St Francis House
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St Francis House, the successor to the Church of England Hostel for Inland Children, was a home for inland
Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...
boys from 1946 to 1959 at Glanville Hall in
Semaphore South Semaphore South is a beachside suburb of Adelaide, in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. The Semaphore South Post Office opened on 3 November 1947 and closed in 1978. Semaphore South is located in the state electoral district of Lee and the f ...
,
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
,
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
.


History

In 1945 Father Percy Smith opened the Church of England Hostel for Inland Children, operated by the
Church of England in Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, originally known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. In 2016, responding to a peer-reviewed study ...
in a private house at 13 Pembroke Street in Kensington Park, an eastern suburb of Adelaide. Smith was an Anglican minister who had founded St John's Hostel in 1941 in
Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...
in central Australia, which provided accommodation for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children from remote areas who were attending school in Alice Springs. He had been concerned at the lack of opportunities for children housed in the government facility for Aboriginal children in Alice Springs, called
The Bungalow The Bungalow was an institution for Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal children established in 1914 in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. It existed at several locations in Alice Springs (then called Stuart), Jay Creek, North ...
. In 1945 six Aboriginal boys from St John's were transferred to the residence, which was rented from a Miss Florence Murphy, a member of the church. The house in Kensington Park served as a "training home" for the boys, aged between 9 and 12, who attended the Marryatville Primary School. St John's Hostel eventually closed down in the 1970s. Smith purchased Glanville Hall on behalf of the
Australian Board of Missions Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...
(ABM) to provide accommodation for young Aboriginal boys from remote areas who were attending school in the local area. He founded the St Francis Boys' Home in order to bring boys down (including several from
Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...
in the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
) for education and employment. In 1946, after the ABM assisted with the purchase of Glanville Hall at Semaphore, the Kensington Park home closed, and the boys transferred to the new hostel, which later became known as St Francis House. In a time when it was commonly believed that Aboriginal children were unable to be educated beyond Grade 3, Smith saw the home as a way of providing a family environment for the children to pursue a higher level of education without losing their Aboriginal identity. He described the hostel as “not one of fostering, but rather a boarding establishment to which boys came with their mothers' consent for the school year, and in that respect it was no different from children being sent by their parents to a boarding school". The manor became known as "St Francis House: A Home for Inland Children" and over the next 14 years, more than 50 children found at home at St Francis on their way to greatness. At St Francis House, the boys formed a strong, life-long bond with Smith and his wife, and with each other. In 1949, a number of boys who had been evacuated to
Mulgoa, New South Wales Mulgoa is a village, located in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Penrith, in the region of Greater Western Sydney, western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mulgoa is located approximately ...
during the Second World War were transferred to St Francis House, increasing the number of residents to more than 20. The ABM asked for government assistance, but none was forthcoming until a review was done. An extensive review gave a positive report of the home, but recommended extensions to accommodate more boys, which it would fund on condition that the ABM agreed to take on any boy recommended by the Director of Native Affairs. On 4 June 1952, the government purchased the home, which was by then in need of repairs, and provided ongoing financial assistance on the understanding that more boys would be transferred there from the Northern Territory. St Francis House was finally closed in December 1959, partly because of new assimilationist policies. The remaining older boys were transferred to Karingal Youth Hostel. Former resident
John Kundereri Moriarty John Kundereri "Jumbana" Moriarty (born ) is an Aboriginal Australian artist, government advisor and former soccer player. He is also known as founder of the Balarinji Design Studio, for painting two Qantas jets with Aboriginal motifs. Today ...
said that St Francis House was an exceptional home.


Documentation

Former Australian test cricketer
Ashley Mallett Ashley Alexander Mallett (13 July 1945 – 29 October 2021) was an Australian cricketer who played in 38 Tests and 9 One Day Internationals between 1968 and 1980. Until Nathan Lyon, he was Australia's most successful off spin bowler since Worl ...
has written a history of St Francis House, called ''The Boys from St Francis'', published in 2018 by Wakefield Press. The St Francis House Project, "History & Legacy of St Francis House: A Home for Inland Children", was established in 2018 to document the history of the home. A film about St Francis House and its founds Percy Smith and his wife Isabel Smith is being made by director Mark Webber. The film is called Finding Miss Almond.


Notable people

Some residents of St Francis House who later went on to forge sporting careers and/or became engaged in Indigenous activism include: * Winnie Branson *
Richie Bray Richard W. Bray, known as Richie Bray, was an Aboriginal Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club. Early life and education As a child, Bray was a resident of St Francis House, a home for inland Aboriginal Aus ...
*
Gordon Briscoe Gordon Briscoe AO (1938 – 30 June 2023) was an Aboriginal Australian academic and activist. In 1997, he was awarded a PhD from the Australian National University. He was also a soccer player. Early life Born in Alice Springs, Northern Terr ...
*
Malcolm Cooper Malcolm Douglas Cooper, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE, (20 December 1947 – 9 June 2001) was a British shooting sports, sport shooter and founder of Accuracy International. Competing in International Shootin ...
*
Vincent Copley Vincent Warrior Copley (born Vincent Gilbert Warrior; 24 December 1936 – 10 January 2022) was an Aboriginal Australian sportsman, activist, elder, and leader. Early life Vincent Gilbert Copley, usually known as Vince, was born into poverty ...
, footballer and activist * Bill Espie (Queen's Medal for Bravery) * Ken Hampton, who went on to play football for Port Adelaide * Wilf Huddleton * Wally McArthur * John Moriarty * Les Nayda * Charles Perkins * Harold Thomas (Bundoo) who designed the Aboriginal flag. * Ron Tilmouth


Footnotes


References


Further reading

* * Part of a series "Kids from the Alice". {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Francis House History of Adelaide Aboriginal schools in South Australia 1946 establishments in Australia Educational institutions established in 1946 1959 disestablishments in Australia Educational institutions disestablished in 1959 Lefevre Peninsula