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Organisation St Vincent de Paul's Girls' Orphanage (1861 - 1962)
Girls at St. Vincent De Paul's Orphanage during a religious parade, c. 1955, courtesy of Harold Paynting Collection, State Library of Victoria.
Details
- From
- 1861
South Melbourne - To
- 1962
- Categories
- Catholic, Home, Hostel and Orphanage
Summary
St Vincent de Paul's Girls' Orphanage was established in 1861 and run by the Sisters of Mercy. It housed girls aged between 5 and 15. In 1962, the name changed to St Vincent de Paul's Children's Home.
Details
The building of St Vincent de Paul's Girls' Orphanage in Napier Street, South Melbourne, had commenced by 1864, and was completed by 1867. In 1861, the Sisters of Mercy had taken over the management of the St Vincent de Paul Orphanage in Cecil Street, South Melbourne in 1861, where boys and girls were housed together until the separate girls' institution was built.
In 1872 the Sisters of Mercy established a Domestic Training Institute in their former House of Mercy in Fitzroy. Older orphan girls were transferred to the Institute from St Vincent de Paul's Girls' Orphanage, South Melbourne to be trained in domestic work. This training took the form of 'acting as servants for the adjoining boarding school', the Convent of Mercy, Nicholson Street, Fitzroy.
The Sisters 'continued to claim funds for the girls at the training institute, arguing that better training made them much more suitable for employment outside the institution. In essence, [the orphanage was] attempting to keep the children for as long as possible, presumably to protect them from the dangers and temptations that awaited them in isolated private homes. A side benefit was much-needed assistance with domestic labour.'
In 1920, St Vincent de Paul's Girls' Orphanage became independent from the Convent of Mercy.
In the late 1930s the Sisters of Mercy established a holiday home at Black Rock for the girls in St Vincent's care.
Location
- c. 1867 - 1962
- St Vincent de Paul's Girls' Orphanage is situated in Napier Street, South Melbourne. Location: South Melbourne
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Related Entries
Timeline
1861 - 1962 St Vincent de Paul's Girls' Orphanage
1962 - 1992 St Vincent de Paul Children's Home
1992 - 1997 St Vincent de Paul Child 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. pp. 21, 51. 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
- O'Sullivan, Mary Ignatius Sister, The wheel of time: a brief survey of the ninety-six years' work of the Sisters of Mercy in Victoria, 1857-1953, Advocate Press, Melbourne, 1954. Details
Edited Books
- Hollander, Robyn and Margaret Jacobs (eds), Life lines, stories by women in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Melbourne's Living Museum of the West, 1985. Details
Online Resources
- Christmas is party time …, The Argus, 15 December 1952, 5 pp, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23217636. Details
- An appealing and urgent Christmas, The Argus, 7 December 1954, 10 pp, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23455754. 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
- Grogan, Robert, 'From green to red and white', in Catholic Parish of Sts Peter and Paul, Catholic Parish of Sts Peter and Paul, http://sppchurch.org.au/parish-history/. Details
- Heritage Victoria, Former St Vincent de Paul Girls' Orphanage: Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H0212, 20 December 2011, http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/vhd/heritagevic#detail_places;1061. Details
Gallery
- Title
- Former St. Vincent de Paul Girls' Orphanage
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1858
- Control
- VHR H0212
- Source
- Heritage Victoria
- Title
- St Vincent de Paul's Girls' Orphanage, communion portrait
- Type
- Image
- Date
- n.d.
- Source
- MacKillop Family Services
- Title
- St Vincent de Paul's Girls' Orphanage, girls assembled
- Type
- Image
- Date
- n.d.
- Source
- MacKillop Family Services
- Title
- St Vincent de Paul's Girls' Orphanage, dining room
- Type
- Image
- Date
- n.d.
- Source
- MacKillop Family Services
- Title
- St Vincent de Paul Girls' Orphanage, chapel
- Type
- Image
- Date
- n.d.
- Source
- MacKillop Family Services
- Title
- St Vincent de Paul Girls' Orphanage, girls in quadrangle
- Type
- Image
- Date
- c. 1940
- Control
- Accession No: H92.20/464-470, Image No: a18376
- Source
- Harold Paynting Collection, State Library of Victoria
- Title
- St Vincent de Paul Girls' Orphanage, kitchen
- Type
- Image
- Date
- c. 1940
- Control
- Accession No: H92.20/464-470, Image No: a18380
- Source
- Harold Paynting Collection, State Library of Victoria
- Title
- St Vincent de Paul Girls' Orphanage, dining room
- Type
- Image
- Date
- c. 1940
- Control
- Accession No: H92.20/464-470, Image No: a18379
- Source
- Harold Paynting Collection, State Library of Victoria
- Title
- St Vincent de Paul Girls' Orphanage, chapel
- Type
- Image
- Date
- c. 1940
- Control
- Accession No: H92.20/464-470, Image No: a18378
- Source
- Harold Paynting Collection, State Library of Victoria
- Title
- St Vincent de Paul Girls' Orphanage, exterior view
- Type
- Image
- Date
- c. 1940
- Control
- Accession No: H92.20/464-470, Image No: a18377
- Source
- Harold Paynting Collection, State Library of Victoria
- Title
- [St. Vincent de Paul's Girls Orphanage]
- Type
- Image
- Date
- c. 12 April 1948
- Creator
- Lyle Fowler 1891-1969
- Control
- Accession No: H92.20/2618; Image No: a39234
- Source
- State Library of Victoria
- Title
- Girls at St. Vincent De Paul's Orphanage during a religious parade
- Type
- Image
- Date
- c. 1955
- Control
- Accession No: H92.20/5310, Image No: a42022
- Source
- Harold Paynting Collection, State Library of Victoria
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; 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. pp. 21, 51..
Prepared by: Cate O'Neill
Created: 17 March 2009, Last modified: 30 April 2013
Last updated: 2 May 2013
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/vic/biogs/E000189b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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