Kennion House Records is a collection of records from Kennion House (1955-1982) and its predecessors, The Church of England Boys' Home at Walkerville (1903-1955) and The Children's Home at Walkerville (1886-1904). The records in this collection were created by the staff and officers of the Homes, between 1886-1983. This collection includes minutes and associated working papers, registers, admission forms, house logs and diaries, visitors' books, annual reports, architectural records, correspondence, financial records, and a wide variety of other working documents created by staff of the Homes and by members of the committee that ran the Homes.
Former residents of the children's Homes of the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide and Church of England, or members of their families, can apply to the Diocesan Archivist to be provided with information and/or copies of records relevant to their time in care. Physical access to the historical records of the children's Homes or the church's Social Welfare Bureau is not permitted due to the fragility of the material and the need to protect the privacy of third parties.
Record keeping practices varied significantly from one Home to another and from one time period to another, with respect to the quantity and types of records that were created and preserved. Many of the following records are fragmentary or incomplete, or were created only for specific time periods during the overall duration of the Homes.
Records in this collection includes minutes and associated working papers, registers, admission forms, house logs and diaries, visitors' books, annual reports, architectural records, correspondence, financial records, and a wide variety of other working documents created by staff of the Homes and by members of the committee. The collection also includes some records created by Anglican Child Care Services, which replaced the Kennion House committee as the body charged with administering the running of the home.
Records directly related to children in the Homes include admissions and discharges information; social worker reports; superintendents' reports; school reports; child endowment claims records; medical and immunisation information; photographs; and miscellaneous correspondence. Some records relate specifically to Aboriginal boys from the Northern Territory placed at Kennion House between 1967-1969, these records include reports on the boys.
Records in this collection were listed and indexed as part of the Records Access Documentation Grants in 2017.
The collection includes the following records:
Sources used to compile this entry: George, Karen, 'Section 1:17', Finding your own way, Nunkuwarrin Yunti of South Australia Inc., 2005, http://nunku.org.au/resources/; This entry has been updated with information received from the record holders as part of the Records Access Documentation grants. The source documents are held in the eScholarship Research Centre files at the University of Melbourne.
Prepared by: Nicola Laurent
Created: 11 August 2011, Last modified: 6 November 2017