Below the ******* you will find a transcript from the 1901 Cyclopaedia of Victoria which those of you who are attempting to trace orphans may find interesting. I should add that photographs of the Melbourne Orphan Asylum can be seen on the State Library of Victoria's web site. ****** MELBOURNE ORPHAN ASYLUM The Melbourne Orphan Asylum entered upon its jubilee year in 1901. It was founded in 1851 by the committee of the St. James' Dorcas Society. His Excellency Mr. C. J. Latrobe was one of the members of the committee. Two years previously, in 1849, the society had been giving shelter to orphan children and destitute old people. In 1851 the latter were removed to the Benevolent Asylum, and the children placed in a separate establishment in a building erected on Government land in Bourke Street West. The institution was then, named "The St. James' Orphan Asylum." In 1854, the site of the asylum having been proved unhealthy, the Government of Victoria granted ten acres of land on Emerald Hill (now South Melbourne) as a site for a new Orphan Asylum. The children, in very bad health, were removed temporarily from Bourke Street to tents upon Government land near the residence of Mr. and Mrs. James Simpson, at Kew. Mrs. Simpson with great kindness took special charge of the children until they could be removed into the new asylum, the foundation stone of which was laid by the Governor of the colony (His Excellency Sir Chas. Hotham) on the 6th of September, 1855. The building was finished and the children removed into it in March, 1856. In 1875 (5th March) the institution was incorporated under Act 27 Victoria No. 220, under the name of "The Melbourne Orphan Asylum." It had by that time grown from its day of small things to be a home for over 300 children. Though still called "The Melbourne Orphan Asylum," it is in reality (so far as Victoria is concerned) a national institution, because it receives orphans from every part of the State excepting Geelong and Ballarat, in which places district orphanages have been established. In 1878 another removal was found to be desirable. The occupation of so large an area in the rapidly-increasing municipality of Emerald Hill became a serious inconvenience to the city, and as the surrounding land had become thickly populated the site was less eligible than it had been for the congregation in one building of a large number of children. The orphanage, therefore, by an arrangement between the Government, the municipal council, and the Asylum Committee, was removed to its present very eligible and beautiful site at Brighton, where, in separate cottage homes, upon a larger block of land, the children enjoy the combined advantages of sea air and training in dairy farming and other industrial pursuits, embracing baking, boot and shoe making, tailoring, dressmaking, ploughing, and milking. At the time of the change, advantage was taken of the opportunity to introduce more of the family and natural home life among the children than can be obtained when they are congregated in great numbers in one large building. The new orphanage was built on the cottage or separate house principle, and the practice of boarding out some of the children with carefully selected private families in country homes among farmers and others was also adopted. In the cottage homes at Brighton each house contains a family of about twenty-five. The children are under the care of a house-mother, and the elder ones are trained to perform all the household duties and to assist in the care of the younger children. The benefits of the Melbourne Orphan Asylum, as has been previously remarked, are not confined to Melbourne alone, destitute orphan children being admitted into it from the most distant parts of the State. It has carried on its noble work for the past forty-nine years, and no orphan child, if destitute and deprived by death of both parents., has ever been refused admission. Fatherless children of destitute widows who have more than two young children may also be admitted, but in such cases the widow must provide, by her own labour and friendly local help, for at least two other children. Any over that number may be considered orphans' eligible for admission, but work in that direction is limited by the state of the funds. The institution, since the date of its. establishment, has received and provided for nearly 4,000 children. The cottage homes contain at present about 100 boys and girls, varying in age from three to fourteen years. The boarding-out districts are thirty-six in number, extending over various country, farming, and suburban places in Victoria. Local committees have charge of these districts, and under their supervision upwards of 200 children, at and under school age, are supported. Between the ages of fourteen and seventeen the boys and girls are apprenticed (under indentures from the institution) to various trades, farm work, or domestic service. The orphanage is supported by private benevolence, supplemented to a limited extent by Government aid. "A record of the children's conduct, kept after they leave the institution," observes the superintendent, "shows that of all who have been trained within its walls from 90 to 95 per cent, grow up good citizens. There is every reason to believe," he adds, "that were it not for the work of this noble institution the criminal classes of the colony would be augmented by this, vast number, and that circumstance alone should suffice to commend it to the charitably-disposed of all classes," Not a little of the gratifying success of this institution is attributable to its superintendent, Mr. Edwin Exon, who has filled that post from 1859 to 1903 with conspicuous ability, zeal, and devotion. Possessing the true "enthusiasm for humanity," with a sympathetic nature, a high sense of duty, a genuine love for his orphan charges, and a thorough aptitude for administrative work, Mr. Exon has been for over forty years the animating spirit of the asylum, while to many outside its walls he is well known by his literary attainments, the possession of which he has proved to be perfectly compatible with the exercise of those practical qualities which have proved to be of so much value to the asylum which he superintends. Cheers Anne

Thanks Anne for the info, the history is really interesting Kerry ----- Original Message ----- From: Anne Hanson To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 8:03 PM Subject: [HC] Melbourne Orphan Asylum Below the ******* you will find a transcript from the 1901 Cyclopaedia of Victoria which those of you who are attempting to trace orphans may find interesting. I should add that photographs of the Melbourne Orphan Asylum can be seen on the State Library of Victoria's web site. ****** MELBOURNE ORPHAN ASYLUM The Melbourne Orphan Asylum entered upon its jubilee year in 1901. It was founded in 1851 by the committee of the St. James' Dorcas Society. His Excellency Mr. C. J. Latrobe was one of the members of the committee. Two years previously, in 1849, the society had been giving shelter to orphan children and destitute old people. In 1851 the latter were removed to the Benevolent Asylum, and the children placed in a separate establishment in a building erected on Government land in Bourke Street West. The institution was then, named "The St. James' Orphan Asylum." In 1854, the site of the asylum having been proved unhealthy, the Government of Victoria granted ten acres of land on Emerald Hill (now South Melbourne) as a site for a new Orphan Asylum. The children, in very bad health, were removed temporarily from Bourke Street to tents upon Government land near the residence of Mr. and Mrs. James Simpson, at Kew. Mrs. Simpson with great kindness took special charge of the children until they could be removed into the new asylum, the foundation stone of which was laid by the Governor of the colony (His Excellency Sir Chas. Hotham) on the 6th of September, 1855. The building was finished and the children removed into it in March, 1856. In 1875 (5th March) the institution was incorporated under Act 27 Victoria No. 220, under the name of "The Melbourne Orphan Asylum." It had by that time grown from its day of small things to be a home for over 300 children. Though still called "The Melbourne Orphan Asylum," it is in reality (so far as Victoria is concerned) a national institution, because it receives orphans from every part of the State excepting Geelong and Ballarat, in which places district orphanages have been established. In 1878 another removal was found to be desirable. The occupation of so large an area in the rapidly-increasing municipality of Emerald Hill became a serious inconvenience to the city, and as the surrounding land had become thickly populated the site was less eligible than it had been for the congregation in one building of a large number of children. The orphanage, therefore, by an arrangement between the Government, the municipal council, and the Asylum Committee, was removed to its present very eligible and beautiful site at Brighton, where, in separate cottage homes, upon a larger block of land, the children enjoy the combined advantages of sea air and training in dairy farming and other industrial pursuits, embracing baking, boot and shoe making, tailoring, dressmaking, ploughing, and milking. At the time of the change, advantage was taken of the opportunity to introduce more of the family and natural home life among the children than can be obtained when they are congregated in great numbers in one large building. The new orphanage was built on the cottage or separate house principle, and the practice of boarding out some of the children with carefully selected private families in country homes among farmers and others was also adopted. In the cottage homes at Brighton each house contains a family of about twenty-five. The children are under the care of a house-mother, and the elder ones are trained to perform all the household duties and to assist in the care of the younger children. The benefits of the Melbourne Orphan Asylum, as has been previously remarked, are not confined to Melbourne alone, destitute orphan children being admitted into it from the most distant parts of the State. It has carried on its noble work for the past forty-nine years, and no orphan child, if destitute and deprived by death of both parents., has ever been refused admission. Fatherless children of destitute widows who have more than two young children may also be admitted, but in such cases the widow must provide, by her own labour and friendly local help, for at least two other children. Any over that number may be considered orphans' eligible for admission, but work in that direction is limited by the state of the funds. The institution, since the date of its. establishment, has received and provided for nearly 4,000 children. The cottage homes contain at present about 100 boys and girls, varying in age from three to fourteen years. The boarding-out districts are thirty-six in number, extending over various country, farming, and suburban places in Victoria. Local committees have charge of these districts, and under their supervision upwards of 200 children, at and under school age, are supported. Between the ages of fourteen and seventeen the boys and girls are apprenticed (under indentures from the institution) to various trades, farm work, or domestic service. The orphanage is supported by private benevolence, supplemented to a limited extent by Government aid. "A record of the children's conduct, kept after they leave the institution," observes the superintendent, "shows that of all who have been trained within its walls from 90 to 95 per cent, grow up good citizens. There is every reason to believe," he adds, "that were it not for the work of this noble institution the criminal classes of the colony would be augmented by this, vast number, and that circumstance alone should suffice to commend it to the charitably-disposed of all classes," Not a little of the gratifying success of this institution is attributable to its superintendent, Mr. Edwin Exon, who has filled that post from 1859 to 1903 with conspicuous ability, zeal, and devotion. Possessing the true "enthusiasm for humanity," with a sympathetic nature, a high sense of duty, a genuine love for his orphan charges, and a thorough aptitude for administrative work, Mr. Exon has been for over forty years the animating spirit of the asylum, while to many outside its walls he is well known by his literary attainments, the possession of which he has proved to be perfectly compatible with the exercise of those practical qualities which have proved to be of so much value to the asylum which he superintends. Cheers Anne -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.12.4/146 - Release Date: 21/10/2005