Carlton Refuge (1854 - 1949)

The Carlton Refuge was established in 1854 with the aim of reforming prostitutes through a combination of prayer and hard work, which usually meant laundry work. As some prostitutes were also mothers, the care of single mothers became a way of fulfilling its primary goal. By 1860 its role had changed to accepting young unmarried women on their discharge from hospital and by 1880 the major part of the Refuge's work was with those women. Declining demand and alternative means of care brought about its closure in 1949.

Related People

• O'Connell, Maude (1884 - 1965)

  elected a Governor of the Carlton Refuge

  [1909 - ]

Books

• History of children's services: the history of the Carlton Refuge from the 1850s to 1920, Crow Collection Association, Footscray, Vic., 1992, 9 pp. [ Details... ]
• Kernot, Mary Jane, Reminiscences of the Carlton Refuge, 1815 to 1919., The Refuge, Melbourne, 1919, 12 pp. [ Details... ]

See also

• Swain, Shurlee and Howe, Renate, Single mothers and their children: disposal, punishment and survival in Australia, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 1995. [ Details... ]