Mater Dei Orphanage was located at Narellan. The property was formerly known as 'Wivenhoe' and was purchased by the Trustees of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan in 1910 to serve as an orphanage for girls aged to 16 years and boys aged up to 12. Mater Dei Orphanage changed to Mater Dei School, a residential special school, in 1957.
When the Manly Industrial School and Orphanage closed in 1910 girls, who were aged up to 16, were transferred to Mater Dei. Boys up to twelve years were admitted between 1910 and 1928.
Since 1957 Mater Dei has been a special school for disabled children, and the records for that period are held at the school.
Sources used to compile this entry: Thinee, Kristy and Bradford, Tracy, Connecting Kin: Guide to Records, A guide to help people separated from their families search for their records [completed in 1998], New South Wales Department of Community Services, Sydney, New South Wales, 1998, https://clan.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/connectkin_guide.pdf.
Prepared by: Melissa Downing & Naomi Parry
Created: 7 March 2011, Last modified: 16 May 2014