Church of England Homes was an agency of the Sydney Anglican Diocese that ran children’s homes in Sydney and the Blue Mountains. It was created around 1884 by Reverend TB Tress and Reverend Dr Manning, in Woolloomooloo, and grew to take in several committees that had operated in the Sydney area.
Church of England Homes is not to be confused with Church of England Homes Burwood, which ran the Bishop Wigg Memorial Home.
In 1884 Reverend TB Tress and Reverend Dr Manning established a children’s home in Woolloomooloo, which grew rapidly. New premises were acquired at Paddington, followed by four homes at Glebe Point.
In 1914 ‘Minden’ at Carlingford was purchased as a country home for girls. However, there was a high demand for places for boys, so the home, later called ‘Strathmore’, was converted for that purpose. In 1920 the Tress-Manning Home was built to house boys. Girls were sent to Glebe.
At the beginning of 1925 a ‘Big Forward Movement’ was launched, with the aim of establishing boys’ homes and transferring the girls to Carlingford. On 14 April 1928 boys went into residence on the new site at Carlingford. Girls were then sent to Strathmore and Tress-Manning. In September 1929 McGarvey Home, for girls, was officially opened. Carlingford was now the base for the homes.
The following year, 1930, the Homes and Hostels Committee of the Church of England and the Church of England Homes Committee merged, with the result that Havilah Homes for Little Children became part of Church of England Homes. In 1950 Havilah moved to Carlingford. On 21 June 1958 Lady Woodward opened additions to Havilah.
By 1959, the 75th anniversary of Church of England Homes, 288 children were in the care of the committee. Havilah held 32 children aged from two to six. At that time, there were 134 boys and 72 girls in care with Church of England Homes.
The girls’ homes were:
The boys’ homes were:
Children attended the local primary, secondary and agricultural schools at Carlingford: girls at Macquarie High and boys at Macarthur. Toc H, the Boys’ Brigade and the Life Boy Movement were all part of life in the homes.
Church of England Homes was replaced by Care Force in 1984, becoming part of the Anglican Home Mission Society.
