Deb requested information from MacKillop when she was researching the life story of her grandmother Hilda, and great grandmother, Myrtle, as she knew her grandmother and great-aunt had spent time at the St Vincent de Paul Girls’ Orphanage in South Melbourne.
While searching through records in response to Deb’s enquiry, MacKillop’s Heritage and Information team found two handwritten letters from Myrtle, where she poignantly enquired about the wellbeing of her children.
Myrtle’s first husband died in 1914 and she was deserted by her second husband, leaving her to raise the children on her own. Back in the 1920s, there was no support available in this situation and the sad reality was that if Myrtle had to work, she could not look after her children. As a lone parent, she was also vulnerable to illness and the records show that when the first of her children was admitted to the orphanage in 1920, Myrtle was receiving treatment in the sanatorium, most likely recovering from tuberculosis.
Despite several periods of illness and travelling within Victoria to find work, Myrtle continuously wrote to those looking after her children, enquiring about their welfare and arranging to send money to support them.
The Heritage team has given Deb a new insight into her family’s history.
