St Francis House Records

St Francis House Records is a collection of records created by the staff and officers of St Francis House and the Church of England Hostel for Inland Children during the period 1946-1961. The records include committee minutes, visitors’ book, financial records, correspondence, and news cuttings.

Access Conditions

Former residents of the children’s Homes of the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide and Church of England, or members of their families, can apply to the Diocesan Archivist to be provided with information and/or copies of records relevant to their time in care. Physical access to the historical records of the children’s Homes or the church’s Social Welfare Bureau is not permitted due to the fragility of the material and the need to protect the privacy of third parties.

Records

Record keeping practices varied significantly from one Home to another and from one time period to another, with respect to the quantity and types of records that were created and preserved. Many of the following records are fragmentary or incomplete, or were created only for specific time periods during the overall duration of the Homes.

St Francis House Records include committee minutes, visitors’ book, financial records, correspondence, and news cuttings. The collection also includes a small number of historical research and study notes.

Records in this collection were listed and indexed as part of the Records Access Documentation Grants in 2017.

The collection includes the following records:

• Committee Minutes, 1946-1961 – The committee was principally concerned with finance, buildings maintenance and staffing issues. Names of boys were sometimes mentioned in the committee minutes in relation to their schooling, admission, activities and placement upon closure of the Home.
  (These records were previously described on the Find & Connect web resource as Minutes of the Management Committee (1946 – 1961).)
• Visitors’ Book, 1947-1958 – Contains names of individuals and/or groups who paid visits to the Home.
• Financial records, 1951-1961 – Includes a receipt book, payments ledger and cash book.
• Correspondence file, 1947-1961 – Includes wardens’ reports with comments on boys and letters related to fostering of boys on the closure of the home
  (These records were previously described on the Find & Connect web resource as Correspondence (1947 – 1959).)
• Director of Welfare Correspondence file, 1958-1959 – Includes letters about maintenance payments and the transfer of boys in the Home.
  (These records were previously described on the Find & Connect web resource as Director of Welfare, St Francis House (1958 – 1960).)
• News Cuttings file, 1953-1959