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Organisation Parkerville Children's Home (1903 - )
- From
- 1903
- Categories
- Anglican, Care Provider, Cottage Home and Orphanage
- Alternative Names
- Parkerville Children and Youth Care Inc (legal name, 2005 - )
- Parkerville Children's Home (also known as)
- Parkerville Children's Home Inc (legal name, 1925 - 2005)
- Parkerville Orphanage for Boys and Girls (also known as, 1909 - ?)
- Waifs’ Home (previously known as, 1903 - 1909)
Summary
Please note that this page reproduces the original language used in the historical sources drawn upon to compile this entry. This language includes offensive and derogatory terms which are today considered unacceptable. We apologise for any offence caused by such language.
The Parkerville Children's Home began in 1903 on 19 acres of bush near Parkerville in the Darling Ranges. Called the Waifs' Home, it was founded by Anglican nuns, the Sisters of the Church. Sister Kate Clutterbuck has had the strongest association with Parkerville, which was the pioneer of 'cottage care' and keeping children from the same family together. Over time, Parkerville developed a range of youth care and family services, including non-residential programs. In 2005 it became Parkerville Children and Youth Care (Inc).
Records
There are five main places where records about the Parkerville Children's Home might be found. Parkerville Children and Youth Care (Inc), the Department for Child Protection and Family Support, the Department for Indigenous Affairs, and the State Records Office of WA may have records about people who lived at Parkerville as children. The State Records Office and the State Library also hold general historical information.
Access
While access to records is restricted to protect the privacy of individuals, you are encouraged to enquire.
Contact
To access admission and discharge registers from approximately 1903, case files from the early 1970s and a very large (unsorted) collection of photographs:
The Chief Executive
Parkerville Children and Youth Care (Inc)
Beacon Road
Parkerville WA 6081
Telephone: (08) 9295 4400
Facsimile: (08) 9295 4099
Email: admin@parkerville.org.au
Web: www.parkerville.org.au
Government personal records
Freedom of Information
Department for Child Protection and Family Support
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/
Aboriginal History Research Unit
Department of Indigenous Affairs
PO Box 3153 East Perth WA 6892
Phone: 1300 651 077
Fax: (08) 6551 8008
Email: ahru@dia.wa.gov.au/
Web:Personal and Family History Applicants
Government records and general historical information
State Records Office
Alexander Library Building
Perth Cultural Centre
Perth WA 6000
Phone: (08) 9427 3600
Email: sro@sro.wa.gov.au/
Web:www.sro.wa.gov.au
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
In 1909, Parkerville was scheduled as a subsidised institution under the 'State Children Act 1907'. Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children were sent to Parkerville by child welfare authorities, their families and the children's courts. Parkerville was Incorporated in Western Australia on 29 June 1925. When Sister Kate was forcibly retired from Parkerville in 1933, the Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Advent ran Parkerville until it came under the control of the Anglican Diocese of Perth in 1941. On 1 June 2005, Parkerville was incorporated as Parkerville Children and Youth Care Inc.
A letter of appreciation of the The Daily News Orphans' Christmas Cheer Fund in 1915 gives an insight into life at Parkerville, where the children lived mostly within the grounds of the Home. The letter shows that donations enabled the children to occasionally go on outings and have other experiences:
warmest thanks and gratitude to you for the Christmas gift, which enabled us to take the children in parties to the seaside at Cottesloe Beach, and a party of the boys to camp out at Crawley Bay…It also means health and strength for the coming year. The days spent on the beach made the time fly only too quickly…we all want to send you our heartfelt thanks for giving the children this beautiful time. Letter, 12 February 1916 published in The Daily News 2 December 1916, p.10
Events
- 1903
- A Waifs' Home was established by the Sisters of the Church on 19 acres of bush in the Darling Ranges outside Perth . Location: Parkerville
Related Entries
Provided 'care' at
Publications
Books
- Casey, Kevin, Parkerville: Caring for Children - Care for Their Future, Parkerville Children and Youth Care (Inc), Parkerville, Western Australia, 2010. p.198. Details
- Whittington, Vera, Sister Kate: a life dedicated to children in need of care, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia, 1999. pp.157-158. 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
- Kesson, Anna, 'Girls Friendly Society', in Gregory, Jenny and Jan Gothard [editors] (eds), Historical Encyclopedia of Western Australia, University of Western Australia Press, Crawley, W.A., 2009, p. 414. Details
Online Resources
- 'The Daily News [Christmas Cheer Fund]', The Daily News, 2 December 1916, p. 10, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article81358001. Details
- 'Submission No. 181 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, 28 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. 180 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, 15 August 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. 363 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, 17 March 2005, 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
- Department of Commerce, 'Parkerville Children and Youth Care Incorporated', AssociationsOnline, Government of Western Australia, 2012, https://associations.commerce.wa.gov.au/associations/public/publicHomePage.jspx. Details
- Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, It's an honour, Commonwealth of Australia, 2012, http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/index.cfm. Details
- Heritage Council of Western Australia, 'Chapel of the Guardian Angel Assessment of Cultural Heritage Significance', in Heritage Places Database, Western Australia State Heritage Office, Government of Western Australia, 24 April 2003, http://register.heritage.wa.gov.au/PDF_Files/incoming/Chapel%20Guardian%20Ang%20%28I-AD%29.PDF. Details
- Information Services, Department for Community Development, 'Parkerville Children's Home', 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
- McDonald, Ashley, Are We Family? And if so, Can I Still Sue You?, Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law, Murdoch University School of Law, March 2000, http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MurUEJL/2000/8.html. Details
Gallery
- Title
- Parkerville Gravesite (2)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 11 August 2010
- Control
- PCYC Photo Archive 11.08.10 (15)
- Source
- Parkerville Children and Youth Care (Inc) Photographic Archive
- Title
- Parkerville Gravesite (1)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 11 August 2010
- Control
- PCYC Photo Archive 11.08.10 (14)
- Source
- Parkerville Children and Youth Care (Inc) Photographic Archive
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; Casey, Kevin, Parkerville: Caring for Children - Care for Their Future, Parkerville Children and Youth Care (Inc), Parkerville, Western Australia, 2010. p.198.; Department of Commerce, 'Parkerville Children and Youth Care Incorporated', AssociationsOnline, Government of Western Australia, 2012, https://associations.commerce.wa.gov.au/associations/public/publicHomePage.jspx; Information Services, Department for Community Development, 'Parkerville Children's Home', 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/; Kesson, Anna, 'Girls Friendly Society', in Gregory, Jenny and Jan Gothard [editors] (eds), Historical Encyclopedia of Western Australia, University of Western Australia Press, Crawley, W.A., 2009, p. 414; Whittington, Vera, Sister Kate: a life dedicated to children in need of care, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia, 1999. pp.157-158..
Prepared by: Anna Trengove and Leanne Howard
Created: 15 March 2011, Last modified: 3 April 2013
Last updated: 28 May 2013
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/wa/biogs/WE00174b.htm
First published by the Find and Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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