Nazareth House in Bluff Point, Geraldton was established in 1941 and run by the Poor Sisters of Nazareth. It was initially built in to house children sent as child migrants from Britain. However, as it became unsafe to transport children during the war, the large buildings were used to accommodate Australian-born children, including Aboriginal children…
Mowanjum was established near Derby in 1956 when the Presbyterian church moved residents of Wotjulum mission to a new site in Yampi Sound near Derby. Until 1963, children at Mowanjum were under the guardianship of the Commissioner of Native Welfare. In 1971 it housed 65 school-age children. Mowanjum became a self-governing community in 1972, and…
Mount Margaret Mission, south of Laverton, was established in 1921 by R. Schenk, with assistance from the Australian Aborigines Mission (which became the United Aborigines Mission in 1929). Around 1928, the Schenks established a dormitory system at the Mission, where Aboriginal children were housed separately from their parents. It was called the Graham Homes. By…
Mogumber was run by the Methodist Overseas Mission from 1951 on the site of the Moore River Native Settlement. Aboriginal children and young people of all ages were placed there by parents, child welfare authorities or the Children’s Court. In the 1970s, some children were moved from Mogumber to houses in Perth. In 1974, Mogumber…
The Methodist Children’s Home opened in 1922 on a property in Sussex Street, East Victoria Park. It was the first child care institution that was run by the Methodist Homes for Children, which was part of the Methodist Church in Western Australia. Children of all ages who were placed by family or who were wards…
Millington Street Bethel Home, Ardross, was established in 1962 in the private home of the founders of Bethel Inc, an independent mission society. From 1964, it was run by Bethel Inc for up to 12 Aboriginal students, male and female, going to high school in Perth. It had closed by 1982. The home of Don…
The Methodist Girls’ Home was established in 1917 in North Perth by the Central Methodist Mission, for girls of working age. When it closed in 1924, the young women were transferred to the Salvation Army’s Seaforth ‘reformatory’ at Gosnells. The Methodist Girls’ Home opened on 27 October 1917. At the Annual Meeting of the ‘Perth…
The Methodist Homes for Children was the name given to the Methodist Church agency that ran two Homes in Western Australia: the Methodist Children’s Home at Victoria Park (from 1922), and the Methodist Boys’ Home in the hills east of Perth at Werribee (from 1929). Over time, a number of cottages were opened on the…
Meribah was opened by the Methodist Homes for Children at St James in 1972. It provided residential care for six school age boys and girls in a home-like setting. Meribah closed some time around 1986.
McDonald House was established in 1952 by the Department of Native Welfare as an Aboriginal education and employment hostel for boys attending high school in Perth. It later became an ‘annexe’ of Hillston (1955-1983) and Riverbank (1984-1985). It was originally located in West Perth before moving to Mount Lawley in 1963. The Anglican Church ran…
Dec 17, 2025
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