Archives



Perth Boys’ Orphanage

A Church of England orphanage for boys was opened on the same site as the Perth Girls’ Orphanage on 1 June 1869, with four boys admitted. The boys and girls’ orphanages were separated by a ‘five-foot high close-picket fence’. In 1876 the boys were transferred to the new Swan Boys’ orphanage at Middle Swan.

Annesfield

Annesfield, in Albany, was founded as a residential school for Aboriginal children in 1852 by Mr and Mrs Camfield. The first children had been transferred from the Fremantle Native School. The children who were living in Annesfield when it closed in 1871 were transferred to Bishop Hale’s Institution for Native and Half-Caste Children in Perth….

Rottnest Island Reformatory

The Rottnest Island Reformatory was a government-run institution, established in 1881 as an alternative to sending boys younger than 16 to gaol. It closed in 1902 and boys were sent to the Salvation Army Reformatory School in Collie. The Rottnest Island Reformatory opened in 1881 as an alternative to sending boys ‘of European descent’ who…

Subiaco Boys’ Orphanage

Subiaco Boys’ Orphanage for Roman Catholic boys was established by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Perth in 1872 and run by Benedictines (1872-1876) then the Sisters of Mercy (1876-1897), and the Christian Brothers (from 1897). In 1901 the orphanage moved to Manning and became known as Clontarf. The St Joseph’s Girls’ Orphanage was then established…

The Children’s Society, United Kingdom

The Children’s Society was established in Britain in 1881 as ‘The Waifs and Strays Society’. From 1925 to 1961 they were involved in sending a total of around 400 children from their Homes in Britain to Australia. Children from The Children’s Society homes emigrated under schemes operated by The Fairbridge Society, The Church of England…

Mercy Community Services (Inc)

Mercy Community Services (Inc) was established by the Sisters of Mercy (Perth) in 1997 to carry on the services of the Catherine McAuley Family Centre. In 2002, the ownership of Mercy Community Services Inc was transferred to MercyCare Ltd which is legally and operationally separate from the Sisters of Mercy.

Kenwick Farm

Kenwick Farm was established in 1947 and was a farm property for senior boys from Sister Kate’s Children’s Home in Queen’s Park. It was located in Kenwick along the Canning River, not far from Sister Kate’s. Its stated purpose was to train boys in farm work for two years after they left school aged 14….

Memorial Cottage, Roleystone

Memorial Cottage was the name given to the Sister Kate’s Children’s Cottage home during its wartime evacuation to Roleystone in the Darling Ranges outside Perth. This cottage was purchased with funds donated from England in memory of Archdeacon Lefroy, hence the name ‘Memorial Cottage’. After a couple of years, the children and staff moved back…

Greenbushes Hostel

Greenbushes Hostel was the name given to the Sister Kate’s Children’s Cottage Home during its wartime evacuation to Greenbushes in southern Western Australia. Some children and staff relocated to the de-licensed Duke of York Hotel at Greenbushes on 29 February 1942. By 1944, some of the children and staff had returned to Queen’s Park but…

Mofflyn

Mofflyn (or Mofflyn House) was the new name given in 1959 to the Methodist Children’s Home. It housed children in four cottages (Wesley, Guild, Dowerin and Meckering). In 1984, the Mofflyn campus was closed but the Uniting Church continued to be involved in out of home care through Mofflyn Child and Family Services. Mofflyn (which…