King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEMH) has been Western Australia’s principal public maternity and gynaelogical hospital since 1916. Many young women in out of home care were admitted there, and many babies were adopted from KEMH. In 1958, following overcrowding in the maternity wards of KEMH, the state government purchased Kensington House, at 91 Hensman Road….
St Anne’s Nursing Home was a maternity and general hospital run by the Sisters of Mercy from 1937 in the Perth suburb of Mount Lawley. Many babies were adopted from St Anne’s. Around 1958, the Home became known as St Anne’s Maternity Home. St Anne’s Nursing Home was mentioned in the Commonwealth Contribution to Former…
Devonleigh, in Peppermint Grove, previously a hospital, was used by Mental Health Services (MHS) to accommodate children with intellectual disabilities from 1979 until its closure in 1987. Mental Health Services took control of Devonleigh Hospital in November 1979, and it is likely that the first residents moved into Devonleigh in 1980. The former Devonleigh Maternity…
Devonleigh Maternity Home was established in 1931, following an extension of the Devonleigh Hospital (which had opened in 1926). It was located in the Perth suburb of Peppermint Grove. It was privately run until 1948, when it was taken over by Public Health Department. Babies were adopted from Devonleigh Maternity Home. It closed in 1979…
Nulsen Haven was a home for children with intellectual disabilities. It was run by the Mentally Incurable Children’s Association (MICA) in the Perth suburb of Redcliffe from 1956. In May 1975 a new dormitory was opened at Nulsen Haven. In 1986, MICA became the Nulsen Haven Association Inc (known as ‘Nulsen’). By 1992, the Home…
Hawkevale was started by the Slow Learning Children’s Group (SLCG) on a property in Maida Vale in 1957. It was a ‘farm village’ for adolescents and adults with intellectual disabilities, and offered accommodation, employment and recreation. Hawkevale was replaced by a new facility in High Wycombe in 1970. Hawkevale was named after the Premier, Mr…
Heathcote opened in 1929 on Point Heathcote at Applecross. First known as the Heathcote Reception Home, this government hospital was for people with ‘recent and recoverable’ psychosocial disabilities, and sometimes housed children and adolescents. It closed in 1994. The Royal Commission into Lunacy recommended in 1922 that a new hospital be built to treat people…
Fairholme was established in 1952 as a home for 32 children aged from 3 years up, with cognitive disabilities, who were transferred from the Claremont Mental Hospital. Fairholme, with Earlsferry, made up the Nathaniel Harper Homes which were owned and run by the government of Western Australia, and located on opposite sides of the Swan…
Earlsferry was established for ten girls, aged 11 to 18, from the Claremont Mental Hospital who had cognitive disabilities. Earlsferry, with Fairholme, made up the Nathaniel Harper Homes, which were owned and run by the government of Western Australia, and located on opposite sides of the Swan River. In 1988, ownership passed to the Authority…
The Royal West Australian Institute for the Blind (RIB) was established in 1895 as the WA Industrial School for the Blind in Maylands. It was run by a private committee of ‘subscribers’ who supported the Institute financially. Children lived and went to school at the Institute and there was also a workshop and living quarters…
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