Child Welfare

Child Migration and Child Welfare

Web Sites for Genealogists - An Australian gateway site for tracing your family history by Cora Num

Child Migration
Personal History Index. This index details the location of records held in Australia for former child migrants to Catholic Homes (1938-1965). It has been sponsored and funded by the Catholic religious orders and agencies involved in child migration. Contact names, addresses and emails are given. Updated

The Child Migrants Trust, founded in 1987, is an independent service for former child migrants, their parents and relatives. The Trust works on behalf of former child migrants who seek information about their family, childhood and migration history or who want to be reunited with their family. New

Good British Stock: Child and Youth Migration to Australia by Barry Coldrey. This research guide, to the records held by National Archives of Australia, is online. Some of the topics covered include the Dreadnought Scheme, Boy Scout and Young Australia League youth migration, Fairbridge Farm Schools, Lady Northcote Farm School, Dr Barnardo's Homes and the Big Brother Movement.

Fairbridge Kids. The web site of the Old Fairbridgians' Association of Western Australia. Includes phototgraphs and a history of Fairbridge Farm School, Pinjarra, WA. Also includes a history and photographs of Fairbridge, Molong NSW by Ian Bayliff and David Hill. This history is presented as a series of PDF files that can be downloaded. New

Barnardos Aftercare Services. This service for ex-child migrants is operated through Barnardos Australia Head Office, Ultimo NSW. They hold files on old boys and girls of Barnardos who migrated to Australia under the Child Migration Scheme. New

BBM formerly the Big Brother Movement. This site includes a history of the movement plus details of reunions and publications. New

South Australia's British Farm Apprentices 1913-1914 by Elspeth Grant. This web site shares the stories of 172 British youths aged 15 to 19 who arrived in South Australia as part of the State Government's farm apprentice scheme 1913-1914.

The British Home Children. This website is designed to assist descendants of those who were part of the British child emigration scheme to Canada (1870-1948).

Parliament of Australia – ‘Forgotten Australians’ and ‘Lost Innocents’: child migrants and children in institutional care in Australia. This background note provides an overview and history of the arrival of child migrants from the United Kingdom and government responses to claims of mistreatment while in institutional care in Australia. There is information on the Child Migrants Trust, the British Government responses to the child migration scheme plus the Australian Government inquiries and responses. The section on children in institutional care includes State government and religious organisations responses, a formal apology and a list of key resources. Updated

Child Welfare
Forgotten Australians – Our History. Over half a million Australian children experienced institutional care in the 20th century. To acknowledge and remember the experiences of these children, the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs is funding the National Museum of Australia and the National Library of Australia to document their history. This information site contains oral histories, photos, contacts and further details.

State Records New South Wales, Indexes Online, Education and Child Welfare include:

Mittagong Farm Home for Boys (1907-1921) which lists names, birth date, age in years and months, committal date and remarks. There is also a list of boys transferred from the training ship Sobraon, June 1911, when it was abolished.
Orphan schools (1817-1833). An ongoing index to records of Orphan Schools run by the NSW colonial government.
Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children (1852-1915). A search returns page and entry number, names, alias, age, date and references.
Photocopies of the records can be ordered online, for a fee, using SRNSW’s Copy Service.

State Records of South Australia offers online name searching using ArchivesSearch . Records available include ledgers of children boarded out (1862-1913); registers of admissions to the Industrial School (1886-1922) and (1884-1893).

SA Link-Up Resources includes Finding Your Own Way. An Online directory to childrens’ homes and institution records in South Australia.

Cascades Female Factory Historic Site, Register of Boys (1884-1896) from the Boys' Training School (Reformatory) which operated at Cascades (Tas) 1869-1879 and 1884-1896.

Sydney Benevolent Asylum Index to Admissions and Discharges 1857-1900 by Heather Garnsey & Martyn Killion. The asylum was established in 1818 as a philanthropic organisation to care for the needy of Sydney. It served a vital role caring for the poor, abandoned, destitute and sick. This free online database indexes 78,000 names plus there is a free search service available to check for any additional information.

Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN) is a support and advocacy group for people brought up in care away from their family as state wards or Home children raised in Children's Homes, orphanages or other institutions, or in foster care. Includes a list of orphanages and homes with contact details and other information such as photos if available.

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Child Migration and Child Welfare