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Western Australia - Organisation
Wirrumanu (1939 - 1975)
- From
- 1939
- To
- 1975
- Categories
- Catholic, Children's Home, Home and Mission
- Alternative Names
- Balgo Hills Mission (also known as)
- Pallottine Mission, Balgo (also known as)
- Rockhole (also known as)
Wirrumanu, which was also known as Balgo Mission, was a Catholic mission south of Halls Creek that was run by the Pallottines (Society of the Catholic Apostolates) from 1939, with assistance from the Sisters of St John of God from 1956. Boys and girls aged 4 to 18 years were accommodated in dormitories and went to school at the mission. Wirrumanu closed in 1975.
Publications
Online Resources
- Society of the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottine Fathers and Brothers), http://www.pallottine.org.au. Details
- 'Hall's Creek Mission', Dungog Chronicle: Durham and Gloucester Advertiser, 7 October 1953, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140542988. Details
- To Remove and Protect: Aboriginal Lives Under Control [website], 2010, https://aiatsis.gov.au/collection/featured-collections/remove-and-protect. Details
- Catholic Diocese of Broome [website], http://www.broomediocese.org. 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, 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 Records Taskforce, Government of Western Australia, Looking West: A Guide to Aboriginal Records in Western Australia, Government of Western Australia, 2004, http://lookingwest.cpfs.wa.gov.au/. Details
- Western Australia. Department for Community Welfare, Annual Report: Department for Community Welfare, Dept. For Community Welfare, [Perth], 1973-1984, http://catalogue.slwa.wa.gov.au/record=b1410539~S7. 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
Sources used to compile this entry: Information Services, Department for Community Development, 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.
Prepared by: Anna Trengove, Leanne Howard and Debra Rosser
Created: 15 March 2011, Last modified: 20 June 2014
