87 kb]Orphanages, institutions and child migrants
Orphanage and home records
Access to most records relating to orphanages and children’s homes is restricted. Records are generally held by the government or by the organisation which ran the institution. Early records of government run institutions are held in the relevant State archival repository.
Queensland
The locations of records of Queensland institutions are listed in:
Missing Pieces: information to assist former residents of children’s institutions to access records [new window]
The book provides brief details of the establishment and operation of each institution, the types and date ranges of records available, and contact details for access to the records.
State Library of Queensland holds the book in hard copy. Check One Search online catalogue for details.
Index to registrar of Townsville Orphanage 1878-1943 [microfiche] (MFC 929.39436 1994)
See also
Queensland State Archives Brief Guide 28 Orphanages and Children's Homes [new window]
This guide includes links to catalogue records that provide access to digitised admissions registers for a number of the institutions.
For other States, check with the relevant State Archives or State Record Office
New South Wales
State Records NSW Indexes online [new window]
Check the online indexes under Education and Child Welfare for:
- Orphans schools, 1817-86
- Mittagong Farm Home for Boys, 1907-21
- Randwick Asylum for destitute Children, 1852-1915
Sydney Benevolent Asylum – Index to admissions and discharges 1857-1900 [new window]
The State Library holds the following indexes:
NSW Orphan School Index 1817-1933 [microfiche] (MFC 929.3944 1944)
Application for admission into the orphan schools : letters received 1825-1833; Applications: children out of orphan schools, letters received, 1825-1833 / [NSW] Clergy and School Lands Corporation. [microfilm] (MFL 929.3944 1984 [AO reels 2776 and 2777]).
Victoria
Public Record Office Victoria
PROVguide 60: Education, Health and Welfare –Adoption, Wardship and Related Records [new window]
Records held include Ward of State registers, 1864-1965 and Child migration files, 1947-1971. Access to many of the files is restricted.
The State Library holds:
Childrens registers of state wards in the colony of Victoria: old series (admissions) 1864-1899 [microfiche] (MFC 365.4209945 1995)
Index to children in Victorian institutions 1860-1863 /compiled by Helen Doxford Harris [microfiche](MFC 929.3945 1994)
Index to children's registers, c.1850-1893 / compiled by Jenny Carter and Marion Paul [microfiche] (MFC 929.3945 1994).
Infant life protection act / compiled by Helen D. Harris [microfiche] (MFC 613.0432 2001-)
Tasmania
Archives Office of Tasmania [new window]
Records include personal files of children who lived at the Northern Tasmanian Home for Boys (Glenara) 1921-1983. Access to files is restricted.
The State Library holds the following indexes:
Children in Queen's Orphanage, Hobart Town, 1828-1863 / compiled by Joyce Purtscher (PAM 929.309946 1993)
Infants at Queen's Orphanage Hobart 1851-1863 / Joyce Purtscher (PAM 929.3946 1993)
Applications for Queen's Orphanage, Hobart Town 1858-1878 / compiled by Joyce Purtscher (PAM 929.39461 1993)
Apprentices and absconders from Queen's Orphanage, Hobart Town, 1860-1883 / compiled by Joyce Purtscher (G 929.309946 1994)
Juveniles requiring education in Van Diemen's Land c1821-1822 / compiled by Thelma McKay (PAM 929.3946 1994)
More references for Tasmanian children in care 1826-1899 / compiled by Joyce Purtscher (FAMHIS 929.3946 1996)
Western Australia
State Records of Western Australia [new window]
Records include files relating to Maltese child migrants between 1952 and 1963 (Item 1952/1358). Access to the files is restricted.
Swanleigh admission and discharge records 1868 -1960 [microfiche] / compiled by Shirley Meek with assistance from Kay Frost and Ivy Beeson (MFC 362.732099412 1990)
South Australia
State Records of South Australia [new window]
Find your own way home [new window] / Karen George
A guide provided by South Australia Link-Up to “help people to access existing records of South Australian children's homes and institutions.”
Far from a low gutter girl: the forgotten world of state wards: South Australia 1887-1940 / Margaret Barbalet (G 362.73 1983). Case studies of state wards.
Child migrants
From 1900-1960 State Governments and charitable institutions operated a number of schemes to bring child migrants to Australia. Most records that name individual migrants are located in State government archives or in the archives of the relevant charitable institutions.
National Archives of Australia Fact sheet on child migration (No. 124) [new window] provides background information and a list of the personal documents on child migrants held in the NAA collection.
The United Kingdom. Department of Health [new window] provides advice for former British child migrants and maintains an index of basic information on individual child migrants compiled from the surviving records. Use the search engine to locate information.
PHIND [new window] The Personal History INDex is a confidential index to personal, migration, residence, and other records of individual child migrants sent from Britain and Malta to Catholic Homes in Western Australia between 1938 and 1965. Only former child migrants or their representatives may access the index.
Child Migrants: Accessing records held by Commonwealth and State Archives [new window] / Council of Australasian Archives and Records Auhtorities
The State Library holds the following books published about British child migrants include:
Orphans of the empire / Allan Gill (G 362.730994 1997)
Child migration to Catholic institutions in Australia : objectives, policies, realities, 1926-1966 / B.M. Coldrey (G 325.94 1995)
Check One Search online catalogue for further titles.
Irish orphans
Information about Irish orphans shipped from the workhouses to Australia during the 1840s Famine may be found in:
Barefoot and pregnant? : Irish famine orphans in Australia: documents and register / compiled and introduced by Trevor McClaughlin. (FAMHIS 929.102594 1991-2001). A database and images of some of these orphans may be viewed at The Australian Irish Famine Memorial [new window]
Unnamed Irish boys on convict ships, 1841-1843, sent to Queen's Orphanage, Hobart, Van Diemen's Land / Joyce Purtscher (PAM 929.3946 1993)
Wages paid to orphans index, 1849-1851 / compiled by Aileen Trinder & Pat Stemp. [microfiche] (MFC 331.21086945 1996)
More information
If you have a family history enquiry, you can contact us in any of the following ways:
For general enquiries:
- Ask at your local Queensland public library
- Other libraries [new window]
Last updated: 23rd April 2012
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