Perth College

Perth College was established in 1902 by the Sisters of the Church, an Anglican religious order, as a boarding and day school. From 1902 to around 1910, the college also accommodated girls aged 6-10 years who had been brought by the Sisters in 1901 from the Orphanage of Mercy, Kilburn in England. ‘Destitute’ babies were also housed at the college until 1903, when they were transferred to the Waif’s Home, Parkerville and temporarily, in 1903, some orphan boys lodged at Perth College when Tower House closed. In 2014, Perth College continues to operate as a day and boarding school.

Perth College, in the ‘Hawkesbury’ building in Perth, was established in 1902 by the Sisters of the Church, an Anglican religious order that was later named the Community of the Sisters of the Church. Perth College was established as a boarding and day school for local girls, but the college also accommodated girls aged 6-10 years who had been brought by the Sisters in 1901 from the Orphanage of Mercy, Kilburn in England. For a short period in 1903, some of the boys aged 6-10 years who had also accompanied the Sisters to Perth were also accommodated at Perth College, after Tower House closed.

In 2014, Perth College’s website recorded the boarding school as beginning in 1903, but Whittington (Sister Kate 1999, p.73) uses Sisters’ diaries to show that the ‘little girls’ who had come from Kilburn moved with sisters and staff into the house (Hawkesbury) on 15 March 1902 to establish the boarding school for Perth College.

In 1908 the Sisters of the Church became the Community of the Sisters of the Church and they took over the running of Perth College.

Given the ages at which they arrived (6-10 years), it is likely that by 1910 these ‘little girls’ were no longer boarded at Perth College and the college’s relationship with out of home care ended.

‘Destitute’ babies were also housed at the college until 1903, when they were transferred to the Waif’s Home, Parkerville.

Perth College moved to its longstanding location in Beaufort Street, Mt Lawley in 1916. In 1968 the Community of the Sisters of the Church handed over the running of the school to the Anglican Province of Western Australia. In 2014, Perth College continued as a boarding and day school on that site.