Australia Orphans and Orphanages

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Orphans and Orphanages

Walton workhouse, Rice Lane

Online Databases

New South Wales

• There is an online index for records of the Sydney Benevolent Society, who provided poor relief (indoor and outdoor) for men, women, and children, including foundlings. The inmates journals recorded familial information, where the person came from, if known, and why they were seeking relief. Copies of original records can be ordered from the New South Wales State Archives.
• 1817-1833 New South Wales, Australia, Applications and Admissions to Orphan Schools, 1817-1833 at Ancestry, index, browse, and images ($).
• 1850-1886 Protestant (Male) Orphan School Register, 1850-1886
• 1852-1915 New South Wales, Australia, Registers for the Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children, 1852 - 1915, index, browse, and images ($).
• 1867-1911 New South Wales, Australia, Entrance Books for the Vernon and the Sobraon, 1867-1911, index, browse, and images ($).

Queensland

• 1865-1909 Orphanage Admission Registers 1865-1909, index.

South Australia

• 1849-1869 Records of orphans and the destitute, Adelaide, South Australia, 1849-1869 at FamilySearch, images.
• 1855-1861 Australia, South Australia, nominal list of orphaned and deserted children taken out of the Destitute Asylum, 1855-1861, Destitute Poor Department; South Australia at FamilySearch, images. Also at State Archives .pdf
• 1862-1908 Australia, South Australia, Ledgers of children boarded out, 1862-1908 at FamilySearch, images.
• 1867-1869 Australia, South Australia, Adelaide, List of children forwarded from the Destitute Asylum to the Roman Catholic Orphanage, 1867-1869 at FamilySearch, images.
• 1872-1892 Australia, South Australia, Account book of money received and deposited on behalf of indentured children, 1872-1892, Destitute Board; South Australia at FamilySearch, images.
• 1881-1909 Australia, South Australia, Inspectress of licensed foster mothers and wetnurses, 1881-1909 at FamilySearch, images.

Tasmania

• 1828-1897 Admission registers, etc., 1828-1897, Queen's Orphan School (Hobart, Tasmania) at FamilySearch, images.
• 1828-1879 Applications for admission to the Queen's Orphan School 1828-1879 at FamilySearch, images.
• 1860-1879 Alphabetical register of children apprenticed of Queens Asylum 1860-1879 at FamilySearch, images.
• 1860-1879 Alphabetical register of masters of children apprenticed of Queens Asylum 1860-1879 at FamilySearch, images.
• 1869-1898 Admission registers for various institutions, 1869-1898 at FamilySearch, images.

Victoria

• Victoria, Australia, Asylum Records, 1853-1940
• Ward of the State and Care Leaver Records PRO Victoria, index and images.
• 1850-1893 Victoria, Australia, Index to the Children's Registers of State Wards, 1850 -1893 at Ancestry, images indexed.
• 1864-1879 Children’s ward registers (1864–1879) PRO Victoria, index and images.

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Orphans are persons, especially children, bereaved of both parents. The word has an extended usuage to refer to children who are abandoned or neglected. In the 19th Century, this latter class included a group termed "pauper children" who were targeted by British authorities for migration to Australia and other dominions of the British Empire; the practise continued into the 20th Century and Australia received thousands of child migrants sometimes deceived into believing they were orphaned, often under duress..

An orphanage is an institution for orphans sometimes also called in Australia a benevolent asylum, an orphan school, an infants' or babies' or children's or boys' or girls' or foster home, receiving home or depot, a foundling home, a boys' training home or farm. The first orphanage in Australia was established on Norfolk Island by Governor King who also founded the first orphanage on the mainland: in 1801 he formed the Female Orphan School in George Street, Sydney to house destitute young girls.

The concept of adoption is foreign to the English common law and legislation was required to establish adoption arrangements in each of the Australian jurisdictions. Australia is a federation with a division of legislative and administrative power between the States (former colonies) on the one hand and the Commonwealth on the other. Responsibility for orphans, adoption and child welfare generally has been a function of State governments except in the territories where it falls to the Commonwealth to make arrangements.

In the 19th and 20th Centuries government and charitable agencies removed aboriginal and Torres Strait islander children from their families, placing them in institutions, creating what has been known as the "Stolen Generations".

Records

There are several types of Australian records about orphans including orphanage registers, school records, apprenticeship records, and charitable relief office reports. For more information about orphanage school records, see Australia Schools.

Orphanage registers give detailed information about each orphan, including name, age, parent(s), ship of arrival, religion, and remarks (such as death date, discharge information, and whether apprenticed). Many of these records are indexed.

Details about orphan immigrants can be found in ship passenger lists. For further information on ship passenger lists, see Australia Emigration and Immigration.

Orphanage records in Australia can be found in national archives, state archives, and other local repositories and libraries. See the following for a list of orphan and orphanage records in Australia and where they are deposited:

Vine Hall, Nick. Tracing Your Family History in Australia: a guide to sources. 2nd ed. Albert Park, Victoria, Australia: North Vine Hall, 1994. (FamilySearch Library Call Number 994 D23v.)

The FamilySearch Library has collected some records relating to orphans and orphanages. These records are listed in the Place Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under:

• AUSTRALIA - ORPHANS AND ORPHANAGES
• AUSTRALIA, [STATE] - ORPHANS AND ORPHANAGES
• AUSTRALIA, [STATE], [TOWN] - ORPHANS AND ORPHANAGES

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