On the way back to work, the boss generously decided to stop at Goulburn for a break, as I said that I’ve never been there, which is part of region that our program covers. I guess the reason she was happy to go there was, she actually has her little “hidden agenda” for herself. She loves those abandoned orphanages and mentioned them many times in front of us about re-using them for other functions one day if she can afford to buy them herself. Mind you we are talking about $1-1.5 Millions for each of buildings. Apparently she said they are far out of her leagues, but it did get her mind all working.
If I didn’t or couldn’t bother thinking about her little “fantasy” too much, I have to say that I really started to get the point when we were driving through the town, seeing all those gorgeous old buildings and finally stopped in front of one of the girl’s orphanages.
My God! I was speechless. A gorgeous building with broken windows, grass growing wildly everywhere in the front yard and a big white whatever lady sculptur attached on the outside of the front wall of the building, neglected, abandoned and lonely. I can’t help imagining when it was the time when there were orphans living in this place, how the garden would have looked like, and the sounds that were made by girls and harsh teachers and how children were running around in this place…..pretty much a scene for Charlotte Bronte’s book Jane Eyre.
It actually made me feel quite sick when thinking of these. I mean the possible history of an old building which had been closed down 30 or 40 years ago makes you sometimes feel quite frightened. A building like this can be very scary and full of bitter stories. We all know there is an obvious history of orphans in institution cares being abused and mistreated in many countries, even in those church funded facilities. Who wants to reflect that? To those orphans who had gone through those miserable things, here would be certainly a heart-breaking place to remember and would be very hard to be removed from their lifetime memories. The place they used to call it a home….but not so much a good home, who wants to be there again?
Re-use? Maybe…lots of potentials, if you look at everything in this world from an economic perspective of view, there are. But history? It might fade but you can never make it disappear.
Hi, we are just wondering if you know any history on the old goulburn orphanage. Kaycee and myself are both at school at mulwaree and we have heard alot of stories about the orphanage, like that kids were hung and dround in this place. We are just curious if its true or not. We have searched the internet trying to find information about it but havnt found anything. If you could please help us it would be very much appriciated. Thank you
Hi Beth & Kaycee, Thanks for visiting my blog.
I wouldn’t say that I know much about the history of Australkian Orphanages, as all I can find is from the Internet. People seem knowing little about it and nobody talks about it neither, so I guess I could never know the true story unless I could talk to people who had been there.
However there is a website ran by CLAN which might help you to find more information about what you are looking for.
http://www.clan.org.au/pages/index.php
Good luck! You guys look just as curious as I am
hello wats uri stand for i spent time at the orphenage in the fifties carolan
hello my time at goulburn was only twelve months it was a lonely place even it was full of people butwe made the best of it .
hi there my father stayed at this place for most of his young life & he has never gone back.
He states that it was hell.
Hey there,
Me and my friends are from Canberra and are keen media students.
We are to do a documentary for school and came across the Goulburn orphanage.
we thought it would be a fantastic topic for our project due to the many stories we have heard whilst researching.
We were just wondering if anyone who attended Saint Johns would be willing to be apart of a short interview
Please Contact us on j.o.s.i.e-b@hotmail.com
Thanks!
I spent about 14mths at st joseph orphanage and it was no fun starved and abused by the nuns in particular sister beneadictor she was ruthless.
Yeah – Hell is probably the word to use – Hunger and abuse etc.-
I lived at St. John’s from the late 60′s to the early 70′s.
Hi doc you were probobly @ St Johns about the same time as my two brouthers. I’m glad to say they have moved on and were able to have a good life.
Hi Sissy, thats great to hear
… What are your brothers names..
Hi doc, my brouthers where Darcy, and michael (Buch) Irving, I think your sister vicky was @ st joeies when I was there.
Hi Doc , just want to know ,do you remember Paul ogden ?????
and do you know if he has passed away?
Hi Sissy – yeah I did know Paul. Sorry to hear that he has passed. My condolences to his friends & family.
Hi Sissy yeah i do know your brothers
For dome reason Butch came into my thoughts today and then i felt to look up to see if you posted back tonight…. WOW say hi to them for me.
Hi Doc hows things , you probobly remember young Buch he’s the one who pushed sr Elizabeth down the stairs , they were trying to seperate him and Darcy to send him to boys town this was around 1972,they ended up sending them both. Im interested to know how Vikie is, Ihave a lovely photo of allus kids down in the hay shed at the back of st joeyes.
Yeah haha now I remeber that time. Sis Elizabeth… mannn.!!! What a Nazi… A very nasty and cruel penguin…!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi.Sissy, I would realy love a copy of the photo if possible. That would make my year
you can contact me here info@thereddragonband.com
My uncle used to live here as a young boy, i feel sorry for all that stayed in their they now recon their building it into a retirement village well good luck to them the building is 100yrs old this year please leave it as is or turn it into a museum cause its historical and its very old and i have heard stories that the place has an erry feeling to it and people recon stange things happen in side after midnight i would love to take a walk through it before they destroy all the lovely history the place has to offer ive grown up around goulburn for 30yrs and have never seen the outside or inside of this place up close please don’t ruen our lovely history lets restore it and give people things to come look at in our town we don’t have much for people to come look at and history is things that people would like to see my self love the history of old building and there aint much in this town to go look at exept the war museum at rocky hill we want more!
Amanda if youcontact a group called the Goulburn ghost tour’s ,they are a group of Historians who take people through to have a look, apparently a Developer is intending to restore the building and turn it into Appartments.
I would have to say bulldoze the place as no one that spent time there would want to visit as for all the abuse that went on during my time in this hell hole at the hands of the nuns
Hi shane im sure my brouthers would agree, st johns has become a monsterous looking place , just the drive by gives off a bad ora.
to all those curious about life in these orphanages, my family was at the st josephs and st johns homes at the end of the 60′s through to the closing of bouth facilities in 76 when those who were left had moved into the Alburn st cottages. the memories and experiences of these institutions have affected in many ways some fortunatly have been able to move on and live a forfilled life, but depending on the extent of experience some poor soles are still not able to crasp what took place and are still haunted to this day, I had visited st joey’s on an odd ocasion and cant physically make myself walk past the front drive way, I feel a great weight on my chest and have to turn away quite often being brought to tears as Im walking away looking back half way down the drive ,one day I want to be able to force myself to go further so I can face my fears once and for all put it behind me. I dont no that pulling it down would change the events that took place ,I can still recall my arrival of my first night seemed straight out of a horror movie, a big stom came up with lightning flshing all around ,the wind was blowing the big pine trees that lined the long dark drive way, we walk up to the big timber doors huddled togeather full of fear as the doors opened we were confronted with a figure draped in black from head to toe ,we had never seen nuns before and were quite afraid, she ushered us down a long hall into room full of strange faceces looking back at us and everthing was closing in around us. there were some happier times the place did ring with the laughter of children in the playground and this is the earea I would like to find myself to sit and reflect on days gone by, we had a fete day when the whole community would come out to support us and raise money,we had movie nights, and once a year go in to the st patrics hall for a social with the boys home and catch up with our brouthers. to wards the end a swimming pool was even put in down in the back of the old bath rooms and toilets. we had to study every night,it seemed we were always at mass or praying ,punishment was very harsh and quite often all would be gathered in the librery to witness what happens if you did the wrong thing,if not a good flogging extra chores were readerly handed out. we would walk daily down the kilomiter drive to catch the school bus in rain,hail ,heat, and the coldest of winter’s ,we attended the schools in town OLMC,and St JOSEPHS, there was about 170 children at the time I attened st joey’s the youngest was a12mth old who was there for a very short time and other’s 3,4,5.6 to15,16.
very curious what your name is as I was there at the same time
Billie Irene Cavanough
Hi Billie OMG I was just taking a chance that someone would prbobly remember this time ,I was there at the end of 69 and moved into the Alburn street cottages in 76, your sister kate and I were best friends. you can email me on nessa.davison@gmail.com and we can have a privet catch up so glad to here from you cheer’s Sissy.
Did you know Ian Power..? He was my best friend in there. I heard that he also lived at Alburn St.
yes Ian also had two sister’s at st Joey’s,ha,ha,ha , he and Darc once ran away togeather so funny !
Hehehe cool… I remember Ian’s older brother
Successfully ran away and he use visit Ian at school
Hey Sissy, my sister Vickie, was at St Josephs with you in the late 60′s early 70′s
cool I thought I knew the name o’Toole,how is she ? I was a bit older then her but my little sister was about her age.
Hey Sissy,
Sadly, my sister passed away at the age of 13. She took her life which I have not realy gotten over. She was so cool & my best friend
oh what can I say… she was such a real little charector,so sweet, always so happy , it truly sadden’s me to hear this. I hope time gives you a bit of healling as have lost a child of my own I can truly understand your pain, I will contact my little sister who was her play mate, my deepest sympathy from us all ,
sissy
Sissy, thank you for passing this on …. I never knew what it was like for Vickie, thank you for enlightening me … She was a very gifted and talented girl
Doc I think as you had to we all had to make the best of a bad situation there was no escape and if there was we were all to afraid to find it, your little sister would brighten up the the whole place with her laughter, she as young as she was had a certain caring nature for the children even younger then herself. Im so glad to have know her and was able to share her memory with you. this has given me such a good feelingbeing able to talk with you all.
Sissy – thank you for the info on my sister, Vickie. I had no idea what she was like at that age. She sounds like she was a little trooper, making the best of the situation for herself and of those around her WOW
Now you have placed an image in my mind of her, where as before there was nothing. I just use to wondered what it was like for her dealing with the us being seperated and dealing with why we were placed in the orphanages. She was a strength to be admired. I guess that was the perpose of her very short life. Thank You Sissy – Hugz 
I was there in1959-1960 Iwould have been 7 and can still remember everything the the nuns would do to make you terrified in every way locked in small spaces starved flogged.and anything you could imagine they would do.My mother died while we were there and all the nuns said was your mum is dead no compassion at all
that’s terrible to hear , even as a young child I often use to asked myself why were they like this ?… ,they were looking after children who were vonerable, scared, and longing for someone to show a little love and compasion, you had the loving god shuved down your throat on a daily baces and yet this is the one thing they were incaperble of LOVE!, as the saying goe’s “suffer little children who come under me” at least they got that part right,I truly hope you have found peace in your life.
sissy
Thanks for your comments and i can assure they could not break me and it most likely made me more determined to be a good person and to be the best in what ever I did in life.And so far its been very good
Hi shane , my brouther Darcy and I revisited st johns just last night with Goulburn Ghost tour’s ,the historian who holds the tours told a very similar story to your’s about another boy aged 7 and his little brouther who was 4,in the 50′s who’s two unties visited them to tell them their mum had passed, the nuns gave them afew minits togeather and then told the unties it was time to leave. no comfort was offered just strait outside to the playground to deal with it for themselves, my brouther was a bit hesitant about going but is glad he did the tour people were so helpful ,Darcy was even able to fill in some of the history of his time there, great to hear from you ,take care cheer’s sissy.
- I went through there a couple of years ago. It’s incredible to remember every little thing as if it were yesterday. My mate videoed it all while I wondered around in a daze. I was fortunate to be introduced to the owner who showed me through.
Hi sissy
I think your brother is very brave to go back in there.I once went back and could only look at the building and that made my blood run cold.I could noty do what your brother did as i would be able to feel the present of the past people who lived there.give my regards to your brother for being able to go back
hi Shane funny you should say that it was with a ghost tour ,I’m not sure of your fellings about spirits and such but it turned out to be an interesting evening, there is a defernate presence we could feel it,he feels he can finally put it to rest as its not the place he remembered when he left at the age of 12. he was there at age 8 my little brouther was 7 , what year were you there if you dont mind me asking ? thanks for chatting with me I enjoy making conection with other’s who understand how it was. cheer’s sissy
one things for sure it made us tough and hardto break
hi sissy
I was there in 1959 -1960 with my older brother and my younger one who would have been 4 at the time we were found there by some aunties who didnt know we had been put there by our step father.We all went to different aunties and uncles.I went to Temora the older one went wollongong and the young one went to melbourne.
thats pretty harsh for you little one’s,did you find your brother’s and haveyou been able to reconnect ? ,are you still in tomora?, I guess the treatment my brother’s got was pretty bad but from there they were sent off to boys town Engadine in sydney,they tryed to seperate them but my little brother pushed one of the nuns down the stairs and they sent them bouth off,good old Buch even at a young age wouldn’t let them push him around.
Butch was a tough little fella
hi sissy
we all went to different aunties and uncles but we stayed in touch.the oler one died about 5 years ago nad the younger one we get on very well.I left Temora ni 1970 to play football in sydney then moved around a bit until i met my wife in brisbane.We now live in melbourne.And good on buch aleast someone got a little revenge.I really think with this inquirey into the catholic church they should have a good look at the nuns that sould be investaged.
your right and I think they are the one’s who need to say SORRY right up there with the Goverment, after all it was their acts of cruelty that stick in the minds of most of these childrens , when I saw the movie “rabbit proof fence ” it brought so many memories back the wholeseario was very much the same . good health to you and your families and lets hope we did a better job raising our own families and they never have to suffer this kind of ruthless existence, as the strong and the brave shall stick togeather as brother’s and sister’s no matter what the year we spent there or for how long.
Hi sissy
it has been great to talk.I am sure we did alot better job.Good wishes to you and your brothers
cheers
shane Mclellan
thank you, and to you and yours have agreat christmas
cheers
sissy
I have just learnt that my Grand Father and 2 of his brothers were left at St Joeys in roughly 1870, or perhaps earlier.
I believe they were there for many years, and now, just researching and reading about all the cruel and sadistic things the Nuns and other children did to the residents I wonder if GrandPa also suffered.
I also wonder why the Cathlic Church has such an abundance of cruel and sadistic child abusers/molesters working for it.
Not being Catholic I wonder if it is because they think they can say 5 Hail Mary’s and be forgiven. All those poor darling children who were subject to the cruelty would certainly wish they went straight to Hell.
I’m so glad i’m not Catholic.
I’d like to say to all you beautiful soles out there that have been seperated by your orphoned families KEEP trying find your peace, today I had the most amazing conection with a wonderful young girl I shared my dorm with at st josephs Goulburn , we shared a room when we moved into the cottages once it closed down, it was like finding my lost twin a beautiful reunion thanks to the internet.it has helped us find closure for some things we experience and no longer need to keep serching for each other. but im putting it out there to anyone who knows of Debbie (oggy doggy ) or pam ogden would love to find them our lost sisters please contact us by emailing nessa.davison@gmail.com.