Nos 4 and 8 Cottage Homes for Boys (Mittagong), c. 1908, courtesy of W.A. Gullick, Government Printer.
Details
The Mittagong Cottage Homes Area is the site of various NSW Government institutions, including the former Mittagong Cottage Homes, Mittagong Farm Home, Mittagong Training Home and Renwick Child Welfare Homes. It was used continuously as a government child welfare institution, on the cottage system, from 1896 until 1994. The area is on Bong Bong Road, bounded by Old Hume Highway and Old South Road, and includes Renwick Drive. The NSW Government sold the site in 1994 and in 2014 it was being subdivided and developed. A number of the original buildings have been demolished, but some of the historic cottages and Challoner remain standing, many with State Heritage Register listings.
Mittagong Cottage Homes were set up by the State Children's Relief Board from 1885 in rented cottages in the Mittagong Town Centre. In 1896 the State Children's Relief Board leased 100 acres of the 'Southwood Estate', and cottages on its edges. In 1901 the NSW Government bought the land. In the 1930s a section of 'Rotherwood Estate' was added to the site.
Sources used to compile this entry: 'Challoner Cottage, Mittagong Farm Home [Other names: Cottage No.12, Old Dormitory Building, Renwick Child Welfare House, Mittagong Training School for Boys, Renwick Farm Home, Renwick State Ward Home]', in State Heritage Register, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, 1999-, https://www.hms.heritage.nsw.gov.au/App/Item/ViewItem?itemId=5062002; 'Goodlet Cottage: Mittagong Training Centre Group', in State Heritage Register, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, 1999-, https://www.hms.heritage.nsw.gov.au/App/Item/ViewItem?itemId=2680277; 'Hassall and Jefferis Cottages [Cutler's Inn, Government or Mittagong Farm Home, Kangaroo Inn]', in State Heritage Register, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, 1999-, https://www.hms.heritage.nsw.gov.au/App/Item/ViewItem?itemId=5045486; 'Renwick Child Welfare House', in State Heritage Register, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, 1999-, https://www.hms.heritage.nsw.gov.au/App/Item/ViewItem?itemId=18762; 'Suttor Cottage', in State Heritage Register, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, 1999-, https://www.hms.heritage.nsw.gov.au/App/Item/ViewItem?itemId=2680194; Official Renwick (Mittagong Farm Home For Boys) web site, Official Renwick Association: Renwick Association Incorporated, 2011; Renwick (Mittagong Farm Home for Boys) web site, http://web.archive.org/web/20130410184643/http://www.renwick.com.au/smf/index.php; Downie, Leeallison, 'Challoner Cottage - Mittagong', in Heritage Watch NSW, 2013, http://web.archive.org/web/20170218091735/http://www.heritagewatchnsw.org.au/challoner-cottage-mittagong.php; 'Mittagong Training School For Boys', in State Records Authority of New South Wales website, State of New South Wales through the State Records Authority of NSW 2016, https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/agency/506; Needham, Kirsty, 'Renwick State Ward Home at the centre of feuding between the government and community group over plans for the site', The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 April 2014, http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/renwick-state-ward-home-at-the-centre-of-fueding-between-the-government-and-community-group-over-plans-for-the-site-20140405-365r6.html#ixzz2yGZgFCP6; Leonie Knapman provided invaluable information to Naomi Parry, including a site tour, 21-22 June 2012.
Prepared by: Naomi Parry
Created: 2 May 2014, Last modified: 29 July 2015
Last updated: 4 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/nsw/biogs/NE01576b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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