St Joseph's Home for Children, Croydon (1925 - 1981)

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St Joseph's Home, Croydon, run by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, was established in 1926, in a fine house on Liverpool Road called 'Roslyn House'.

The house was a donation from Mr and Mrs Stuart Patterson, who bought it from Maurice J Savage and presented it to the Sisters of St Joseph in 1925. Initially, it accommodated 150 children. A new wing was added in 1927, a dormitory was added in 1945, and the building was renovated and further expanded between 1951 and 1953. In the years 1959-1963 the Home took in 356 children.

Children in St Joseph's were generally from single parent families, or households stricken by illness or disadvantage. Many children returned to their families, but some remained in the Home throughout their early childhood.

St Joseph's was founded specifically to keep siblings from the same family together, so took boys and girls. Ordinarily boys who reached the age of seven were sent on to Westmead Boys Home, while girls were sent to Lane Cove. However, siblings could be retained, finishing their schooling locally.