Organisation The Foundling Hospital and Infants' Home (1906 - 1964)

The Foundling Hospital and Infants' Home was the new name given in 1906 to the East Melbourne institution formerly known as the Victorian Infant Asylum and Foundling Hospital.

In 1907, the institution began providing training for nurses. Berry Street would remain a significant training centre for mothercraft nurses until 1975 (although trainees were not known as 'Mothercraft Nurses' until the 1930s). Nurses were apparently known as 'The Berry Street girls' and were 'familiar and popular figures around the streets of East Melbourne', according to Penwill. The Past Nurses' Association was formed in 1931, and held regular reunions and other social activities.

Children at Berry Street were sometimes accommodated in different premises, giving them 'a change of air'. In 1911, the Hospital used rooms in a house in Bentleigh to house children, and in 1912, a house in Balwyn accommodated ten to twelve children (and carers) at a time. Children were sent to these alternative lodgings in rotation.

Berry Street had long been advocating for a country home, 'handy to Melbourne', to house its children. Such a home would enable the buildings in East Melbourne to function as a 'receiving home', and provide a more salubrious environment for children.

In 1913, the Committee purchased a property at Beaconsfield to provide such a country home. The Beaconsfield Babies' Home was opened on 6 May 1915.

Since the Victorian Infant Asylum was founded in 1877, it had been the practice for children to be taken care of at the institution until they were old enough to earn their own living.

This practice changed however, around the 1920s period, and it became a babies' home, caring for children only until they reached the age of three or four.

In 1927, the institution purchased a mansion named 'Minerva'. It was situated on an adjoining property from the Home, separated by a lane. The building was renamed 'Tandarra' and became Berry Street's Infant Welfare Training School. Mothers attended Tandarra with their babies for advice and treatment on feeding and caring for their children, or to rest after difficult births. Tandarra was officially opened on 1 November 1929, by Lady Somers, wife of the Governor of Victoria.

Mothers who were admitted to the Home were required to sign an agreement that they would remain at Berry Street for six months after the birth, so that they could breastfeed the infant. Penwill remarks on how this arrangement must have made relinquishing a baby for adoption even more heartbreaking for mothers, even if the natural feeding had real benefits for the child.

During the Second World War, Berry Street was taken over for use by the military. In 1942, staff, children and mothers were moved to Beaconsfield Babies' Home.

When the army vacated in 1945, it enabled some renovation work to be done at Berry Street. The new institution was officially opened on 13 December 1945.

In 1949, a new Toddlers' Wing was opened, for children of 18 months to 3 years of age. (This was renamed the Appleton Wing in 1969, after a long-serving Committee member.)

In August 1956, the Foundling Hospital and Infants' Home was declared an approved children's home under the Children's Welfare Act 1954.

Staff and former residents of the Home fondly remember the twice-weekly visits by the Lolly Men. In the early 1950s, Douglas Robertson and his colleagues started bringing bags of sweets for the children every time their garbage truck came past Berry Street. When Mr Robertson retired, the Past Nurses' Association presented the Lolly Man with a pewter tankard acknowledging 26 years of support.

It had long been the practice at Berry Street to 'board out' children where suitable placements could be arranged. Usually, children were not boarded out until they had reached at least 12 months of age. The doctors who served as 'honorary medical officers' at Berry Street favoured boarding out, and a 'natural home life' for the children.

In 1953, for the first time in its history, no children were boarded out. From this point in time, adoption was a far more common practice than boarding out or fostering.

In 1956, the Home was approved as a registered Children's Home under the new Victorian child welfare legislation.

In 1964, the word 'foundling' was finally dropped from its name, and it became known as the Berry Street Babies' Home and Hospital.

Berry Street Victoria is the custodian of records from the Foundling Hospital and Infants' Home.

Events

1906 - 1964

The Foundling Hospital and Infants' Home is situated in East Melbourne. Location: East Melbourne

Timeline

 1877 - 1902 The Victorian Infant Asylum
       1902 - 1906 The Victorian Infant Asylum and Foundling Hospital
             1906 - 1964 The Foundling Hospital and Infants' Home
                   1964 - 1975 Berry Street Babies' Home and Hospital
                         1975 - 1992 Berry Street - Child and Family Care
                               1992 - 1994 Berry Street Incorporated
                                     1994 - Berry Street

Books

• Penwill, Beryl, Looking Back, Looking Forward: the story of 'Berry Street' Child and Family Care, Berry Street Child and Family Care, Melbourne, 1979. Details

Newspaper Articles

• 'Christmas Appeals: special need for help', The Argus, In this article, various charitable institutions in Melbourne are mentioned and their requests for Christmas charity, 14 December 1916. Details

Online Resources

• Home for foundlings - the proposed hospital - claims of the Infant Asylum - can it meet the want?, The Argus, 10 June 1899, 10 pp, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9519844. Details
• Dangers of overlapping [letter to the editor], The Argus, 19 November 1909, 5 pp, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10748544. Details
• Nurse as Father Christmas, The Argus, This is an illustrated newspaper article, 1923, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1996633. Details
• Foundling Hospital Gift Cot, The Argus, The caption reads: 'Of the displays made by charitable institutions sharing in the Wattle Day collection yesterday, none made greater appeal to the sympathies of the public than that of the Foundling Hospital and Infants' Home, East Melbourne and Beaconsfield, of which Mrs. Montague Cohen is president. Sister Sutherland is seen in charge of a gift cot in Collins street, near the Equitable Building corner. The twins in the cot were the centre of much interest throughout the day.', 25 August 1923, 27 pp, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2017304. Details
• Foundling babies at health exhibition, The Argus, This is an illustrated newspaper article, 8 October 1924, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2046931. Details
• Foundlings enjoy Christmas, The Argus, This is an illustrated newspaper article, 20 December 1928, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3976514. Details
• His first show, The Argus, 20 September 1929, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4038454. Details
• At the foundling hospital, The Argus, This is an illustrated newspaper article, 1 August 1930, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4103227. Details
• Youngest flower seller, The Argus, This is an illustrated newspaper article, 8 May 1930, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4086019. Details
• A wireless appeal for jam, The Argus, This is an illustrated newspaper article, 8 March 1930, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4073364. Details
• Ready for their baths, The Argus, This is an illustrated newspaper article, 27 February 1932, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4414018. Details
• These girls love babies, The Argus, This is an illustrated newspaper article, 1953, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23253468. Details
• Hughes, Gary, Polio vaccine tested at orphanages, The Age, 25 October 2004, http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/24/1098556293576.html?from=storylhs. Details
• Swain, Shurlee, 'Berry Street Babies' Home', in eMelbourne: the city past and present, Encyclopedia of Melbourne online, The University of Melbourne, 2008, http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM00185b.htm. Details