Site of Sister Kate's Boys Home

Statement of Significance

Sister Kate's Kenwick Boys' Home (fmr) is significant for the Sister Kate associations.

Physical Description

The single storey building is a rectangular pavilion parallel with the side boundaries. The low pitch roof is gabled with the frontage having a fibrocement sheet gable infill.

History

This property was acquired by Sister Kate's Children's Homes Inc in 1946. Sister Kate's Children's Homes had been established by Sister Kate Clutterbuck, an Anglican nun. Its main premises were at Parkerville and Queens Park. It catered for part-Aboriginal children from infants to eighteen, and was the first children's institution in the State to adopt the idea of cottage homes instead of the large impersonal buildings that had been the usual for such places. Walter Padbury, owner of the Thornlie Estate, was a financial supporter of the Parkerville Home. The property originally consisted of 8-acres of Lot 9, between Spring Road and the Canning River. Accommodation was in an 80ft x 40ft asbestos clad building, which was relocated from Fremantle after World War Two, where it had been an observation ward for the United States Navy. The land was sandy and poor and a vegetable garden located on the lower land by the River was subject to flooding. In 1956 the place was under the management of Mr & Mrs Wilkes and there were twelve boys, aged twelve to sixteen, in residence, a large fowl yard with 80 fowls and a dairy, but only one cow. The Kenwick and Busselton Virgilians adopted the Kenwick Boys' Home, assisting with repairs, providing a parcel of clothes for each boy at Christmas and arranging outings. After Sister Kate's death in 1946, the organisation was managed by the Presbyterian Church and later the Uniting Church.The Kenwick Boys' Home was closed and the property sold in 1961.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: Moderate degree Authenticity: Moderate degree

Condition

Fair

Uses

Creation Date

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