Norfolk Island Orphan School was established in 1795 by the Lieutenant-Governor Of Norfolk Island, Philip Gidley King. The Orphan School was a residential facility for female orphans who lived on the island and it was run by the Secretary of the Governor. Norfolk Island Orphan School closed in 1814 when the entire settlement on Norfolk Island was abandoned.
According to Ramsland (p.2) girls who were placed in Norfolk Island Orphan School had either lost their parents or had been deserted by them. In Governor King's opinion, these girls required a strict hand or eye over them. King continued to oversee the progress of the Orphan School once he left Norfolk Island in October 1796, informing the new Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island that the girls should be taught handcraft professions.
Sources used to compile this entry: Ramsland, John, Children of the back lanes: destitute and neglected children in colonial New South Wales, University of New South Wales Press, Kensington, 1986, 249 pp; Snow, Dianne, 'Family Policy and Orphan Schools in Early Colonial Australia', The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, vol. 22, no. 2, 1991, pp. 255-284.
Prepared by: Nicola Laurent
Created: 4 February 2015, Last modified: 8 November 2017
Last updated: 4 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/nsw/biogs/NE01681b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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