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Organisation St Augustine's Orphanage (1939 - 1966)
St Augustine's Orphanage, boys on farm, c. 1939 - c. 1966, courtesy of MacKillop Family Services.
Details
- From
- 1939
Highton, Geelong - To
- 1966
Highton, Geelong - Categories
- Catholic, Home and Orphanage
Summary
St Augustine's Orphanage, Highton, was established in 1939 by the Christian Brothers at what was the farming and gardening property for the former St Augustine's Boys' Orphanage in Newtown. It accommodated boys aged between 9 and 16. In 1966, the Orphanage changed its name to St Augustine's Boys' Home.
Details
St Augustine's Orphanage was established on what was previously the Highton farming and gardening property for the St Augustine's Boys' Orphanage located in Newtown.
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
- St Augustine's Orphanage is situated in Fyans Street, Highton, Geelong. Location: Geelong
- 1947 - 1954
- Property leased in Skene St, Newtown to cater for apprentices leaving the Junior Technical School. Location: Geelong
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Related Entries
Timeline
c. 1855 - 1939 St Augustine's Boys' Orphanage
1939 - 1966 St Augustine's Orphanage
1966 - 1988 St Augustine's Boys' Home
1988 - 1997 St Augustine's Adolescent and Family Services
1997 - MacKillop Family Services
Records managed by
Run By
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
- 'Submission no 283', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/submissions/sublist.htm. Details
- 'Submission no 227', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/submissions/sublist.htm. Details
- 'Submission no 15', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/submissions/sublist.htm. Details
- '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://catholicsocialservices.org.au/system/files/Directory+-+edited+10+Dec+2001.pdf. Details
- 'Submission no 454', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, 2004, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/submissions/sublist.htm. Details
- Victoria Government Gazette Online Archive 1836-1997, State Library of Victoria, 2009, http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/. Details
- Barnard, Jill, '"A Secure Safeguard of the Children's Morals": Catholic Child Welfare in Nineteenth-Century Victoria', Provenance, no. 4, September 2005, http://prov.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ProvenanceIssue4.pdf. Details
- History, 2008-2011, http://www.sjc.vic.edu.au/About_History. Details
Gallery
- Title
- St Augustine's Orphanage, boys on farm
- Type
- Image
- Date
- c. 1939 - c. 1966
- Source
- MacKillop Family Services
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://catholicsocialservices.org.au/system/files/Directory+-+edited+10+Dec+2001.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', Provenance, no. 4, September 2005, http://prov.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ProvenanceIssue4.pdf; 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
Created: 10 August 2009, Last modified: 10 April 2013
Last updated: 2 May 2013
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/vic/biogs/E000062b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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