Gift from the Victorian Red Cross to the Legacy Club, 10 December 1945, courtesy of The Argus.
Details
Stanhope was a Legacy Home located in Kew established in around 1945. It accommodated the children of deceased ex-servicemen, and some wards of state, who were finishing their schooling. Stanhope housed boys and girls from around 9 to 16 years, except for part of 1970s when housed only girls aged 14 and over. Stanhope closed in 1982.
Stanhope, at 1245 Burke Road Kew (on the corner of Cotham Road), was first purchased by the Victorian branch of the Australian Red Cross. The Red Cross remodelled the property and gifted it to Legacy in 1945 to be a residence for Legacy children while they were finishing their schooling.
The formal handover took place in May 1948. At that time, there were 22 children in residence at Stanhope, aged from 9-18. According to the Argus, these children were 'the sons and daughters of deceased ex-servicemen. Some are in Melbourne for education or employment and others are orphans.'
In the early 1950s, Stanhope was described by the Children's Welfare Department as a home for boys and girls aged 9 to 16.
By the mid 1970s, when Stanhope was for girls aged fourteen and over. In the late 1970s, Stanhope was remodelled to accommodate boys and girls up to puberty.
Residents of Stanhope and other Legacy homes were the children of deceased ex-servicemen. Sometimes residents at Legacy homes were both children of ex-servicemen and wards of state.
Stanhope closed in 1982 due to a gradual reduction in children and young people meeting Legacy's eligibility criteria for placement and support.
Sources used to compile this entry: Melbourne Legacy takes over home, The Argus, 22 May 1948, 3 pp, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22539938; 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Guide to out-of-home care services 1940-2000 - Volume One: Agency Descriptions, Department of Human Services, Unpublished, November 2001, https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/DHS.3004.011.0367.pdf; Senate Community Affairs References Committee Secretariat, Parliament of Australia, Protecting Vulnerable Children: a national challenge: Second report on the inquiry into children in institutional or out-of-home care, Commonwealth of Australia, March 2005, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/report2/index.
Prepared by: Cate O'Neill
Created: 12 June 2009, Last modified: 27 June 2013
Last updated: 7 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/vic/biogs/E000330b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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