Green Wood was established in 1951, in Normanhurst, by Dr Barnardo's in Australia to care for siblings who came from England as part of the child migration scheme. Green Wood accommodated 44 boys and 22 girls and comprised a group of homes on an 11 acre site. It closed in 1966 and two Barnardo's family group homes opened on the same site.
Green Wood was named in tribute to the late A.W. Green, a founder of the Barnardos work in New South Wales.
Originally Barnardos had intended for Green Wood to let siblings live in the same building, to create more of a traditional family environment, but due to strict regulations on boys and girls being raised in institutions they were unable to do so. Instead they compromised on boys and girls living in different buildings, but on the same site, and being able to interact at breakfast. The children were sent to a variety of local schools.
Barnardos Australia history of the child migration program (c.2014) stated that 'three cottages cared for children aged 10 upwards who attended local schools and later went on to positions in shops or offices or were apprenticed in the area.'
Sources used to compile this entry: 'Home Will Accommodate 80 Barnardo Children', The Farmer and Settler (Sydney), 25 May 1951, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121850677; 'Bardnardo's Homes Keep The Family Atmosphere', The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney), 14 June 1954, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18430050; 'Nativity Play By Barnardo Home Children', The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney), 17 December 1954, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18455269; 'Welfare official arrives', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW), 20 September 1966, p. 6, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7_xjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CucDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3606%2C2813865; 'Child migration', in Barnardos Australia: We Believe in Children: History, Barnardos Australia, c. 2014, https://web.archive.org/web/20210411042005/https://www.barnardos.org.au/about-us/history/child-migration-program/; Immigration Museum, Stolen childhoods, Museum Victoria, 2011-2012, https://museumsvictoria.com.au/article/stolen-childhoods/; Remmer, Clifford, Nardy Old Boys & Girls Reunion Club, The Remmers, 2005, http://www.nardyaustralia.com/; 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 and Nicola Laurent
Created: 17 March 2011, Last modified: 25 October 2017