Burwood Boys' Home (1895 - c. 1972)

The Burwood Boys' Home, at 155 Warrigal Road, Burwood, was established in 1895. Its founder was Robert Campbell Edwards, an Irish-born tea merchant. It was operated by a non-denominational Committee of Management, and was incorporated in 1909.

Burwood Boys' Home was 'an approved institution' under the Children's Welfare Act 1928. It was run as a farming community.

The Home was deregistered in 1936, and boys were transferred to Minton Boys' Home, while new buildings were being completed. It was re-registered in 1937/38.

Accommodation at Burwood Boys' Home changed to a 'cottage system' in the 1950s, in line with changing ideas about the care of children. In 1955, it applied to be recognised as an 'approved children's home' under the Children's Welfare Act 1954.

A hostel for boys who had completed schooling, The Palms in Hawthorn, was opened in 1940. This hostel was unpopular however and it was closed and sold in 1959. From 1972, older boys remained on the site of Burwood Boys' Home, in the purpose-built Kemp Lodge.

Girls were accepted to the Home from the early 1970s, when the name changed to the Burwood Children's Home.

The Home began to redirect its operations to the region around Shepparton in the late 1970s. It purchased houses in Shepparton in the early 1980s.

It became known as the Child and Family Care Network in the mid 1980s. The last child left the Burwood home in 1986. That year, the organisation sold the Burwood site and moved to new premises in Glen Waverley.

The organisation changed its operating name to bestchance Child Family Care in 2006.

Location

1895 - c. 1972

Address - The Burwood Boys' Home was located at 155 Warrigal Road, Burwood. Location: Burwood