The Brookside Private Reformatory for Protestant Girls was established in 1887 by Mrs Elizabeth Rowe. One of the first privately-run reformatories in Victoria, Brookside was located in the town of Cape Clear, near Scarsdale. It closed in 1903. The Brookside Private Reformatory for Protestant Girls was established on 29 December 1887. In a visit to…
The Sunbury Industrial School was established in 1865. It was located on Jacksons Hill, in Sunbury. On its closure, in around 1880, boys from Sunbury were transferred to the Royal Park Industrial School in Parkville. The Sunbury Industrial School was the first purpose-built institution created by the government in 1865 in response to the Neglected…
The Government Reformatory for Girls in Coburg was established in 1875. The first reformatory for girls in the colony of Victoria was at Sunbury, established in 1865. The new premises in Coburg were “in immediate contiguity” to Pentridge Prison, in what was later known as G Division. The girls’ reformatory operated there from 1875 until…
In 1873 the Boys’ Reformatory run by the Victorian government moved from the reformatories on board the Sir Harry Smith and the Deborah. The new institution at Coburg was known as the Jika Reformatory for Boys. It was located within the grounds of Pentridge prison. The Royal Commission on Penal and Prison Discipline had stated in…
The Horseshoe was a Home in Carlton for women suffering from venereal disease, run by the Mission of St James and St John. In October 1927, women were transferred from The Horseshoe to the Mission’s new institution at Fairfield, known as Fairhaven. On 31 December 1925, a hotel known as The Horseshoe in Lygon Street…
The Adoption and Family Records Service (AFRS) was a program within the Department of Human Services (DHS) for former wards of the state of Victoria and their families. The purpose of the Service was to release state ward files and provide assistance to locate other relevant records and information; give counselling and support and referrals…
The Children’s Welfare Advisory Council came into being with the passage of the Children’s Welfare Act 1954. The Council consisted of representatives nominated by the Children’s Welfare Association of Victoria and the Victorian Council of Social Service. Its name changed to the Family Welfare Advisory Council with the passage of the Social Welfare Act 1960….
The Anglican (Church of England) Diocese of Ballarat has been in existence since at least 1863. The Diocese ran the St Cuthbert’s Children’s Home in Colac from 1948. The affairs of St Cuthbert’s Children’s Home were conducted by a Board of Management consisting of local citizens of the Colac and district community.
Ramoth was established in Ferntree Gully in 1926. It was a convalescent Home for young women suffering from venereal diseases. In 1927, the Mission of St James and St John took over Ramoth and it became the Ramoth Toddlers’ Home. Women at Ramoth were transferred to Fairhaven in Fairfield. Ramoth was run in close association…
The Home Mission Society of Victoria was established in circa 1871 by the Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church to undertake mission work in city and country. Under the auspices of the Home Mission Society, the Central Dorcas Society, later called the Wesleyan Church Neglected Children’s Aid Society, ran Livingstone House in Carlton. In 1884,…