The Bernard-Smith Children's Home was established at Pymble by the Central Methodist Mission, after a donation by Ken Bernard-Smith, a solicitor. An Australian Women's Weekly article from 1961 indicates the Home was open by then. It was for boys and girls aged from two to 17 who were alone due to family breakdown. As at 2016, it was thought this home probably closed around 1986 or later.
Sources used to compile this entry: 'Lonely People', Australian Women's Weekly, 19 April 1961, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55473382; Wesley Mission 200 Years Pioneering Care: Celebrating the bicentenary of Methodism in Australia, Wesley Mission, 2012, https://web.archive.org/web/20140719125406/http://www.wesleymission.org.au/200years/history.asp; Homes and Orphanages Listings, Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN), https://clan.org.au/homes-and-orphanages/; Moyes, Gordon, 'Caring for the Kids', in Rev Dr Gordon Moyes, AC, Gordon Moyes, 21 March 2007, https://web.archive.org/web/20101219162646/http://www.gordonmoyes.com/2007/03/21/caring-for-the-kids/; Email from former staff member (2014) regarding date the home closed ie 1982?. Email from former resident (2016) regarding the date the home closed ie 1986?, a PDF version is held in the Find & Connect Project project (FACP) files at the University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre).
Prepared by: Naomi Parry
Created: 22 April 2014, Last modified: 7 January 2016