Boy Scouts' visit to Royleston in May 1925 (Sydney Mail, 3 June 1925, p. 19)
Royleston was a grand Glebe residence built in 1880. It was purchased by the NSW Child Welfare Department in 1922 for use as a ‘home’ or ‘receiving depot’ for male wards of the state. Nearby Bidura fulfilled the same purpose for girls.
Bidura and Royleston were two of a number of residential homes established in the 20th century for the care and control of wards of the state in NSW. They housed children up to the age of 18 who were assessed by the children’s court as being uncontrollable, delinquent or neglected. Both these places have significance for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children who were removed from their families. They are remembered as places of punishment and isolation, as acknowledged in the Bringing them Home and Forgotten Australians reports.
References
Naomi Parry, Royleston, Dictionary of Sydney, 2015, http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/royleston, viewed 27 July 2015
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