Our Story

Our History

St Michael's Family Centre has a long and creditable history, having begun in 1902 as an orphanage for young boys by the Sisters of Mercy Parramatta. The land on which the orphanage was built was part of the Donnelly Estate, and had been bequeathed for the purpose of founding an orphanage. The bequest consisted of a farm of 16 acres and a small brick cottage.

The orphanage started officially on 7 May 1902, when two boys were admitted.

A new orphanage was subsequently built in 1917. The small brick cottage became a school.

Up to 200 boys lived in the orphanage under the care of a few religious sisters – an extraordinary effort.

The majority of the residents were not orphans, rather boys where poverty was a reality, and their parents could not provide the basic needs of life, including education or their parents needed child care while they worked.

Many of the boys were previously in St Anthony’s Babies Home at Croydon in the Inner West of Sydney or the Foundling Home or Children’s Home at Waitara in North Sydney, before moving to St Michael’s Orphanage. The boys’ sisters generally resided at St Brigid’s Girls Home at Ryde.

At around the age of 11 years, the boys moved to St Vincent’s Boys Home at Westmead. However, many boys did not qualify for St Vincent’s Boys Home and remained at St Michael’s Orphanage until they could be reunited with their families.

In 1969, the orphanage was closed and sold, with the proceeds from the sale used to build three cottages to offer a small group home model of care for children.

Over the decades, we expanded and adapted to meet the changing needs in the community - firstly, in the area of child care and subsequently in the areas of accommodation and support for children (St Michael’s Children’s Centre), women and children (St Michael’s Supported Accommodation Program), and pregnant young women and new young mothers (Juliana House).

Each year, we host an annual reunion for the former residents of St Michael’s Orphanage. For further information about the annual reunion, please contact our office.

Further information about the history of St Michael’s Family Centre can be obtained through the publication, “Across the Decades: St Michael’s Baulkham Hills 1900’s-1990’s” by Dr Sophie McGrath rsm.

If you are a former resident of St Michael's Orphanage or another residential program, please refer to the following links for further information: