Destitute Poor Department, later Destitute Persons Department (GA644)

The Destitute Board ('Board for the Relief of Destitute Poor') was established, without legislation, in February 1849 and held its first meeting on 12 March 1849 (1). The Board's members were clergymen and other officials, with R.E. Tapley appointed as Secretary and Relieving Officer from 19 March (2).

The Destitute Board provided 'indoor' relief in the form of accommodation at what they would refer to as the 'Destitute Asylum' and 'outdoor' relief in the form of rations. The Asylum was first located in huts in Emigration Square (3). Between 1849 and 1854, the Asylum was located in tenements in Hindley Street (4) (5), military barracks in Flinders Street (6) (7), and the upper portion of the Lunatic Asylum (8) (9).

The 'Destitute Poor Establishment' first appears in the Estimates for 1850, published July 1849, with four staff: the Relieving Officer, two nurses at the Asylum, and a labourer and depot keeper (10). The terms 'Establishment' and 'Department' are used throughout the 19th century. The Destitute Board was the controlling body for the Destitute Poor Establishment/Department.

In July 1853, the Destitute Board was granted buildings used as the Native School and Female Immigrant Depot to use as a Destitute Asylum (11). On 16 January 1854, the Board reported that the remainder of the Establishment has been removed from the Lunatic Asylum and are all now in the building lately occupied by the Aboriginal children. This meeting was held at 'the Location', which likely means the 'Native Location' (12).

Matthew Moorhouse, who was Protector of Aborigines and Secretary to the Children Apprenticeship Board, as well as a member of the Destitute Board, was appointed Comptroller of the Destitute Poor Establishment and Superintendent of the Female Immigrant Depot on 18 January 1855 (13).

In 1855, the Board temporarily rented the 'German Hospital' (also known as the 'British and German Hospital') to relieve overcrowding at the Destitute Asylum and the Female Immigrant Depot. By 11 June, the Hospital accommodated 283 people (14). A new building was constructed at the Depot in August to house the girls from the German Hospital (15).

Also in 1855, there was an increase in newly arrived male immigrants unable to find work, who had to be housed by the Destitute Board. To combat the increase in destitute immigrants, the Government established the Free Labour Station. It was located at Dry Creek, near the Labor Prison (Yatala) and was overseen by the Comptroller of Convicts, despite not being a prison or related to prison labour. The Free Labour Station provided accommodation and work (quarrying stone and preparing metal) for up to 250 people (16).

As well as the Free Labour Station, the Government also had female immigrant depots, to provide accommodation to single female immigrants before they could find work in domestic service. The first depot shared a site with the Native School (later used by the Destitute Asylum) and country depots were established by mid-1855 (17).

The depots were overseen by Matthew Moorhouse in his capacity as Superintendent of the Female Immigrant Depot and came under the remit of the Children Apprenticeship Board, established under legislation in 1848. In late 1855, a Female Immigration Board - comprising of four gentlemen, three of whom were of Irish descent - was established to manage the depot. The Female Immigration Board only met a few times and held their last meeting on 28 April 1856 (18). Moorhouse resigned from all his official posts earlier that same month (19).

In 1856, a Select Committee was appointed to investigate excessive female immigration and the constitution and operation of the Destitute Board (20). The Select Committee recommended that the Female Immigration Depot be amalgamated with the Destitute Board (21). The Children Apprenticeship Board does not appear to have been formally abolished, but its responsibilities for the guardianship of orphans and young female immigrants appears to have passed to the Destitute Board from this time.

The 'Destitute Asylum Act 1863' set out the regulations for the Destitute Asylum, but there is no mention of the Destitute Board or any other administering body.

The Destitute Board was not formally established until 11 January 1867, with the passing of the 'Destitute Persons Relief Act 1867'. This Act repealed the previous Acts about maintenance of families and guardianship of children.

By the time the 1867 Act was passed, the Destitute Board had been operating without legislation for about eighteen years and had taken on the responsibilities of the legislated Children Apprenticeship Board (which was briefly reinstated in 1865) (22). Under the 1867 Act, the Board was appointed by the Governor, but individual staff of the Destitute Poor Department were appointed by and could be dismissed by the Board.

In 1866, a year before the Act, the Destitute Poor Department - under the supervision and control of the Chief Secretary - had fifteen staff. By 1868, a year after the Act, the Department had thirty-one staff. The Chairman of the Destitute Board, Thomas S. Reed, was the Head of the Department (23).

In 1886, responsibilities relating to the care, management and control of children in State Care were removed from the Destitute Board for the State Children's Council, established under the 'Destitute Person's Act Amendment Act 1886' .The Industrial School and Reformatories, established under the 1867 Act, were moved to the State Children's Council, with only the Destitute Asylum and Lying-in Home remaining with the Destitute Board. For more information about the State Children's Council/Department, see GRG27 and GA2224.

The title 'Destitute Persons Department' began to be used from around 1902 (24).
The Destitute Asylum moved from North Terrace to Magill, to become known as the 'Magill Home' or 'Magill Old Folks Home' in 1917 (25). The lying-in home moved to Magill on 30 June 1918 (26).

On 16 December 1926, the 'Maintenance Act 1926' consolidated and amended laws relating to State Children, Destitute Persons, and the Summary Protection of Married Women. The Destitute Board and State Children's Council, and their related Departments, were combined to form the Children's Welfare and Public Relief Board (and related Department). The new Board was appointed on 13 January 1927 (27).

Same agency as GRG28 - different archival control system.

Sources:
(1) SRSA GRG28/1 (Minutes - Destitute Board), 12 March 1849
(2) GRG28/1, 19 March 1849
(3) 'Report of Destitute Board', "South Australian Register", 19 January 1850, p. 4
(4) 'Shameful State of Hindley Street Hospital Government Buildings', "Adelaide Times", 10 April 1850, pp. 2 - 3
(5) GRG28/1, 12 April 1850
(6) GRG28/1, 28 April 1851; 6 May 1851; 9 May 1851
(7) South Australian Government Gazette, 14 August 1851, p. 573
(8) GRG28/1, 11 February 1852
(9) GRG28/1, 1 March 1852
(10) 'Estimated Revenue and Expenditure', "South Australian Register", 11 July 1849, pp. 3 - 4
(11) South Australian Government Gazette, 28 July 1853, p. 497
(12) GRG28/1, 16 January 1854
(13) South Australian Government Gazette, 18 January 1855, p. 33
(14) GRG28/1, 11 June 1855
(15) Parkin, C.W. (1964) "Irish Female Immigration to South Australian During the Great Famine", University of Adelaide Honours Bachelor of Arts thesis. . Accessed 20/06/2024
(16) 'Report on the Free Labour Station, Dry Creek', "South Australian Register", 23 January 1856, p. 4
(17) Parkin
(18) Ibid.
(19) 'Immigration Board', "South Australian Register", 7 April 1856. p. 4
(20) 'Second Report of the Select Committee on Female Immigration', "Adelaide Observer", 17 May 1856, p. 7
(21) Ibid.
(22) "South Australian Weekly Chronicle", 18 February 1865, p. 11
(23) Blue Books 1866 and 1868
(24) 'The Destitute Asylum Annual Report', "Evening Journal", 11 September 1902, p. 2
(25) . Accessed 20/06/2024
(26) SRSA GRG29/15 (Register of infants born in the Destitute Asylum, later Magill Home)
(27) South Australian Government Gazette, 13 January 1927, p. 42