Hi all, I recently sent away to the DHS, for wardship files of family members( under the freedom of information act, ) who were placed in Gov CARE !!! and sent to St Aiden's orphange Bendigo, St Augustines Geelong. ( commited 1923 )before being sent into service, Has anyone else had any experience with these type's of files, I am very confused with what they say, and have trouble believing the reasons, Would they say Aboriginal on the Wardship files if the govt back then did not recognise children from mixed relationships as being Aboriginal, am I wrong in thinking that it was not until the 1970s that the Wittlam govt gave this recognition, The reason I asked is at first I was told that the family migrated from America to Australia in 1852 and he was a negro and she was born in Ireland, this explaining the dark skin, I visited the town of Eddington near Bendigo, and I was told no they were Aboriginal, how do I find the truth the children were placed in orphanages, and their mother was in a convent, scrubing floors from 1923 until 1974 before living the rest of her life in the Bendigo home for the aged, Some of the children never being reunited with their siblings, can anyone help. Thanks Lesley

Hi Lesley, The records I have do not state they were aboriginal but the reasons the children were taken into care were all the same: *living with a drunkard* or *wandering without means* Cheers, Robynne ----- Original Message ----- From: Lesley Rasti To: AUS-KOORI-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Sunday, December 09, 2001 7:53 AM Subject: [AUS-Koori] Help, researching Williams Hi all, I recently sent away to the DHS, for wardship files of family members( under the freedom of information act, ) who were placed in Gov CARE !!! and sent to St Aiden's orphange Bendigo, St Augustines Geelong. ( commited 1923 )before being sent into service, Has anyone else had any experience with these type's of files, I am very confused with what they say, and have trouble believing the reasons, Would they say Aboriginal on the Wardship files if the govt back then did not recognise children from mixed relationships as being Aboriginal, am I wrong in thinking that it was not until the 1970s that the Wittlam govt gave this recognition, The reason I asked is at first I was told that the family migrated from America to Australia in 1852 and he was a negro and she was born in Ireland, this explaining the dark skin, I visited the town of Eddington near Bendigo, and I was told no they were Aboriginal, how do I find the truth the children were placed in orphanages, and their mother was in a convent, scrubing floors from 1923 until 1974 before living the rest of her life in the Bendigo home for the aged, Some of the children never being reunited with their siblings, can anyone help. Thanks Lesley ==== AUS-KOORI Mailing List ====