1979)
- Date Range
- 1876 - 1979
- Reference
-
NRS-3829
[State Records Authority of New South Wales Series Number]
- Contact
-
Please contact the State Archives and Records Authority of New South Wales:
Postal Address: PO Box 516, Kingswood NSW 2747
Phone: (02) 9673 1788
Email: info@records.nsw.gov.au
Website: http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/contact-us/contact-us/
DETAILS
- Collection Title
- Church Missionary Society (New South Wales) - Records (1893 - 2003)
- Date Range
- 1893 - 2003
- Reference
-
MLMSS 6039
[State Library of New South Wales - Manuscripts & Pictures Call Number]
- Contact
-
Please contact a Librarian at State Library of New South Wales:
Postal address: 1 Shakespeare Place, Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 9273 1414
Email: library@sl.nsw.gov.au
Website: https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/research-and-collections/ask-librarian
DETAILS
- Collection Title
- Church Missionary Society of Australia, North Australia Committee (1907 - 1989)
- Date Range
- 1907 - 1989
- Reference
-
458
[Northern Territory Records Service Agency Number]
- Contact
-
Please contact the Northern Territory Archives Service:
Email: ask@lant.nt.gov.au
Darwin Office:
Postal Address: GPO Box 874, Darwin NT 0801
Phone: (08) 8924 7677 or 1800 019 155
Alice Springs Office:
Postal Address: PO Box 8225, Alice Springs NT 0871
Phone: (08) 8951 5669
DETAILS
We do not currently have any photographs linked to this entry. If you know of any additional photographs, please contact us.
The Find & Connect Support Service can help people who lived in orphanages and children's institutions look for their records.
Find out what these words mean
