The Church of England Boys’ Home was for boys aged 6 to 18 years. It was established by Church of England Homes in 1917 in a house in Cronulla. The Boys’ Home moved to Carlingford in 1921, occupying ‘Minden’, which had previously been used as the Church of England Girls’ Home. In 1927 the Boys’ Home moved to a new site further north on Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford, where Buckland Memorial Home was built. By 1935 there were 4 additional cottages: Spurway, Noller, Vickery and Broad, along with a Hostel for older boys. The Church of England Boys’ Home closed in the 1970s when children were placed in group homes.
The Carlingford Homes started with the purchase of ‘Minden’, in Carlingford, in 1913, as a Girls’ Home. In 1915 a family group that included a boy arrived from Orange. Although that boy was placed with his sisters, a separate Boys’ Home was established at Cronulla in 1917. Another house, ‘Havilah’, was purchased at Normanhurst (Wahroonga) in 1918, as a home for small children but the work of Havilah later relocated, also to Carlingford, in 1950.
In 1920, girls were transferred from ‘Minden’ in Carlingford to Arden, in Glebe. At that time, a second house was added to Minden, to take more boys, and boys came to Carlingford from the Home at Cronulla. This addition at Carlingford was called No 2 Home, but was later renamed Tress-Manning Home.
John Ingersole, who grew up in the Carlingford Boys’ Homes, has written the history of the complex. He says the boys moved to a new building (known as “Number 2”) that was erected alongside Minden in 1921, while the girls were sent to Arden in Glebe, and Havilah became a unisex home for little children. Once little children from Havilah turned six they were sent to either the Boys’ Home or the Girls’ Home.
In 1927 a new Boys’ Home, Buckland House, was built on a new site at 756 Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford. The home was built by Sir Thomas Buckland, in honour of his son, who had been killed in World War I. The girls were moved back to the original building, Minden, in 1927.
The Boys’ Home complex expanded in later years, with the addition of Noller, Broad, Vickery, Spurway, T.A Field and Trigg Cottages, and a Hostel for boys who were starting work.
The land was prepared for sale in 1975 and the Boys’ Homes were closed in May 1976.
According to research done by the staff of the Northern Territory Department of Health, children from the Northern Territory were sent to the Church of England Boys’ Home.
The Church of England Boys’ Home was mentioned in the Bringing Them Home Report (1997) as an institution that housed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children removed from their families.
The Church of England Boys’ Home was mentioned in the Lost Innocents Report (2001) as an institution involved in the migration of children to Australia.
From
1917
To
1976
Alternative Names
Church of England Boys' Home, Carlingford
The Working Boys' Hostel
Carlingford Boys' Home
Buckland House
Spurway Cottage
Trigg Cottage
T.A. Field Cottage
Noller
Vickery
Carlingford Children's Home
1917 - 1921
Church of England Boys' Home was situated at Cronulla, New South Wales (Building Unknown)
1921 - 1926
Church of England Boys' Home was situated at Minden, 216 Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford, New South Wales (Building Still standing)
1926 - 1976
Church of England Boys' Home was situated at 756 Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford, New South Wales (Building Demolished)
