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This index is complete. It was the first indexing project completed by State Records' volunteers and State Records would like to acknowledge their valuable contribution in helping to make the State's archives more accessible.

There are 5890 entries in this index covering 4 Jun 1852-14 Aug 1915.

Accessing the records

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Records series used to compile the Index

NRS 13362, Registers of Inmates, 4 Jun 1852-14 Aug 1915

Please note: The link to NRS 13362 is a general description of the records. Some entries may not contain all of the information where the details are incomplete on the original record.

Society for the Relief of Destitute Children

The Society for the Relief of Destitute Children opened Ormond House in Oxford Street, Paddington for the reception of needy children in 1852.

Who was eligible for admission?

The children were normally between the ages of three and ten years and not eligible for admission to the Orphan Schools. Every child admitted (including voluntary admissions) was to remain the responsibility of the Institution until aged 19 or, in the case of a female marrying earlier, until her marriage.

The move to Randwick

The Asylum for Destitute Children relocated to Randwick in 1858. A building to accommodate 400 children was constructed on the site.

Training and education for the children

The Randwick site included a farm where the boys learnt farming skills. Many of the boys and girls became apprenticed to the Institution when they reached 12. The children received a basic education. From 1877 they received a State education from teachers from the Council of Education.

'Boarding out'

The State Children Relief Act, 1881 authorised any State child under the age of twelve to be removed from an Asylum and boarded-out. The Asylum began boarding-out children in 1883.

Loss of Government funding

The Government ceased funding the home after 1888 and no longer used it to accommodate State children. Some children who were supported by their parents remained in the Asylum.

Closure of the Asylum

The premises were increasingly under-utilised until it was taken over by the Federal Government during World War I as a military hospital for wounded and disabled returned servicemen. In April 1915 the children remaining at the Asylum were sent to cottage style institutions or boarded-out.

Further information

For more details on Randwick Asylum see Archives in Brief 66.

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