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Charlton Boys’ Home, Castle Hill

Charlton Boys Home at Castle Hill was opened in 1960 by the Home Mission Society as an Anglican boys’ home. It was a branch of the Charlton Boys’ Home that was originally located at Glebe, and later Ashfield. It closed in 1969 and the boys were moved to the new Charlton Boys’ Home site at…

O’Brien House

O’Brien House was a children’s home mentioned in a 1979 Commonwealth Government report called Why are they in children’s homes: report of the ACOSS children’s home intake survey. No more is known about this Home. If you have information about O’Brien House, please contact the Find & Connect web team using the ‘Contact Us’ button…

Dominican Sisters of Eastern Australia and the Solomon Islands

The Dominican Sisters of Eastern Australia is a Catholic women’s religious order. In 1867, representatives of an Irish Dominican community founded an autonomous eastern Australian congregation initially based in Maitland, New South Wales (Hellwig, 2020). The Dominican Sisters ran the School for Deaf Girls at Waratah in New South Wales (established 1886), and St Mary’s…

Warrah Rudolph Steiner School for Curative Education

The Warrah Rudolf Steiner School for Curative Education was established in 1969 in Dural. Students from the special school lived in a purpose-built 12 bedroom cottage known as Waratah. In 1969, Waratah housed 15 children, 6 adults and 10 co-workers [staff]. As well as the school, Warrah also had a biodynamic and organic farm. Over…

School for Deaf Girls

The School for Deaf Girls was founded in 1886 at Waratah, near Newcastle, by the Dominican Sisters. It was located in the Rosary Convent in Alfred Street. It was a residential school for deaf girls and was one of the first institutions of its kind and was founded by Sister M. Gabriel Hogan, deaf herself….

Rainbow Lodge

Rainbow Lodge was a children’s home at Hazelbrook operated by the Handicapped Children’s Centre of New South Wales from 1970. The building, located on the Great Western Highway, had previously been Haddon Hall. Rainbow Lodge was in the former Haddon Hall buildings. These had been owned by Japanese businessman and vice-consul Toransuki Kitamura, who had…

Sky Pilot Fellowship

The Sky Pilot Fellowship was an evangelical Christian organisation set up by Gwen and Keith Langford-Smith, who fostered Aboriginal children on their Kellyville farm property, which became Marella Mission Farm. Keith Langford-Smith was a pilot and Anglican missionary who had lived in the Northern Territory, and had run Roper Mission for the Church Missionary Society…

Marella Mission Farm

Marella Mission Farm originated in the early 1950s with Gwen and Keith Langford-Smith fostering Aboriginal children on their farm property at Kellyville. From 1953, Marella Mission Farm operated as an institution where Aboriginal children were removed to. Keith Langford-Smith was a missionary who rose to fame in the 1930s for his accounts of flying across…

Kirinari Hostel

Kirinari Hostel was established in 1967 to provide accommodation for secondary students who are living in Sydney. It was established by the Aboriginal Children’s Advancement Society, with Aboriginal Hostels Ltd taking over the running of the hostel in 1976. A second site was later opened in Newcastle, around 1971. Kirinari Hostel was mentioned in a…

Kinomi Children’s Home

Kinomi Children’s Home was mentioned in a 1979 Commonwealth Government report called Why are they in children’s homes: report of the ACOSS children’s home intake survey. No more is known about this Home. If you have information about Kinomi Children’s Home, please contact the Find & Connect web team using the ‘Contact Us’ button on…