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Story: Voluntary welfare organisations

Opening an orphanage

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Opening an orphanage

An audience of well-dressed women and a few men listen to a speaker at the opening of a Presbyterian orphanage in the Wellington suburb of Berhampore on 16 November 1912. Churches were major providers of voluntary welfare in the 19th and 20th centuries. At first they focused on setting up orphanages and homes for single mothers and 'fallen women' – usually former prostitutes.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: 1/1-008533-G

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Margaret Tennant, Voluntary welfare organisations – Voluntary welfare organisations – overview, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/29037/opening-an-orphanage (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Margaret Tennant, published 24 February 2011.