St Francis House

This article is about the home for Aboriginal boys in Adelaide. For the boy's home in England, see St Francis' Boys' Home.

St Francis House, the successor to the Church of England Hostel for Inland Children, was a home for inland Aboriginal Australian boys from 1946 to 1959 at Glanville Hall in Semaphore South, Adelaide, South Australia.

History

In 1945 Father Percy Smith opened the Church of England Hostel for Inland Children, operated by the Church of England in Australia 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 in central Australia,^[1] 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.^[2]

In 1945 six Aboriginal boys from St John's were transferred to the residence,^[2] 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.^[1] St John's Hostel eventually closed down in the 1970s.^[2]

Smith purchased Glanville Hall on behalf of the Australian Board of Missions (ABM)^[3] to provide accommodation for young Aboriginal boys from remote areas who were attending school in the local area.^[4] He founded the St Francis Boys' Home in order to bring boys down (including several from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory^[5]) for education and employment.^[6] 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.^[1]

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".^[7]

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.^[8] At St Francis House, the boys formed a strong, life-long bond with Smith and his wife, and with each other.^[9]

In 1949, a number of boys who had been evacuated to Mulgoa, New South Wales 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.^[3]

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.^[3]

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.^[3]

Former resident John Kundereri Moriarty said that St Francis House was an exceptional home.^[10]

Documentation

Former Australian test cricketer Ashley Mallett has written a history of St Francis House,^[11] called The Boys from St Francis, published in 2018 by Wakefield Press.^[12]

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.^[13]

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^[5][a]
• Richie Bray^[8][18]
• Gordon Briscoe AO^[8]
• Malcolm Cooper^[18]
• Vincent Copley, footballer and activist^[8][18]
• Bill Espie (Queen's Medal for Bravery)^[8]
• Ken Hampton, who went on to play football for Port Adelaide^[8][18][2]
• Wilf Huddleton^[18]
• Wally McArthur^[8]
• John Moriarty AM^[8]
• Les Nayda AM^[8]
• Charles Perkins AO^[8]
• Harold Thomas (Bundoo)^[8] who designed the Aboriginal flag.^[19]
• Ron Tilmouth^[18]

Footnotes

1. Winnie Branson (born 1927) was the sister of Vince Copley. Among other roles, she was State Secretary of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). She was also a co-founder of the Aborigines Progress Association, and she founded the Nunga Football Club of Adelaide. Today she is commemorated in the Winnie Branson (Memorial) Cup, which is presented to the winning Aussie rules football team at the annual SA Aboriginal Football and Netball Carnival.^[14][15][16] She also, with Gladys Elphick, co-founded the Council of Aboriginal Women of South Australia.^[17]

References

1. George, Karen; George, Gary (5 December 2017). "Church of England Hostel for Inland Children". Find & Connect. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
2. "St John's Hostel". Find & Connect. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
3. George, Karen; George, Gary (24 November 2017). "St Francis House (1946 - c.1961)". Find & Connect. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
4. Briscoe, Gordon (2010). "Chapter 4: Pembroke Street to St Francis House, 1946 to 1949". Racial Folly: A twentieth-century Aboriginal family. ISBN 9781921666216. Retrieved 23 November 2023 – via ANU. (Photos; text here)
5. Chlanda, Erwin (1 February 2019). "Kids from The Alice: When Malcolm met Menzies". Alice Springs News. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
6. Vincent Copley
7. The History of Glanville Hall | Glanville Hall
8. Chlanda, Erwin (18 September 2013). "The Boys who made the Big Time". Alice Springs News. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
9. About Dr Charles Perkins – The Charlie Perkins Trust for Children and Students
10. "Collaborating for Indigenous Rights 1957-1973". National Museum of Australia. 28 April 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
11. Cornwall, Peter. . Archived from the original on 23 March 2019.
12. "The Boys from St Francis". Wakefield Press (Australia). Retrieved 23 November 2023.
13. "History & legacy of St Francis House, a home for inland children 1946-59 [Home page]". St Francis House. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
14. "South Australia". Department for Infrastructure and Transport. 19 April 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
15. Barton, Jacob (10 October 2013). "Knockout fields AFL's best". Deadly Vibe. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
16. Facebook post
17. "Collaborating for Indigenous Rights 1957-1973". National Museum of Australia. 28 April 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
18. Phillips, Sandra (10 January 2022). "Vince Copley had a vision for a better Australia – and he helped make it happen, with lifelong friend Charles Perkins". The Conversation. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
19. "$20m deal ends Aboriginal flag saga". news.com.au. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.

Further reading

• Copley, Vince; McInerney, Lea (2022). The Wonder of Little Things. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-1-4607-1483-6.
• Smith, Mark J. (28 April 2019). "'I shared my mother with the Aboriginal children'". Alice Springs News. Part of a series "Kids from the Alice".

34°50′56″S 138°28′53″E / 34.848920°S 138.481340°E / -34.848920; 138.481340