Holy Child Orphanage (1941 - 1962)

Sisters and Working Girls with their young charges in front of the newly opened orphanage building, 1941, 2013, courtesy of Kimberley Community Profile Issue 3, June 2013.
Details

From

1941

To

1962

Categories

Catholic, Home and Orphanage

Alternative Names

HCO (acronym)

The Holy Child Orphanage was established in Broome by the Sisters of St John of God in 1941. It was a Home for school-aged Aboriginal girls and young women up to 20 years of age placed by relatives or the Department of Native Affairs. Holy Child closed in December 1962.

The Holy Child Orphanage was established by the Sisters of St John of God in 1941, in Broome. School-aged Aboriginal girls and young women who were working were accommodated there. Girls and young women were placed by their families and by the Department of Native Affairs.

From 1942 to 1945, during World War II, Holy Child Orphanage moved to Beagle Bay, as Broome had been declared a military town and women and children were not permitted to live there.

School children attended St Mary's School in Broome. They wore blue uniforms and were known as the 'blue army' by people seeing them march to and from school.

The Holy Child Orphanage closed in December 1962.

Events

March 1941 - 1962: Location - The Holy Child Orphanage was located near the Barker Street Convent in Broome. Location: Broome

Run By

Sisters of St John of God (1895 - )
Date: 1941 - 1962

Related Archival Collections

Sisters of St John of God, Kimberley, Records (1895 - )

Related Archival Series

Related Glossary Terms

Stolen Generations

Related Organisations

Beagle Bay Mission (1895 - 1976)
Girls, young women and Sisters from the Holy Child Orphanage at Broome were evacuated to Beagle Bay Mission during World War II.

Date: 1942 - 1945
Catholic Diocese of Broome (1897? - )
Holy Child Orphanage was part of the Catholic Diocese of Broome.

Date: 1941 - 1962
Maria Goretti Home (1968 - 1974)
The Maria Goretti Home was built on the site of the Holy Child Orphanage.

Date: 1968

Publications

Books

Choo, Christine, Mission girls : Aboriginal women on Catholic missions in the Kimberley, Western Australia, 1900-1950, University of Western Australia Press, Crawley, Western Australia, 2001. Vivid memories of life at Holy Child Orphanage are included at pp.138-140, and there is general historical information on pp.136-137. Details
Lockyer, Betty (Elizabeth), Last Truck Out, Magabala Books, Broome, Western Australia, 2009. Details

Reports

Western Australia. Child Welfare Department, Annual Report of the Child Welfare Department, Child Welfare Department, Perth [W.A.], 1928-1972. Details

Online Resources

'Native Orphan Sends Her Thanks', The Daily News, 28 October 1944, p. 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78763375. Details
'Sisters, Pearls and Mission Girls', Rebel Films, Sydney, New South Wales, 2004. Details
'Holy Child Orphanage and Ida Kelly', in ABC, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 14 December 2010, https://open.abc.net.au/projects/now-and-then-14tm2sh/contributions/holy-child-orphanage-and-ida-kelly-83eR6aM. Details
'Holy Child Orphanage - Lifelong friendships', in Catholic Diocese of Broome [website], June 2013, https://broomediocese.org/wp-content/uploads/securepdfs/2021/09/KCP-2013-03.pdf. Details
Bringing Them Home: The 'Stolen Children' Report (1997), Australian Human Rights Commission, 2011, https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-social-justice/publications/bringing-them-home. Details
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies [website], http://aiatsis.gov.au/. Details
Heritage Council of Western Australia, 'St John of God Convent (fmr), Broome', in inHerit, Western Australia State Heritage Office, Government of Western Australia, 8 February 2015, http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/public/p/5307. There is some history of the Sisters of St John of God’s activities in the Kimberleys in the ‘Register of Heritage Places’ (pp.4-10) including work at Beagle Bay, Bidyadanga and Wirrumanu Missions and the Holy Child Orphanage. Details
Information Services, Department for Community Development, 'Operating dates published in Signposts relied upon source material that was inaccurate, pp.244-245, Table 17: Female Wards at the Holy Child Orphanage, Broome, 1959-1963', Signposts: A Guide for Children and Young People in Care in WA from 1920, Government of Western Australia, 2004, https://signposts.communities.wa.gov.au//pdf/pdf.aspx. Details
National Directory of Records of Catholic Organisations Caring for Children Separated from Families, A Piece of the Story: A Research Project Undertaken by the Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission and the Australian Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes, November 1999, https://cssa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/A-Piece-of-the-Story.pdf. Details
State Solicitor's Office of Western Australia, 'p.60', Guide to Institutions Attended by Aboriginal People in Western Australia, Government of Western Australia, 2005, http://web.archive.org/web/20140126131607/http://www.dpc.wa.gov.au/lantu/MediaPublications/Documents/Guide-to-Institutions-attended-by-Aboriginal-people-in-WA-2005.pdf. Details

Photos

Title: A big photo album: the archive of the Sisters of St John of God
Type: Video
Date: 24 December 2010
Source: Ben Collins, ABC Kimberley

Details

Title: Sisters and Working Girls with their young charges in front of the newly opened orphanage building, 1941
Type: Image
Date: 2013
Source: Kimberley Community Profile Issue 3, June 2013

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: 'Holy Child Orphanage - Lifelong friendships', in Catholic Diocese of Broome [website], June 2013, https://broomediocese.org/wp-content/uploads/securepdfs/2021/09/KCP-2013-03.pdf; Information Services, Department for Community Development, 'Operating dates published in Signposts relied upon source material that was inaccurate, pp.244-245, Table 17: Female Wards at the Holy Child Orphanage, Broome, 1959-1963', Signposts: A Guide for Children and Young People in Care in WA from 1920, Government of Western Australia, 2004, https://signposts.communities.wa.gov.au//pdf/pdf.aspx; State Solicitor's Office of Western Australia, 'p.60', Guide to Institutions Attended by Aboriginal People in Western Australia, Government of Western Australia, 2005, http://web.archive.org/web/20140126131607/http://www.dpc.wa.gov.au/lantu/MediaPublications/Documents/Guide-to-Institutions-attended-by-Aboriginal-people-in-WA-2005.pdf.

Prepared by: Debra Rosser

Created: 15 March 2011, Last modified: 8 January 2019

Holy Child Orphanage (1941 - 1962)