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Victoria - Organisation

St John's Homes for Boys and Girls (1958 - 1997)

  • St Johns Home for Boys, Canterbury

    St Johns Home for Boys, Canterbury, 1964
    Details

From
1958
To
1997
Categories
Anglican, Care Provider, Children's Home, Cottage Home, Family Group Home, Home and Protestant
Alternative Names
  • St John's Home for Boys and Girls
  • St John's Homes

St John's Homes for Boys and Girls was established in 1958. It was formerly St John's Homes for Boys. It housed children in cottage homes and hostels in Canterbury, and, from the late 1960s, in Doncaster, Nunawading, Camberwell and Portsea. It also opened the hostels Fernhurst and Molloy House in 1968. In 1997 St John's Homes merged with the Mission to the Streets and Lanes, and the Mission of St James and St John to form Anglicare Victoria.

Details

In June 1959, construction work commenced on a new cottage at St John's Homes on the property at 16 Balwyn Road, Canterbury. Another cottage on the site followed in 1961. Later that decade, St John's opened cottage homes, accommodating boys and girls, in Doncaster and Nunawading.

St John's Homes moved into the provision of residential 'care' to young people on Children's Court probation with the opening of Molloy House and Fernhurst hostels in 1968.

St John's established Field House in Camberwell in 1969, for boys over the age of 13 with academic potential. In 1971, Hindson House, comprising three cottages, opened at Portsea.

In 1971, three more family group homes (known as Wilson, Butler and Reynolds) were opened on the Canterbury site.

In 1974, St John's established Ruthven House, a hostel in Reservoir in the northern suburbs, run in conjunction with Church of England Boys' Society.

In 1976, it opened the George Hall Hostel for School Leavers in Bell Street, Box Hill.

A newspaper article from 1975 (about Princess Margaret's visit to St John's Homes for Boys and Girls in October) refers to the Shrublands Hostel operating on the site in Balwyn Road. The matron was Miss Margaret Gibbs. The Princess met with house parents (Mr and Mrs T Middleton) and their 10 cottage children, and visited Birch Cottage.

In 1978, St John's proposed the closure of 'Shrublands', the original building at Canterbury. It was converted into a 'resource unit' for the St John's organisation.

Some St John's Homes remained in the inner-eastern region - Birch and Read Cottages in Canterbury, Appleby Hostel in Mont Albert, St Martin's Hostel in Canterbury, and three family units on the Balwyn Road, Canterbury, campus.

In 1997, St John's Homes amalgamated with the Mission of St James and St John and the Mission to the Streets and Lanes to form Anglicare Victoria.

At this time, records of St John's were transferred to Anglicare Victoria. These included records of the various orphanages, homes and other residences run by St John's. The custodian of these records is Anglicare Victoria.

Location

1958 - 1997
Location - St John's Home for Boys and Girls was located in Balwyn Road, Canterbury. Location: Canterbury

Timeline

 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

Provided 'Care' At

Related Archival Collections

Publications

Books

  • Hutchinson, John, Reminiscences of St. John's Home for Boys, St John Old Boys & Girls Association, Ringwood East, 2004. Details

Newspaper Articles

  • Walker, Barbara, 'Tuned-in Grandfather', The Sun News-Pictorial, 14 June 1967, p. 41. Details

Online Resources

Photos

Opening of St John's cottage home, Nunawading
Title
Opening of St John's cottage home, Nunawading
Type
Image
Date
1950s

Details

St Johns Home for Boys, Canterbury
Title
St Johns Home for Boys, Canterbury
Type
Image
Date
1964
Control
Image No: jc003126

Details

St Johns Home for Boys, Canterbury
Title
St Johns Home for Boys, Canterbury
Type
Image
Date
10 May 1964

Details

St Johns Home for Boys, Canterbury
Title
St Johns Home for Boys, Canterbury
Type
Image
Date
10 May 1964

Details

St Johns Home for Boys, Canterbury
Title
St Johns Home for Boys, Canterbury
Type
Image
Date
10 May 1964

Details

Former St Martin's House, 20 Balwyn Road, Canterbury
Title
Former St Martin's House, 20 Balwyn Road, Canterbury
Type
Image
Date
31 January 1998

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: James Jenkinson Consulting, Guide to out-of-home care services 1940-2000 - Volume One: Agency Descriptions, Department of Human Services, Unpublished, November 2001, https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/DHS.3004.011.0367.pdf; 'St John's Home for Boys (and girls) (1926-96)', in Finding Records, Department of Health and Human Services, State of Victoria, https://www.findingrecords.dhhs.vic.gov.au/collectionresultspage/St-Johns-Home-for-Boys. See the 'List of records held by the department' section for information about records relating to St John's Home for Boys and Girls.; Clipping from Progress Press: 'Two local visits for Princess Margaret', Vol 26 No 42, 29 October 1975. Courtesy of DHHS Archives.

Prepared by: Rachel Tropea