Orphanage for South Australia's Catholic children opened in 1866; at Millswood until 1975 after several moves
The Catholic Church’s St Vincent de Paul Orphanage on Goodwood Road in the Adelaide southern suburb of Millswood. Inset: Girls at the orphanage in the 1940s.
Images courtesy State Library of South Australia
St Vincent de Paul Orphanage was started by the Catholic Church in South Australia in 1866. In the mid 1860s, some Catholic Church members became concerned that orphans of the faith under government care were often placed with non-Catholic families. They believed these children's spiritual welfare needed to be protected by having a Catholic orphanage.
Funded by a South Australia-wide appeal, the large Oberlin House in the inner north Adelaide suburb of Gilberton was secured for the purpose. On the Walkerville and Park terraces corner, opposite Buckingham Arms Hotel, the house had a large dining hall, two downstairs rooms for dormitories, two upstairs bedrooms and a large kitchen. There was also a one-acre paddock next door. The orphanage officially opened in August 1866 and was managed by a board including Catholic priests and laymen. A lay matron took charge of the first children.
In 1867, the South Australian government pressured the Catholic Church to give shelter to Catholic children from the badly overcrowded state orphanage in the Grace Darling Hotel at Brighton. In May that year, St Vincent de Paul Orphanage was gazetted as an industrial school so the government could pay a subsidy for each child admitted. In the first half of 1867, 38 children, followed by others, moved from Brighton to the Walkerville home that was soon too small for the demand.
Boston Cottages on King William Street south, Adelaide city, were leased and opened as a branch orphanage for the girls under the direct care of a lay matron, supervised by the Sisters of St Joseph. In 1868, the girls moved again to cottages on the Franklin and Grey corner streets in the city. Some Sisters of St Joseph moved in to care for them. The boys also also moved to these premises in 1868. When intermittent government sponsorship ended in 1872, the orphanage became supported entirely by the church.
Also in 1872, the children were moved from Adelaide city to a house and grounds in Mitcham, vacated by St Joseph's Refuge. The orphanage board ceased the orphanage was run by the Sisters of St Joseph. Three years later, when the Mitcham property ownership changed, the larger Knightsbridge House was secured in Burnside and the children moved again. In 1883, the board became the orphanage committee and, in 1888, the children made their final move to a 12-13 acres property secured by the Adelaide archbishop on the corner of Mitchell Street and Goodwood Road, Millswood. The residence was renovated and new buildings added. One year later, by the order of archbishop Christopher Reynolds, the Sisters of Mercy took over the orphanage.
During the early 1900s, additions were made so the home could accommodate up to 120 children. Another new wing was opened in 1924. In 1947, Adelaide archbishop Matthew Beovich asked that 50 Catholic migrant English girls be brought to Adelaide to be live at St Vincent De Paul Orphanage. Renovations and improvements were made to the orphanage buildings to accept the girls. The United Kingdom and Australian governments recognised St Vincent De Paul Orphanage, Goodwood, as an “approved organisation” for the child migrants under the free and assisted passage schemes in 1948.
In 1950, archbishop Beovich negotiated for 12 Maltese girls to come to the orphanage. By 1960, 99 children lived there but this dropped to 52 in 1970 and, at its closure in 1975, it had only 20 children. St Vincent de Paul Orphanage was replaced by a suburban cottage homes know as the St Vincent Group Homes.
