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New South Wales - Organisation

Church of England Boys' Home (1917 - 1970s)

  • Buckland Memorial Home for Boys

    Buckland Memorial Home for Boys, December 1927, courtesy of The Sydney Morning Herald.
    Details

From
1917
To
1970s
Categories
Anglican, Children's Home, Home, Protestant and Receiving Agency
Alternative Names
  • Buckland House (also known as)
  • Carlingford Boys' Home (also known as)
  • Carlingford Children's Home (also known as)
  • Church of England Boys' Home, Carlingford (also known as)
  • Noller (also known as)
  • Spurway Cottage (also known as)
  • T.A. Field Cottage (also known as)
  • Trigg Cottage (also known as)
  • Vickery (also known as)
  • The Working Boys' Hostel (also known as)

The Church of England Boys' Home was for boys aged 6 to 18 years. It was established by Church of England Homes in 1917 in a house in Cronulla. The Boys' Home moved to Carlingford in 1921, occupying 'Minden', which had previously been used as the Church of England Girls' Home. In 1927 the Boys' Home moved to a new site further north on Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford, where Buckland Memorial Home was built. By 1935 there were 4 additional cottages: Spurway, Noller, Vickery and Broad, along with a Hostel for older boys. The Church of England Boys' Home closed in the 1970s when children were placed in group homes.

Details

The Carlingford Homes started with the purchase of 'Minden', in Carlingford, in 1913, as a Girls' Home. In 1915 a family group that included a boy arrived from Orange. Although that boy was placed with his sisters, a separate Boys' Home was established at Cronulla in 1917. Another house, 'Havilah', was purchased at Normanhurst (Wahroonga) in 1918, as a home for small children but the work of Havilah later relocated, also to Carlingford, in 1950.

In 1920, girls were transferred from 'Minden' in Carlingford to Arden, in Glebe. At that time, a second house was added to Minden, to take more boys, and boys came to Carlingford from the Home at Cronulla. This addition at Carlingford was called No 2 Home, but was later renamed Tress-Manning Home.

John Ingersole, who grew up in the Carlingford Boys' Homes, has written the history of the complex. He says the boys moved to a new building (known as "Number 2") that was erected alongside Minden in 1921, while the girls were sent to Arden in Glebe, and Havilah became a unisex home for little children. Once little children from Havilah turned six they were sent to either the Boys' Home or the Girls' Home.

In 1927 a new Boys' Home, Buckland House, was built on a new site at 756 Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford. The home was built by Sir Thomas Buckland, in honour of his son, who had been killed in World War I. The girls were moved back to the original building, Minden, in 1927.

The Boys' Home complex expanded in later years, with the addition of Noller, Broad, Vickery, Spurway, T.A Field and Trigg Cottages, and a Hostel for boys who were starting work.

The land was prepared for sale in 1975 and the Boys' Homes were closed in May 1976.

According to research done by the staff of the Northern Territory Department of Health, children from the Northern Territory were sent to the Church of England Boys' Home.

The Church of England Boys' Home was mentioned in the Bringing Them Home Report (1997) as an institution that housed Indigenous children removed from their families.

The Church of England Boys' Home was mentioned in the Lost Innocents Report (2001) as an institution involved in the migration of children to Australia.

Location

1917 - 1921
Location - Church of England Boys' Home was situated at Cronulla. Location: Cronulla
1921 - 1926
Address - Church of England Boys' Home was situated at Minden, 216 Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford. Location: Carlingford
1926 - 1970s
Address - Church of England Boys' Home was situated at 756 Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford. Location: Carlingford

Related Events

Related Glossary Terms

Related Organisations

Related Places

  • Minden (1913 - 1970s)

    The house Minden was the central point for the development of the Church of England Children's Homes at Carlingford, and housed girls from 1913 to 1920 and from 1927 until the 1970s. It housed boys from 1921 until 1926.

Publications

Books

  • Ingersole, John Kelso, Memories of a rural village : Carlingford Church of England Children's homes, 1930s-1940s-1950s, John Ingersole, Hurstville, 2000, 47 pp. Details

Journals

  • Church of England Homes (ed.), The Pleader: The organ of the Church of England Homes, 1916-1972, 8 pp. Details

Reports

Online Resources

Photos

Buckland Memorial Home for Boys
Title
Buckland Memorial Home for Boys
Type
Image
Date
December 1927
Source
The Sydney Morning Herald

Details

The Pleader
Title
The Pleader
Type
Document
Date
10 October 1930
Source
Anglicare Out-of-Home Care Services

Details

Noller Cottage
Title
Noller Cottage
Type
Image
Date
c. 1940 - c. 1950
Publisher
The Hills Shire Council

Details

Old Rectory for St Paul's
Title
Old Rectory for St Paul's
Type
Image
Date
c. 1950 - c. 1970
Source
Care Leavers Records and Archives, Anglicare

Details

Church of England Boys' Home, Carlingford
Title
Church of England Boys' Home, Carlingford
Type
Image
Date
1958
Source
Care Leavers Records and Archives, Anglicare

Details

Church of England Homes 75th Annual Report
Title
Church of England Homes 75th Annual Report
Type
Document
Date
1958 - 1959
Source
Anglicare Out-of-Home Care Services, Parramatta

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: 'Home that is away from home?', 2011, https://web.archive.org/web/20180402235944/http://nma.gov.au/blogs/inside/2011/02/02/home-that-is-away-from-home/; Annual Report, Church of England Homes, c1908-1984. 1918-1919, 1921-22, 1922-23, 1925-26, 1927-28, 1928-29, 1931-32, 1932-33, 1950-51, 1975-76.; Church of England Homes (ed.), The Pleader: The organ of the Church of England Homes, 1916-1972, 8 pp; Immigration Museum, Stolen childhoods, Museum Victoria, 2011-2012, https://museumsvictoria.com.au/article/stolen-childhoods/; Ingersole, John Kelso, Memories of a rural village : Carlingford Church of England Children's homes, 1930s-1940s-1950s, John Ingersole, Hurstville, 2000, 47 pp; Correspondence with Anglicare Foster Care (Telopea), 28 November 2011. Communication with Anglicare Out of Home Care Services, 19 September 2013. Communication from Find & Connect South Australian team about research by staff of the Northern Territory Department of Health into institutions where children from the Northern Territory were sent, dated 10 April 2012; Constitution of the Church of England Homes (1916).

Prepared by: Naomi Parry