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Roman Catholic Orphan School

The Roman Catholic Orphan School was established at Waverley House, a large home in Waverley, in 1837. It was the first Catholic orphanage in Australia. It was opened in response to community concerns about Catholic children being placed in the government-run Protestant orphan schools, where they were raised as Protestants, not Catholics. The home was…

St Patrick’s Orphan School

St Patrick’s Orphan School was established at Windsor in September 1840. It was run by a private management committee in association with St Matthew’s Catholic Church, Windsor. At its official opening in October 1840 there were seven children in residence, with 20 children in the school by June 1841. The closing date of St Patrick’s…

Seaforth Salvation Army Boys’ Homes, Gosnells

The Seaforth Salvation Army Boys’ Home, Gosnells (Kelmscott) was established in 1920. Boys from the Salvation Army Homes at Collie were transferred to Seaforth, and lived in different ‘sections’, including a separate facility for boys and young men with intellectual disabilities (1922-1950). Seaforth Boys’ Home closed in 1955 and remaining boys were transferred to either…

Christina Campbell Farm Home

Christina Campbell Farm Home was opened as part of the Burnside Presbyterian Orphan Homes in March 1941 at North Parramatta. It operated until 1952.

Melbourne Orphanage

The Melbourne Orphanage was established in 1926. It was formerly the Melbourne Orphan Asylum. It was located in Brighton where it accommodated boys and girls aged between 3 and 16. By the 1950s, some children were housed in group homes in Glen Waverley. In 1965, it became the Melbourne Family Care Organisation. The Melbourne Orphanage…

St Vincent de Paul Girls’ Orphanage

The St Vincent de Paul Girls’ Orphanage opened in 1874 and was run by the Sisters of Mercy. The Orphanage was created following the split of the St Vincent de Paul Orphanage into a boys’ and a girls’ orphanage. It housed girls aged between 5 and 15. In 1962, the name changed to St Vincent…

Melbourne Orphan Asylum

The Melbourne Orphan Asylum was established in 1853. This was the new name for St James’ Orphan Asylum which dated back to 1851. Until 1853 the institution was run by the St James Orphan Asylum and Visiting Society, a Church of England organisation that established the first children’s institution in the colony of Victoria. The…

Geelong Protestant Orphan Asylum

Geelong Protestant Orphan Asylum was the new name given in 1862 to the Geelong Orphan Asylum. The orphanage’s name was changed to clarify the asylum’s religious connections and support base. There was no formal connection between the orphanage and the church.

Glastonbury – Geelong Protestant Orphanage

Glastonbury- Geelong Protestant Orphanage was the new name given in 1955 to the Geelong and Western District Protestant Orphanage. In 1977, the name changed again, to Glastonbury Children’s Home. In 1955, Glastonbury- Geelong Protestant Orphanage applied to the Victorian government for registration as an approved children’s home. The inclusion of Glastonbury in its new name…

St Augustine’s Boys’ Orphanage

St Augustine’s Orphanage was established in Newtown in around 1855. First run by the Friendly Brothers, the Christian Brothers took over the management of the Orphanage in 1878. In 1939, the Orphanage moved to a new location on a larger farming property in Highton, Geelong. The foundation stone for St Augustine’s Orphanage in Geelong was…