Child Migration
and Child Welfare
Web
Sites for Genealogists - An
Australian gateway site for tracing your family history by Cora Num
There
is more information and resources for Child and Youth
migration in my book
How Did They Get Here?
Arrivals after 1924
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.
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 by the
Old Fairbridgians' Association of Western Australia. This site includes
photographs and a history of the Fairbridge Farm School, Pinjarra WA. There is
also a history and photographs of the Fairbridge Farm School, Molong NSW by Ian
Bayliff and David Hill. This history is presented as a series of PDF files that
can be downloaded.
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.
BBM formerly the Big Brother Movement. This site includes a history of the movement plus details of
reunions and publications
.
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
.
National Library of
Australia, Digital Collections - Oral Histories. Use this site to listen
to
Forgotten
Australians and Former Child Migrants oral history interviews.
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.
Child Welfare National
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.
New South Wales
State Records New South Wales,
Indexes Online, 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 (1817-1886). An 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. 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.
Connecting
kin: a guide to help people separated from their families search for their
records. This 383 page guide, published by the
Department of Community Services (DOCS) in 1998, is available online as a PDF
file. This guide provides information about where records are kept and how to
access them. It covers both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal resources.
South
Australia
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).
Find Your Way
Home. This site is designed to assist Indigenous people who are members of the
Stolen Generations and those who were adopted, fostered or institutionalised to
find connections
to family. The Link-Up Resources includes an Online directory to childrens’ homes and
institution records in South Australia.
Tasmania
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.
Victoria
Pathways is a resource for people who as children were
in out-of-home 'care' in Victoria, including people known as 'care' leavers,
Forgotten Australians, foster children, wards of the state, adopted children,
'Homies', child migrants, and members of the Stolen Generations. Pathways brings
together historical resources relating to institutional 'care' in Victoria from
its beginnings in the 1840s through to the present. You can use Pathways to find
information, including documents and images, about institutions, organisations
that managed children's institutions, policies, public figures and legislation.
Home © Cora Num 1997-2012. Last
updated 15 January 2012