Milleewa Home for Boys

Milleewa was a boys’ home that was established by the Anglican Homes for Children Association in 1919. It was located in Ashfield and housed approximately 20 boys aged from five to 14. For six months during World War II the Church Mission Society leased a portion of the home as a hostel for Aboriginal women and children evacuated from Groote Eylandt and Roper River Mission, in the Northern Territory. In 1966 Milleewa was converted to Charlton Boys’ Home and Hostel.

The original residence ‘Milleewa’ was built between 1857 and 1867 by Nicholas Eager, a draper, as a family home. It was a two storey brick house, with a galvanised iron roof and wide verandahs on three sides. The Anglican Homes for Children Association purchased the house and outbuildings in 1918 and converted it to a boys’ home. Extra washing and bathroom facilities were added, the upstairs rooms were converted to sleeping quarters and the vegetable gardens and orchards were retained. The outbuildings were converted to use as a gymnasium and carpenter’s shop. The Home officially opened on 29th October 1919. Matron Connor was the first matron, and served the home for nine years. Her daughter replaced her in the role.

Milleewa admitted boys up to the age of 14 who had lost one or both parents, or whose parents were unable to support them. The sons of soldiers were given preference. The Home had no restrictions on the religious denomination of boys admitted, though all boys would be taught the scripture of the Church of England. If parents or family were able to contribute to the financial upkeep of the boys they were encouraged to.

Boys attended the Parish Church of St James, Croydon and went to school at Ashfield Superior Public School. They were trained in gardening, and each was responsible for a plot in the vegetable garden. and the boys’ friends could visit on Sundays. An article published in The Daily Telegraph in 1933 stated that they boys were encouraged to take up hobbies, and listed gardening, collecting picture cards, raising silkworks, drawing, and playing cricket as some of the activities the boys engaged in (‘Carefree Score of Youngsters’, 15 November 1933). At the home the boys slept in the ‘sleeping-out balcony’, in the open air.

In 1923 the Anglican Homes for Children Association purchased the Windsor Farm Home at Freeman’s Reach. This Home was intended to provide the older boys from Milleewa with farm training. Boys were transferred from Milleewa to the Windsor Farm Home around the age of 14, with the intention for them to stay there until they reached the age of 18. However, due to poor productivity at the farm, the decision was made to close the Farm Home in 1928.

In 1942 the Church Mission Society leased a portion of Milleewa as a hostel for Aboriginal children and mothers evacuated from Groote Eylandt and Roper River Mission in the Northern Territory due to World War 2. Approximately 30 Aboriginal children between the ages of 11 months and 14 years stayed at Milleewa for 6 months.

In the 1960s the Milleewa Committee noted a decline in the number of younger boys needing care so handed the Home and other assets to the Anglican Home Mission Society in 1965.

In 1965 the original house was demolished and new buildings constructed for a new Charlton Boys’ Home and hostel, run by the Anglican Home Mission Society. This new Home was opened in 1966. In 1991 the site was sold to the Presbyterian Church for use as an aged care facility but the proposal was rejected. The site was then sold to a developer. The archaeological significance of the site was assessed in 2001 by Godden, Mackay, Logan.