Ledger of children placed out on probation - State Children's Department (GRS/18812)

This series contains a ledger of children placed out on probation by the State Children's Department.

The spine is labelled "Ledger of Children Boarded Out K", but it appears to have been used for a different purpose than was originally intended. Unlike the other ledgers of children boarded out (Volumes A - I in GRG27/5), this ledger only includes children who were placed out on probation with relatives or friends and who were visited by Probation Officers, not children who were boarded out with licensed foster mothers or apprenticed/licensed for service and visited by Inspectors/Inspectresses or Visiting Committees.

The column headings printed do not always match the information recorded. The ledger records:
- Date placed out and from where (Industrial School, Probationary School or directly by the State Children's Council)
- Name and religion of child
- Details of the child's 'sentence' (e.g. illegitimate, unfit guardian, uncontrollable, etc.)
- Age when placed out
- With whom placed (name, occupation, religion, address and relationship to child)
- Child's employer (if different to their guardian)
- Child's school (if under 14)
- Changes in address or circumstances
- Dates of visits and by whom visited
- Remarks

The first column, labelled 'Number in Record Book', generally includes multiple numbers but these numbers do not match any known Industrial, Reformatory or Probationary School admission numbers, nor do they match references for State Children's Department dockets. They are possibly references to memos or minutes, but it is unclear.

Notes on visits to children in this volume begin in September 1913, but some children were placed out earlier. New entries were made up to 1921 and notes about visits continued to be added until 1926. There are some other references in the ledger as late as the 1930s as well.

There are references to other books/ledgers (Books B, C and D), with children's entries continued from or to other books, but the whereabouts of these books are unknown. References to other books in this ledger are in the same format as the ledgers of children boarded out (book described with a letter, page with a number), but they do not match the ledgers in GRG27/5. It is likely that the Probation Officers kept their own ledgers with their own alphabetical sequence. This book appears to fit chronologically between Books B and C in their sequence.

The book was microfilmed under its original series number - GRG27/5, Unit 10 (Volume K).

Arranged chronologically.

**Note on probation system**

State Children's Department probation officers were responsible for the supervision of all children released from a State Children's Department institution and returned to relatives or placed with friends (1).

Some children released on probation were older teenagers (up to 21 years old), who had been placed under the State Children's Department after committing a criminal offence or for being 'uncontrollable', but many children in the ledger are much younger (including infants), placed under the Department for being destitute or having 'unfit guardianship'.

The first probation officer in the State Children's Department was Fanny Kate Cocks, appointed in 1906 (2). Her reports in this ledger are identified by the initials 'KC'.

While this ledger was in use, other State Children's Department probation officers included: Alice Martha Kentish (AMK), Edith Florence Lee (EFL or EL), Florence Randell (FR), Myrtle Fanny Rebecca Treloar (MT), Mary E. O'Connor (ME O'C) and Edith Cora Rose Saunders (ECS) (3) (4) (5) (6).

From 1913, probation officers were also employed by the Sheriff's Department under the 'Offenders Probation Act 1913' and a State Children's Department Inspector was also a Probation Officer under this Act (7) (8) (9) (10). However, State Children's Department probation officers only supervised children released to their relatives and friends on probation under the 'State Children's Act 1895' and subsequent Acts, whereas Sheriff's Department probation officers supervised prisoners released on probation from a gaol or prison.

References:

(1) South Australian Government Gazette 29 January 1920, p. 219
(2) Marie Mune, 'Cocks, Fanny Kate (1875 - 1954)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, , first published in hardcopy 1981, accessed online 12 November 2024.
(3) South Australian Government Gazette 29 January 1920, p. 219
(4) South Australian Government Gazette 14 October 1920, p. 1004
(5) SRSA GRG27/1,various files
(6) Public Service List 1914
(7) South Australian Government Gazette 5 March 1914, p. 577
(8) South Australian Government Gazette 29 January 1920, pp. 219-220
(9) South Australian Government Gazette 6 November 1924, p. 1185
(10) South Australian Government Gazette 24 December 1925, p. 1664