Benevolent Society of New South Wales collection, 1813-1996

fonds

1813-1996

Textual Records, Objects, Graphic Materials, Photographs, Clippings

825697

The Benevolent Society is Australia’s oldest charity. It was founded in 1818 with Governor Macquarie as Patron, after the lapse of its predecessor, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and Benevolence, 1813-1818. It took on the debts and records of this society, and continued its function to administer outdoor relief to the needy. In 1821 the Benevolent Asylum, ‘for the aged, infirm, blind and destitute’ both male and female, was opened on the corner of Pitt and Devonshire Streets. The rules of the establishment were that it was to be a place of industry as well as an asylum. It was financed partly by the Government, and partly by private support. In 1901 the Asylum site was resumed for railways purposes.
Later buildings and institutions established by the Society were the Royal Hospital for Women at Paddington, Thomas Street Asylum (Ultimo), Renwick Hospital for Infants (Ultimo) and Scarba House for Children (Bondi). It continues to administer nursing homes, retirement villages and hostels in various Sydney suburbs in the areas of care for the ageing, for children and for women’s health services.

This large collection comprises the records of the Benevolent Society, 1819-1995, and the records of its predecessor the New South Wales Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and Benevolence, 1813-1818. Records include minute books, indexes and registers of admissions and discharges, ledgers, journals, correspondence, and subject files.
The collection includes the surviving records of the Benevolent Asylum, the Society's Thomas Street Asylum, Renwick Hospital for Infants, Scarba House for Children, and the Royal Hospital for Women. Many of the early records of Scarba House for Children and Renwick Hospital for Infants were destroyed or lost as a result of a flood in the Society's records storage area. No extant records of these institutions remain outside the Mitchell Library collection. Patients' medical records for the Royal Hospital for Women currently reside with the hospital at Paddington, New South Wales.

Collection comprises:

Benevolent Society of New South Wales records, 1813-1955

Benevolent Society of New South Wales - Records, 1813-1995

Benevolent Society of New South Wales records, 1852-1913

Benevolent Society of New South Wales, further records 1847-1996

Further papers are expected.

Guide at Ref shelf in Mitchell Library Reading Room. -