Karingal Youth Hostel

The Karingal Youth Hostel was opened by the Church of England in Hindmarsh in 1952. It was run by an independent management committee that reported to the Diocese of Adelaide. It provided accommodation for boys of 15 to 18 years, from the Church of England Boys’ Home at Walkerville and similar institutions, while they studied or completed apprenticeships. In 1964 the Hostel closed and Karingal became a nursing Home.

The Karingal Youth Hostel was established by the Church of England in 1952 as a hostel for boys aged 15 to 18 who were studying or doing an apprenticeship and therefore on limited income. The majority of boys at Karingal came from the Walkerville Boys’ Home and other similar homes, however it also provided accommodation for “orphan, homeless, neglected or other needy youths”, and boys who, in order to work or study, had left their family homes but were unable to support themselves. At the end of its first year in operation there were four boys living at the hostel. From 1957 very few boys under the age of 16 were admitted to the hostel .

The Karingal Youth Hostel was run by a management committee under the control of the Church. Named Karingal, meaning ‘Home’, the building at 34 Grange Road, Hindmarsh, was set on spacious grounds with a tennis court, fruit trees and an old coach house used for storing bikes. The building was renovated by the Church of England before the Hostel opened. The rules of the Hostel stated that its purpose was to provide a home and ‘wise supervision’ for the residents until they became ‘self supporting and no longer in need of guidance and help’. Boys were expected to help keep the home tidy, wash dishes and do other odd jobs as required by the Superintendent or Housemother. Each pay day salaries were handed to the Superintendent who, in the presence of each boy, allocated them to board, pocket money and savings. Although boys were allowed freedom of choice in religious matters, they were encouraged to attend church regularly.

In 1959 when St Francis House in Semaphore closed a number of boys from that institution came to Karingal Youth Hostel.

By 1964 the demand for places at the Hostel had diminished. During a period of discussion over the future of the Home, the management committee contacted some former residents for feedback. A number were quite critical of the superintendent’s running of the Hostel. This contributed to the decision to close Karingal in 1964 and hand the building over to the Social Welfare Committee of the Church for the purpose of conducting a nursing home for sick and elderly people. The Karingal Nursing Home closed in 2000 and the building was sold.