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Organisation Clontarf (1901 - 1983)
Clontarf Slideshow, Part 1, 1940s - 1970s, courtesy of Christian Brothers Institution Albums 1 & 2 (Holy Spirit Collection).
Details
- From
- 8 September 1901
- To
- 1983
- Categories
- Care Provider, Catholic, Children's Home and Orphanage
- Alternative Names
- Clontarf Boys' Town (also known as)
- St Joseph's Orphanage (also known as)
Summary
Clontarf was run by the Christian Brothers on a site in Manning from 1901 to 1983. It began with boys from the St Vincent's Boys' Orphanage in Subiaco. Clontarf admitted boys from various backgrounds including Wards of the State, child migrants, orphans and private admissions. Australian-born boys, and British and Maltese child migrants aged from about 12 to 16 years lived at Clontarf. Clontarf closed in 1983 and the site is now the Clontarf Aboriginal College.
The Christian Brothers' institutions Bindoon, Clontarf, Castledare and Tardun first received widespread publicity about child abuse in the early 1990s. In 1993, the Christian Brothers in Western Australia issued an apology and from 1995 have funded independent services to help with family tracing, counselling and remedial education for men who had suffered in their institutions. Many former residents of these institutions have shared their experiences and memories (bad and good) at government inquiries, in books and in oral histories.
Records
Some records are held by the Christian Brothers Archives and some records are held by the government department responsible for child welfare. Former child migrants can also access information held on the Personal History Index (PHIND). The Battye Library also has general historical information about Clontarf and admission registers can also be accessed there.
Access
While access to personal records is restricted to protect the privacy of individuals, you are very welcome to enquire.
Contact
The Archivist
Christian Brothers
Oceania Support Centre
PO BOX 1129
Bentley DC WA 6983
Phone: (08) 9365 2813
Email: archiveswa@edmundrice.org
For information about children placed by the Child Welfare Department or its successors:
Freedom of Information
Department for Child Protection
PO Box 6334
East Perth WA 6892
Phone: (08) 6217 6388 or (08) 6217 6381
Fax: (08) 9222 2776
Free call in WA: 1800 000 277
Email: foi@dcp.wa.gov.au/
Web:Searching for your family history
For people wishing to access the Battye Library's collection of historical material:
State Library of Western Australia
25 Francis Street
Perth Cultural Centre
Perth WA 6000
Phone: (08) 9427 3111
Fax: (08) 9427 3256
Queries: www.slwa.wa.gov.au/find/information_services
Web:www.slwa.wa.gov.au
Details
A letter of appreciation of the The Daily News Orphans' Christmas Cheer Fund in 1915 gives an insight into life at Clontarf, where the boys lived mostly within the orphanage grounds. The letter shows that donations enabled the children to occasionally go on outings from the orphanage and have other experiences:
Owing to your kindess and the generosity of the subscribers…our little boys at Clontarf have had a good time during the holidays. On December 23 we took them for a picnic to the Zoo. A large motor launch was hired for the occasion. On Christmas Day they had at all meals an abundant supply of good things, and toys were distributed, each one receiving a toy of his own choosing. On Thursday (Christmas week) another picnic was organised for them. This time they went by motor launch to Point Walter and Fremantle. New Year's Eve was another festive day with them. They were supplied with good things, the same as on Christmas Day, except that no toys were distributed. Letter, 4 January 1916 published in The Daily News 2 December 1916, p.10
Events
- 1901 - 1983
- Clontarf provided accommodation at Manning Road, Bentley and Queen's Park, Wilson. Location: Wilson
- 3 January 1901
- The foundation stone for Clontarf Boys Home was laid.
Related Entries
Run By
Publications
Find & Connect - Western Australia Exhibitions
- On their own: Britain's child migrants, Australian National Maritime Museum and National Museums Liverpool 2010, http://www.britainschildmigrants.com. Details
Books
- Chate, A.H.; Graham, Bruce; Oakley, Glenda, Date it!: a Western Australian chronology to 1929, Friends of the Battye Library (Inc.), Northbridge, WA, 1991. Details
- Coldrey, Barry M., The Scheme: the Christian Brothers and Childcare in Western Australia, Argyle-Pacific Pub., O'Connor, W.A., 1993. p.25. Details
- Knight, Ivor Alan, Out of darkness : growing up with the Christian brothers, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, South Fremantle, 1998. Details
Book Sections
- 'Colonial Secretary's Department', in JS Battye (ed.), The Cyclopedia of Western Australia (1912), vol. 1, Hesperian Press, Victoria Park, 1985, pp. 502-507. Details
Online Resources
- Child migration to Australia - Fact sheet 124, National Archives of Australia, http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs124.aspx. Details
- 'The Daily News [Christmas Cheer Fund]', The Daily News, 2 December 1916, p. 10, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article81358001. Details
- 'Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Health Committee on 11 June 1998', in Health - Third Report, House of Commons Health Committee, Parliament of the United Kingdom, 11 June 1998, http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmhealth/755/8061101.htm. Details
- Cosgrove, Oliver Manuscript Note, State Library of Western Australia, State Library of Western Australia, 1998, http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/pdf/mn/mn1501_2000/mn1621.pdf. Details
- 'Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Health Committee on 4 June 1998', in Health - Third Report, House of Commons Health Committee, Parliament of the United Kingdom, 4 June 1998, http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmhealth/755/8060401.htm. Details
- 'Submission No. 25 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, 23 May 2003, 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. 41 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, 23 July 2003, 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. 85 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, 1 July 2003, 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. 483 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, 1 November 2004, 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. 441 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, 12 August 2004, 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. 496 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, 24 November 2004, 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. 365 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, 25 March 2004, 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. 251 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, 2005, 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. 34 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, 5 July 2003, 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. 11 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, 2005, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/submissions/sublist.htm. Details
- Father Hudson's Society, Father Hudson’s Society, 2008, http://www.fatherhudsons.org.uk. Details
- Child Migrants Trust [website], 2011, http://www.childmigrantstrust.com. Details
- Catholic Child Welfare Council, 'CCWC Minutes of Evidence Document 5', in Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Health Committee on 11 June 1998, Parliament of the United Kingdom, 11 June 1998, http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmhealth/755/8061108.htm. Details
- Catholic Welfare Australia, 'Submission No. 71 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, July 2003, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/submissions/sublist.htm. Details
- Coldrey, Barry, 'Submission No. 40 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, 19 April 2003, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/submissions/sublist.htm. Details
- Coldrey, Barry, Good British Stock: Child and Youth Migration to Australia, National Archives of Australia, 1999, http://guides.naa.gov.au/good-british-stock/. Details
- Congregation of the Christian Brothers WA and SA, 'Submission No. 65 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, July 2003, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/submissions/sublist.htm. Details
- Department for Community Development, State of Western Australia, 'Submission No. 55 Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care: Submissions', in Inquiry into Children in Institutional Care - Submissions received by the committee as at 17/3/05, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, July 2003, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/submissions/sublist.htm. Details
- Family Care Society, 'Memorandum by the Family Care Society', in Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Health Committee on 11 June 1998, Parliament of the United Kingdom, 11 June 1998, http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmhealth/755/8061115.htm. Details
- Health Committee, House of Commons, Health - Third Report, Parliament of the United Kingdom, 23 July 1998, http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmhealth/755/75502.htm. Details
- Information Services, Department for Community Development, 'Clontarf', Signposts: A Guide for Children and Young People in Care in WA from 1920, Government of Western Australia, http://www.signposts.communitydevelopment.wa.gov.au/. Details
- The International Association of Former Child Migrants and Their Families, 'Submission No. 129 Inquiry into Child Migration', in Inquiry into child migration - Submissions which may be accessed electronically, Senate Community Affairs Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, January 2001, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/1999-02/child_migrat/submissions/sublist.htm. Details
Gallery
- Title
- Departures from Britain and Malta Slideshow
- Type
- Video
- Date
- 1940s - 1950s
- Source
- Christian Brothers Institution Albums 1 & 2 (Holy Spirit Collection)
- Title
- Tardun Slideshow, Part 1
- Type
- Video
- Date
- 1940s - 1960s
- Place
- Western Australia
- Source
- Christian Brothers Institution Albums 1 & 2 (Holy Spirit Collection)
- Title
- Clontarf Slideshow, Part 1
- Type
- Video
- Date
- 1940s - 1970s
- Source
- Christian Brothers Institution Albums 1 & 2 (Holy Spirit Collection)
- Title
- Tardun Slideshow, Part 2
- Type
- Video
- Date
- 1940s - 1960s
- Source
- Christian Brothers Institution Albums 1 & 2 (Holy Spirit Collection)
- Title
- Clontarf Slideshow , Part 2
- Type
- Video
- Date
- 1940s - 1970s
- Source
- Christian Brothers Institution Albums 1 & 2 (Holy Spirit Collection)
- Title
- CCWC Minutes of Evidence Document 3
- Type
- Document
- Date
- 11 June 1998
- Source
- House of Commons Health Committee, Parliament of the United Kingdom
Sources used to compile this entry: 'The Daily News [Christmas Cheer Fund]', The Daily News, 2 December 1916, p. 10, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article81358001; Chate, A.H; Graham, Bruce; Oakley, Glenda, Date it!: a Western Australian chronology to 1929, Friends of the Battye Library (Inc.), Northbridge, WA, 1991; Coldrey, Barry M., The Scheme: the Christian Brothers and Childcare in Western Australia, Argyle-Pacific Pub., O'Connor, W.A., 1993. p.25.; Information Services, Department for Community Development, 'Clontarf', Signposts: A Guide for Children and Young People in Care in WA from 1920, Government of Western Australia, http://www.signposts.communitydevelopment.wa.gov.au/.
Prepared by: Anna Trengove and Leanne Howard
Created: 15 March 2011, Last modified: 15 February 2013
Last updated: 22 March 2013
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/wa/biogs/WE00057b.htm
First published by the Find and Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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