Industrial School Registers, 1867-1925

Following passage of the Destitute Children Act of 1866 (also known as the Industrial Schools Act), vagrant and impoverished children in New South Wales could be sent to industrial schools, which taught work skills and provided guidance. The schools became home to a mix of orphans, neglected children, and juvenile delinquents under the age of eighteen. Admission could be by court order, necessity, or at the parents’ request. This collection includes records from three industrial schools for girls. Biloela Reformatory and Industrial School operated on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbor between 1871 and 1880. Following its closure, a school was established at Shaftesbury at Watson’s Bay in Sydney in 1880 and remained open until 1904. The third was located in the northwest Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Industrial School for Girls opened there in 1887 and operated until 1974.