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Mornington Island Mission

The Mornington Island Mission was established by the Presbyterian Church in 1914. The island is located in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Children on the Mornington Island Mission lived in dormitories, nearly totally isolated from their families. The children’s dormitories closed around the late 1960s. Mornington Island was self-managed from 1978, when the Mornington Island Shire…

Wotjulum

Wotjulum, near Yampi, was established as a mission station by the Presbyterian Church in 1951, with people transferred from Kunmunya Station and the government station at Munja. Children at Wotjulum were under the guardianship of the Commissioners responsible for Aboriginal welfare. Wotjulum closed in 1956 and residents were transferred to Mowanjum, near Derby. Wotjulum, near…

Port George IV Mission

Port George IV Mission began in 1912 at Walcott Inlet in the west Kimberleys, but by 1913 was located at Port George IV. It was run by the Presbyterian Church. Children living on the mission were under the guardianship of the head of the departments responsible for Aboriginal welfare, but they lived with their families….

Chelmer Children’s Home

The Chelmer Children’s Home, situated at 7 Laurel Avenue, Chelmer was operated by the Presbyterian Church. In 1968 it was described as a family group home. In November 1969, it opened as a special care centre for disabled babies and toddlers, with a family group wing. The house later became a private residence and has…

Kyle Williams Home

Kyle Williams Home was a family group home run by the Presbyterian Department of Social Services. It opened in 1985 in Blakehurst, Sydney. Previously, the property had been a Home run by Sydney Legacy, called Kyle Williams Legacy Home. It closed in 2003, when the government withdrew funding.

Presbyterian Sisterhood Home

The Presbyterian Sisterhood Home, in Warrnambool, western Victoria was established around 1901. It was a refuge for ‘girls in distress’ and their babies. The Presbyterian Sisterhood was founded by the Rev. Donald A. Cameron in around 1901, and was closely connected to St John’s Presbyterian Church, Warrnambool. The Home was located in the Manse next…

Harrison House

Harrison House in Hawthorn was established in 1960. Run by the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, it provided hostel-style residential accommodation for wards of state, boys on probation from the courts or institutions, and boys coming to Melbourne to find work from Kilmany Park in Gippsland. In its early years, it was known as Arthur Harrison…

Presbyterian Babies’ Home

The Presbyterian Babies’ Home opened in 1928 in East Melbourne. In around 1933, the Home relocated to Camberwell. It housed babies and children up to the age of four. In 1977, it became the Canterbury Family Centre. The Argus newspaper reported on the opening of The Presbyterian Babies’ Home by Lady Stonehaven on 26 October…

Dhurringile Rural Training Farm

The Dhurringile Rural Training Farm in Tatura was established by the Presbyterian Church in 1951. It was purchased to accommodate child migrant boys aged 8 to 14 sent out from the United Kingdom by the Church of Scotland. Dhurringile was also set up to take in local orphans or homeless boys. It housed 50 children…

Kildonan, Burwood

Kildonan was a children’s Home in Burwood run by the Presbyterian Church of Victoria from 1937. Formerly, Kildonan had operated a children’s home in North Melbourne. Kildonan accommodated boys and girls, aged between 2 and 15. In 1961 the government-run Allambie Reception Centre opened on the site. The Kildonan home in Elgar Road, Burwood was…