The Cape Bedford Mission, at Elim, was run by Lutheran Church Missionaries. It opened in 1886 and moved to Hope Valley around 1896. The Mission was founded by Reverend Johann Flier from Cooper Creek in South Australia. In November 1855 Flier was on his way to found a Mission in Papua New Guinea when he…
The Cooyar Mission, in Cooyar, was established by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in conjunction with the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. The facility housed Torres Strait Islanders evacuated from the Hammond Island Mission Orphanage and St Henry’s Roman Catholic Asylum due to the outbreak of World War Two. It opened…
The Hammond Island Mission Orphanage, on Hammond Island, was run by the the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. It opened in 1929 and closed in January 1942, when the residents were evacuated to Cooyar. A boys’ dormitory housed the children. The orphanage reopened in 1948, ‘for only a short time’ (Deere, 1994). Hammond Island was…
The Doomadgee Mission was established by the Open Brethren on the Nicholson River, in far North Queensland, in 1936. It opened in 1936, replacing the Old Doomadgee Mission which was damaged in a cyclone. Children on the Mission were housed in girls’ and boys’ dormitories, and were trained to become domestic servants or station hands….
The Old Doomadgee Mission was run by the Open Brethren. The Mission was located at Dumaji at Bayley Point Aboriginal reserve, on Gangalidda land. It opened in 1933 and following a cyclone, relocated to a site on the Nicholson River in 1936. The Old Doomadgee Mission is described as growing “rapidly with the arrival of…
The Daintree River Mission, near Mossman, was run by the Assemblies of God. It opened in 1941. Children on the Mission were housed in girls’ and boys’ dormitories. The mission closed in 1962 and the residents transferred to the Mossman Gorge Mission. A girls’ dormitory was officially opened at the Daintree River Mission on 22…
The Assemblies of God in Australia was formed in 1937. It is a movement of Pentecostal Churches in voluntary cooperation. The movement was renamed the Australian Christian Churches in April 2007.
The Bloomfield River Mission was situated on the Bloomfield River in the Daintree region, north of Cooktown. Formerly known as the Aboriginal Mission Station, the Lutheran Church took control from the government in 1887 and closed the Mission in 1902. Children were housed in dormitories on the Mission for educational purposes. Problems plagued the Mission…
The Wujal Wujal Mission was the new name given to the Bloomfield River Mission on 16 February 1980. Run by the Lutheran Church, the Wujal Wujal Mission closed in 1987.
The Aurukun Mission was an Indigenous community situated south of Weipa in far north Queensland. Run by the Presbyterian Church, it opened in 1904. Children on the Mission were housed in dormitories from around the age of 11. The dormitory system of care was abolished in 1968. The Aurukun Mission was established on 4 August…
Dec 18, 2024
Nov 15, 2024
