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Victoria - Organisation

St Augustine's Orphanage (1939 - 1966)

  • St Augustine's Building

    St Augustine's Building, courtesy of MacKillop Family Services.
    Details

From
1939
To
1966
Categories
Catholic, Home and Orphanage

St Augustine's Orphanage, Highton, was established in 1939 by the Christian Brothers on a large farming property of approximately 180 acres located on South Valley Road, Highton, Geelong. It accommodated boys aged between 9 and 16. In 1966, the Orphanage changed its name to St Augustine's Boys' Home.

Details

In 1939, following several years of campaigning to raise funds for the construction of the new building, St Augustine's Orphanage was opened on a large farming property on South Valley Road, Highton. With a capacity for 343 children the new St Augustines was the largest children's home in Victoria at this time. Although the new buildings were ready to receive boys from St Augustine's Newtown orphanage in January 1939, construction of the site had not been fully completed at this stage. The boys were required to work to complete the landscaping on the site, including laying lawns and digging out a swimming pool.

With financial assistance from the Victorian government, St Augustine's purchased a property in Albert Park to provide hostel accommodation for young men working in Melbourne. The Young Catholic Workers Hostel (YCW) accommodated 20 boys and was opened by Archbishop Mannix in 1946.

St Augustine's also saw the need for a hostel in the Geelong area, to cater for apprentices leaving its junior Technical School, established in 1947. A property was leased in Skene St, Newtown for this purpose. The Victorian government would not subsidise the purchase of this property, and the hostel closed in 1954.

Leo Cahill was appointed Superior at St Augustine's in 1963. In his short time at St Augustine's (he left in 1967), the institution underwent significant change, as it followed the trend away from congregate care towards a more 'home-like' atmosphere.

When he took over at St Augustine's, Cahill appointed Betty Kelly to work as his secretary. In an interview, she recalled an early conversation with Cahill:

Leo Cahill said, 'Well, what's wrong with the place?' I said, 'There are no women here'. I felt that it was an unnatural atmosphere for trying to prepare boys for the outside world.

A former staff member, Terry O'Brien, reflected on Betty Kelly's impact on St Augustine's: 'Betty was a mother, and she came here and looked at St Augustine's through the eyes of a mother. She could see what was lacking'.

Location

1939 - 1966
Location - St Augustine's Orphanage was located in South Valley Road, Highton, Geelong. Location: Geelong
1947 - 1954
Location - St Augustines orphanage leased property in Skene St, Newtown to cater for apprentices leaving the Junior Technical School. Location: Geelong

Publications

Books

  • Barnard, Jill; Twigg, Karen, Holding on to Hope: a history of the founding agencies of MacKillop Family Services 1854-1997, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, 2004. Details
  • Chapman, Peter, C.B.C., St. Augustine's and the Christian Brothers: an archival history, St Augustine's, Whittington, 1993. Details
  • Murray, Suellen, John Murphy, Elizabeth Branigan, Jenny Malone, After the orphanage: life beyond the children's home, University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 2009. Details
  • Prior, Tom, A knockabout priest: the story of Father John Brosnan, Hargreen, North Melbourne, 1985. Details
  • Wheatley-Kenyon, Patrick, In the shadow of a legend: an Aussie's search. Details

Online Resources

Photos

Boys at St Augustine's
Title
Boys at St Augustine's
Type
Image
Source
MacKillop Family Services

Details

St Augustine's Building
Title
St Augustine's Building
Type
Image
Source
MacKillop Family Services

Details

St Augustine's Orphanage, boys on farm
Title
St Augustine's Orphanage, boys on farm
Type
Image
Date
c. 1939 - c. 1966
Source
MacKillop Family Services

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: 'A Piece of the Story': National Directory of Records of Catholic organisations caring for children separated from their families, Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission & Australian Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes, November 1999, http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/A-Piece-of-the-Story-Directory-of-Catholic-Records-.pdf; Victoria Government Gazette Online Archive 1836-1997, State Library of Victoria, 2009, http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/; Barnard, Jill; Twigg, Karen, Holding on to Hope: a history of the founding agencies of MacKillop Family Services 1854-1997, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, 2004; Barnard, Jill, '"A Secure Safeguard of the Children's Morals": Catholic Child Welfare in Nineteenth-Century Victoria', in Provenance, September 2005, https://www.prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/provenance-journal/provenance-2005/secure-safeguard-childrens-morals; Chapman, Peter, C.B.C., St. Augustine's and the Christian Brothers: an archival history, St Augustine's, Whittington, 1993.

Prepared by: Cate O'Neill