Catholics and the care of destitute children in late Nineteenth Century New South Wales

Abstract

This article addresses the question of why the Catholic Church in New South Wales continued and expanded its provision of institutional care of orphan and destitute children when state provision turned decisively away from this form of care in favour of a system of ‘boarding out’ of children with foster families after a Royal Commission in 1874. It is argued that relevant considerations include the social context of attempts to establish a secular public school system to replace church schools; the Catholic Church's opposition to the proselytism of Catholic children; the Catholic community's perception of the quality of care provided in Catholic orphanages and its reaction to the 1874 Report of the Royal Commission into Public Charities; ambivalence towards the state boarding out scheme and the absence within the Catholic Church and community of the resources necessary to establish and maintain a Catholic system of foster care.