Katherine Mary Clutterbuck - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Katherine Mary Clutterbuck, MBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

(1860 in Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

– 1946 in Nedlands, Western Australia

Nedlands, Western Australia

The City of Nedlands is a Local Government Area in the inner western suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, located about west of Perth's central business district...

), usually known as Sister Kate, was an Anglican nun

Nun

A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...

who pioneered a cottage home system for looking after orphan

Orphan

An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...

babies and children in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

. She later became well known for her work with Indigenous Australian children who were selected according to a criterion of skin colour and sent to her homes to groom the young "nearly white" children for absorption into the white community. These children would later be described as the "Stolen Generation

Stolen Generation

The Stolen Generations were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments...

".

Clutterbuck was the daughter of well-off parents, Captain Clutterbuck and his wife.

Clutterbuck was awarded an Order of the British Empire

Order of the British Empire

(Member of the Civil Division), on 1 January 1934, for her services to disadvantaged children.

In December 2006, the West Australian

The West Australian

The West Australian is the only locally-edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, and is owned by ASX-listed Seven West Media . The West is published in tabloid format, as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times, a News Limited publication...

newspaper published a list entitled the '100 Most Influential Western Australians' which included Clutterbuck. The list was developed by a committee including several eminent Western Australian historians.

Orphanage career

In 1881 Clutterbuck joined the Community of the Sisters of the Church

Community of the Sisters of the Church

The Community of the Sister of the Church is a religious order of women in various Anglican provinces who live the vowed life of poverty, chastity and obedience...

, a Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

order founded in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

in 1870 by Mother Emily Ayckbowm. Now referred to as Sister Kate, Clutterbuck worked with orphans in the London slums for 17 years until 1901 when she and several other sisters were sent to Western Australia

Western Australia

to establish a girls' school and orphanage. She arrived in Western Australia in December 1901 with Sister Sarah and 22 orphaned English children aged between 6 and 10 in her care.

While the other sisters of her order set about the establishment of founding a church school (now Perth College

Perth College, Western Australia

Perth College is an independent Anglican day and boarding school for girls located in Mount Lawley, an inner northern suburb of Perth, Western Australia...

), Sisters Kate and Sarah set out to establish a home for orphaned babies. Temporary premises in William Street, Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

were used while a permanent children's home in the country was located. The nuns purchased a 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) block at Parkerville

Parkerville, Western Australia

Parkerville is a suburb in the Shire of Mundaring in Western Australia. Jane Brook flows through Parkerville on its way down to the Swan River through John Forrest National Park.-History:...

in the Darling Range. Sister Kate took up residence in 1903 with eight children in an old hut and bark roofed barn which she named The League of Charity Homes for Waifs and Stray Babies and which was later expanded to became Parkerville Children's Home. Forty-five children were being fostered by 1905 and, thanks to a benefactor, Walter Padbury

Walter Padbury

Walter Padbury was an Australian pioneer and philanthropist.Padbury was born at Stonesfield, near Woodstock, in the English county of Oxfordshire. He arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia in the Protector with his father on 25 February 1830, but in the following July his father died...

, a large stone nursery was built. Other improvements included a 6000 gallon (27,000 litre) water tank and 120 acres (50 ha) of land partially planted with fruit trees as well as a carriage and horse. The state government provided some funding and by 1911, 100 children were living there. Another two Sisters were recruited from England and the building were extended to include a dining-room, schoolhouse and kitchen.

For nearly thirty years Sister Kate ran the home where over 800 disadvantaged children passed through her care. In 1927 the home was taken over by the Church of England

Church of England

and in 1930 she retired at the age of 70. She was awarded an MBE the following year.

The home continues to be operated today as accommodation for disadvantaged children. A small river in the vicinity of the Parkerville home is named Clutterbuck Creek.31°52′32"S 116°6′38"E

Return from retirement and the Stolen Generations

Friend and associate Ruth Lefroy shared an interest in the welfare of Aboriginal children. In 1932, Lefroy purchased a property in Neville Street, Bayswater

Bayswater, Western Australia

The City of Bayswater is a Local Government Area in the inner northeastern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, about northeast of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of and has a estimated population of 61,865 as at June 2010.-History:The Bayswater Road...

called the 'Children's Cottage Home' which was run by Sister Kate. Another house used as a holiday home was acquired in Beach Street, Mosman Park

Mosman Park, Western Australia

The Town of Mosman Park is a Local Government Area of Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately 4.3 km² in western metropolitan Perth, the capital of Western Australia and lies about 14 km southwest of the Perth CBD and 5 km from Fremantle.-History:The Buckland Hill Road...

. The Home was funded by government subsidies from the Native Welfare and Child Welfare Departments, as well as fetes, jumble sales, donations and street collections.

At this time, A. O. Neville

A. O. Neville

Auber Octavius Neville was a public servant, notably Chief Protector of Aborigines, in Western Australia.-Early career:...

, the government Chief Protector of Aboriginals

Protector of Aborigines

The role of Protectors of Aborigines resulted from a recommendation of the report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Aborigines . On 31 January 1838, Lord Glenelg, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies sent Governor Gipps the report.The report recommended that Protectors of...

was the architect of an official scheme which oversaw the care, custody and education of Aboriginal and half-caste children under 16 years in the state. The scheme's purpose was to integrate young and part Aboriginal children into white society by separating them from their families. The process by which the separation was done has since been widely condemned when a report entitled Bringing Them Home
Bringing Them Home
Bringing Them Home is the title of the Australian "Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families"...

was published in 1997 following a federal government enquiry. These people are now known as the Stolen Generations.

As part of the scheme, Neville directed young Aboriginal children and babies into the 'Children's Cottage Home' run by Sister Kate.

In June 1934, Sister Kate and Ruth Lefroy relocated the home with ten school-aged children to a new site on Railway Street (now Treasure Road), Queens Park

Queens Park, Western Australia

Queens Park is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Canning. Its postcode is 6107.-History:The suburb derives its name from the former Queens Park Road Board that was incorporated into the Canning and Belmont Road Boards....

. The new six-roomed home was named 'Myola' and had been purpose built with the help of private sponsorship. Due to a measles

Measles

Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...

epidemic, the cottage was soon extended to create a ward where sick children could be isolated and nursed. In 1935, a kitchen and a second cottage, 'Friendly Cottage' were built on the site to accommodate younger children. At this time Queens Park was a relatively undeveloped suburb although the cottage was well located with a school and train station

Queens Park railway station, Perth

Queens Park Train Station is a Transperth train station 11.4 km from Perth Train Station, in Western Australia, on the Armadale / Thornlie Line.-Platforms:-Bus routes:...

nearby. Towards the end of 1936, Neville began negotiations on behalf of Sister Kate for the purchase of land immediately adjacent to the Home. An adjoining 5.25 acres (2 hectares) was acquired at a cost of £85 in January 1937 using funds donated by a benefactor. The same person also donated funds to extend the second cottage and to build a third cottage and a chapel. This third cottage was known as 'Nursery Cottage' and the Chapel was named the 'Chapel of the Guardian Angel'.

Neville supposedly reproached Sister Kate for building the chapel, suggesting that the funds should have been spent on the children.

Church services, Sunday School and daily prayers were conducted in the new chapel on a regular basis. A morning service conducted by Sister Kate was conducted each morning. The chapel was very important to Sister Kate: according to Vera Whittington
She refused to have the building dedicated, believing that its non-denominational status would encourage patronage by the children, and it was not until after her death in February 1948 that Anglican Archbishop Moline dedicated the chapel. In 1937, fund-raising by a group known as the 'Virgillians', led by Mary Durack

Mary Durack

Dame Mary Durack AC DBE was an Australian author and historian. She wrote Kings in Grass Castles and Keep Him My Country.-Childhood:...

, enabled further development of the site and in 1938-41 a kindergarten

Kindergarten

A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

and another cottage were constructed.

With the onset of World War 2 most of the children were evacuated to the Duke of York Hotel at Greenbushes

Greenbushes, Western Australia

Greenbushes is a timber and mining town located in the South West region of Western Australia.-History:Greenbushes was founded as a mining town in 1888 following a surveyor's discovery of tin in 1886. Greenbushes was named after the bright green bushes that contrasted against the grey eucalyptus...

. Some children required specialised medical attention and attendance at Perth hospitals however, and so Ruth Lefroy purchased a cottage at Roleystone

Roleystone, Western Australia

Roleystone is an outer southeastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Armadale.-History:Roleystone's name originates from a property purchased by Thomas Buckingham in 1858, upon which he built a sawmill in 1866. The town was also referred to as "The...

. After the war, the Roleystone property was sold and the proceeds used to pay for the construction of 'Memorial cottage'.

In 1946, funds from the Lotteries Commission helped build 'Gran's Cottage' (as she was then known) as a private residence for Sister Kate. Soon after however, she died suddenly at Tresillian Hospital in Nedlands at the age of 86.

Most of her foster-children were with her from babyhood to maturity: they called her 'Mum', and in later years 'Gran'. She was not a big woman and was said to have an English complexion, and radiated kindliness with a quiet strength that won respect and confidence from young and old. Always full of sympathy, she had a kindly understanding nature and was always able to offer advice for the children which she treated as her own.

Posthumous events

A committee then administered the home, with the position of Superintendent Matron taken over by Ruth Lefroy. The Queens Park complex, which by this time comprised seven cottages as well as the chapel and kindergarten, became known as Sister Kate's Children's Cottages in recognition of her work. Ruth Lefroy died in 1953 and her will made provision for the ownership of the property to be donated to the Presbyterian Church, now the Uniting Church of Australia.

Dean Collard was appointed Director of the Cottages in August 1987.

In 1988, the Cottages were renamed as 'Manguri'. The organisation continues today to provide Aboriginal child-care services.

Notable residents

Ken Colbung
Ken Colbung
Kenneth Desmond Colbung, AM, MBE , also known by his indigenous name Nundjan Djiridjarkan, was an Aboriginal Australian leader who became prominent in the 1960s. He was awarded an MBE and an AM for his service to the Aboriginal community.-Early life:Colbung was born on the Moore River Native...

, indigenous leader
Polly Farmer, Australian rules footballer
Sue Gordon
Sue Gordon
Dr. Sue Gordon, AM, is a retired indigenous Australian magistrate from Western Australia.Born at Belele Station, near Meekatharra, Western Australia in 1944, she was separated from her mother and family at the age of four and raised at Sister Kate's home in Queens Park, Western Australia...

, Perth Children's Court magistrate
Rob Riley
Rob Riley
Robert Riley was an Aboriginal activist advancing Indigenous issues in Australia.Soon after his birth, he was removed from his family and placed in state care at Sister Kate's in Queens Park, Western Australia. He was almost ten years old before he knew his mother was alive and was reunited with...

, director of the Aboriginal Legal Service

External links

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