Maureen asked: > Does anyone have information on the 'depot' where single female migrants > were sent after arrival in Port Phillip? I notice on some of the ship's > registers there are notes about how long the girls stayed there at > public expense etc and how/where they were 'disposed'. > > Would there be surviving records about this depot? Maureen Have you checked the Immigration Museum in Melbourne? It might be worth it. http://immigration.museum.vic.gov.au/ Trevor

Hi List Perhaps there was more than one Immigrants Home, but some information I have received ... (2nd hand, I might add, is as follows) ... "The Melbourne Immigrants Home was established by Walter Powell of the Wesleyan Church in 1852 for the temporary accommodation of immigrants. The Immigrants Home comprised of a dining-room which could accommodate 200 persons, a sleeping room for 100 persons, one hospital for males, another for females, a library reading room, plus private apartments for the govenor and matron. It had a large store for immigrant's luggage, a kitchen, a bakehouse, a servant's room and washroom. During the first 15 months of it's existance, the number of persons accommodated in the immigrants home was 2,773". My own interest is the birth of Emma Isabella Prosser, born in the Immigrants Home, Melbourne on 28 July 1854. Her parents were Henry and Matilda Prosser (nee Cameron), so it may have provided short term accommodation for couples, as well as single mums. Henry and Matilda's second child, Henry, was born in Ballarat in January 1856, and the certificate states "one deceased child", so Emma died some time pre-January 1856, but I have been unable to find a death record for her. By this time the family was on the Ballarat goldfields and Henry (senior) was a miner. Now, because the number of immigrants stated is "2,773 in the first 15 months", I believe there must be a list out there SOMEWHERE, but unfortunately have failed to find it. If anybody stumbles across this list in their research, I would appreciate hearing from them. Sadly, my own research has not been very fruitful, but I believe the Wesleyan Immigrants Home was situated roughly where Wesley College is now located in the Melbourne University Grounds. Regards Sue Prosser ----- Original Message ----- From: "trevor" <tjwilliams@iinet.net.au> To: <AUS-VIC-GOLDFIELDS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 10:33 AM Subject: Re: Female Immigrants Depot > Maureen asked: > > > Does anyone have information on the 'depot' where single female migrants > > were sent after arrival in Port Phillip? I notice on some of the ship's > > registers there are notes about how long the girls stayed there at > > public expense etc and how/where they were 'disposed'. > > > > Would there be surviving records about this depot? > > > Maureen > > Have you checked the Immigration Museum in Melbourne? It might be worth it. > > http://immigration.museum.vic.gov.au/ > > Trevor > > > ==== AUS-VIC-GOLDFIELDS Mailing List ==== > Support RootsWeb and help it support genealogy > http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html >