St Martin's Home for Boys was established in 1921 as a Church of England Boys' Home in Auburn. In 1926, it moved to the same site as St John's Homes for Boys, in Canterbury. The two homes were sometimes referred to as the 'Church of England Homes for Boys'. St Martin's Home was later incorporated under the name of St John's Home.
St Martin's Home for Boys was first located is situated at 791 Burwood Road, Auburn. It was established largely due to the efforts of the Rev. Eric Thornton. It was opened formally by the Governor in June 1921, two years after Thornton established the committee to raise funds for a boys' home.
Thornton was the first superintendent of St Martin's Boys' Home.
Thornton presented the annual report of the 'Church of England Homes for Boys' in 1926, and reported that a decision had been made to sell the Auburn site and move St Martin's to the site of St John's Home for Boys in Canterbury.
The new St Martin's Home at Canterbury was opened by the Governor, Lord Somers, on 11 December 1926.
1921 - c. 1926 St Martin's Home for Boys
c. 1924 - 1958 St John's Homes for Boys
1958 - 1997 St John's Homes for Boys and Girls
1997 - Anglicare Victoria
Sources used to compile this entry: Home for Boys. Opened by the Governor, The Argus, 13 June 1921, 6 pp, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1765913; Boys' Home at Canterbury, The Argus, 11 December 1926, 33 pp, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3826203; Boys' Home Auxiliaries, The Argus, 12 March 1926, 13 pp, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3739473; St Martin's Home. New buildings opened. Lord Somers' interest., The Argus, 13 December 1926, 15 pp, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3826475; Da Costa-Adams, Robin, 'History - St John's Boys' Home', in Shrublands website, 2008, https://web.archive.org/web/20190304202111/http://shrublands.com.au/history/st-johns-boys-home; Nunn, H.W., 'Social Services (Chapter VIII of A Short History of the Church of England in Victoria 1847-1947)', in Project Canterbury, Issued by the Editorial Committee of the Centenary Celebrations, Melbourne Diocese, 1947, Project Canterbury, 1999, http://anglicanhistory.org/aus/hwnunn_victoria1947/08.html.
Prepared by: Cate O'Neill
Created: 17 February 2009, Last modified: 25 May 2018
Last updated: 7 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/vic/biogs/E000113b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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