Resurrection House, Essendon was established in 1952 and run by the Sisters of the Resurrection. First intended for Polish migrants, it housed children from 1954, including some state wards. It ceased to be a children’s Home in 1971. In 2019 Resurrection House is a Catholic school.
Resurrection House was situated at 6 Aberfeldie Street, Essendon. It was run by the Sisters of the Resurrection, a Polish order of Catholic nuns. The institution was originally intended to accommodate the children of Polish migrants.
According to the website Catholic Education Melbourne, Resurrection House was established ‘to help meet the needs of these people, who as a result of the events of World War II found themselves in difficult circumstances in a foreign land with children who needed care while parents worked to provide a home and future’.
Jenkinson writes that from time to time, Resurrection House received state wards. In October 1957, Resurrection House was declared as an approved children’s home under the Children’s Welfare Act 1954.
A 1956 report of an inspector for the Child Endowment Scheme states that Resurrection House could accommodate 90 to 100 children. At that time there were 75 children in residence between the ages of three and ten years old. The house itself was described as ‘comfortable and attractive’, and included playground facilities and a kindergarten and junior school run by the Sisters.
Day pupils were attending school at Resurrection House by 1957.
In 1971, the Sisters advised the Department that Resurrection House would be terminating its function as an approved children’s Home.
Following the closure of the Home, Resurrection House continued to operate as a primary school incorporating a kindergarten.
From
1952
To
1971
1952 - 1971
Resurrection House was located in 6 Aberfeldie Street, Essendon, Victoria (Building Still standing)
