Ellen Connell House history in brief
In 1962, the Mission of St James and St John established the Ellen Connell Holiday Home (a 'country cottage for children') in Fernshaw Road, Healesville as a short-term holiday and emergency care facility for wards and non-wards.
The home was bequeathed to the Mission by Mr John Connell, the licensee of Hosie's Hotel in central Melbourne. It was run as a family group home by a married couple with their own children.
Although it had a capacity for 10–12 children, the facility ended up never being fully dedicated to holiday placements. In 1965 the home was declared an approved children's home so that it could take children for longer periods, while continuing with emergency and holiday placements.
In 1969 the Mission of St James and St John closed Ellen Connell House as a children's home, and used it as a holiday home for children from other Mission homes and members of staff.
In February 1973, Ellen Connell House closed.
Client records
To enquire about access to client files from the Ellen Connell House, please contact:
The Heritage Client Practitioner
Anglicare Victoria
103 Hoddle Street
Collingwood Victoria 3066
Phone: 03 9412 6133
Warning about distressing information
This guide contains information that some people may find distressing. If you experienced abuse as a child or young person in an institution mentioned in this guide, it may be a difficult reading experience. Guides may also contain references to previous views, policies and practices that are regrettable and do not reflect the current views, policies or practices of the department or the State of Victoria. If you find this content distressing, please consult with a support person either from the Department of Health and Human Services or another agency.
Disclaimer
Please note that the content of this administrative history is provided for general information only and does not purport to be comprehensive. The department does not guarantee the accuracy of this administrative history. For more information on the history of child welfare in Australia, see Find & .
Source
Guide to out-of-home care services 1940–2000: volume one – agency descriptions, compiled by James Jenkinson Consulting, North Melbourne, November 2001.
List of records held by the department
For information relating to the central management of care leavers and wards of state, please consult the guide to Central department wardship and out-of-home care records. These collections date back to the 1860s, and include ward registers, index cards and ward files.
Voluntary children’s homes files (c1930–c.85)
Files; Permanent VPRS Number 18069 / P0001)
The files record interaction between the various voluntary homes and the government. This filing system was created in 1975, combining earlier correspondence and other records to create one system with VH prefixes.
The specific file(s) relating to this home are dated 1963–73 and include:
- declaration as a children’s home 1965
- reports of inspection visits 1963–68
- correspondence 1963–73
- press clippings re sale of the home 1973.
Reviewed 24 April 2019