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Country Women’s Association Hostel, Inverell

The Country Women’s Association Hostel at Inverell opened from 1925-1928 with CWA support, and an official Country Women’s Association hostel was opened in a better house in 1945. It was a hostel for school girls, most of whom boarded during the week and went home on weekends. The Country Women’s Association Hostel, Inverell closed in…

Country Women’s Association Hostel, Mudgee

The Country Women’s Association Hostel, Mudgee was opened in 1945, with assistance from local service clubs. It was a hostel for girls who were attending secondary school in town. The Education Department took over the building, but the Country Women’s Association continued to administer it. Country Women’s Association Hostel, Mudgee closed in 1981.

St Clair Aboriginal Mission

St Clair Mission, located on the southern bank of Lake St Clair, between Muswellbrook and Singleton, was an Aboriginal mission that was established by Reverend JS White in 1893. In the late 1890s Retta Dixon, a Baptist missionary, moved to the Mission. In 1905 she formed the Aborigines Inland Mission and took formal control of…

Charlton Boys’ Home, Castle Hill

Charlton Boys Home at Castle Hill was opened in 1960 by the Home Mission Society as an Anglican boys’ home. It was a branch of the Charlton Boys’ Home that was originally located at Glebe, and later Ashfield. It closed in 1969 and the boys were moved to the new Charlton Boys’ Home site at…

O’Brien House

O’Brien House was a children’s home mentioned in a 1979 Commonwealth Government report called Why are they in children’s homes: report of the ACOSS children’s home intake survey. No more is known about this Home. If you have information about O’Brien House, please contact the Find & Connect web team using the ‘Contact Us’ button…

Warrah Rudolph Steiner School for Curative Education

The Warrah Rudolf Steiner School for Curative Education was established in 1969 in Dural. Students from the special school lived in a purpose-built 12 bedroom cottage known as Waratah. In 1969, Waratah housed 15 children, 6 adults and 10 co-workers [staff]. As well as the school, Warrah also had a biodynamic and organic farm. Over…

School for Deaf Girls

The School for Deaf Girls was founded in 1886 at Waratah, near Newcastle, by the Dominican Sisters. It was located in the Rosary Convent in Alfred Street. It was a residential school for deaf girls and was one of the first institutions of its kind and was founded by Sister M. Gabriel Hogan, deaf herself….

Rainbow Lodge

Rainbow Lodge was a children’s home at Hazelbrook operated by the Handicapped Children’s Centre of New South Wales from 1970. The building, located on the Great Western Highway, had previously been Haddon Hall. Rainbow Lodge was in the former Haddon Hall buildings. These had been owned by Japanese businessman and vice-consul Toransuki Kitamura, who had…

Marella Mission Farm

Marella Mission Farm originated in the early 1950s with Gwen and Keith Langford-Smith fostering Aboriginal children on their farm property at Kellyville. From 1953, Marella Mission Farm operated as an institution where Aboriginal children were removed to. Keith Langford-Smith was a missionary who rose to fame in the 1930s for his accounts of flying across…

Kirinari Hostel

Kirinari Hostel was established in 1967 to provide accommodation for secondary students who are living in Sydney. It was established by the Aboriginal Children’s Advancement Society, with Aboriginal Hostels Ltd taking over the running of the hostel in 1976. A second site was later opened in Newcastle, around 1971. Kirinari Hostel was mentioned in a…