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Story: Presbyterian Church

Leslie Presbyterian Orphanage

Leslie Presbyterian Orphanage

Children pose at Auckland's Leslie Presbyterian Orphanage, about 1913. It was named after James Leslie, an Auckland baker who left a bequest to found it.

Concern for the welfare of the poor and needy had led Dunedin Presbyterians to start the Presbyterian Social Services Association in 1906. As well as orphanages the PSSA opened homes for the aged and worked to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. It also initiated programmes for families and people with disabilities. The association later changed its name to Presbyterian Support New Zealand.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: PAColl-7581-72

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

Ben Schrader, Presbyterian Church – Church and society, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/31091/leslie-presbyterian-orphanage (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ben Schrader, published 26 April 2011, updated 1 March 2017.

Comments

Ann Hunt
20 September 2021
We are looking for information of our grandmother Ivy Cameron Gerken. She was born in 1903 or 1906. We believe that she was in an orphanage sometime between then until 1916. She was then put with a family Mr Edwin and Ada Smith in Huntly. She was then moved to Thomas Edward Webb and Margaret Webb where she was confirmed in St Anthony catholic church. Would there be any records available of her stay in the orphanage. The date she entered and left. There is no birth certificate for her so we have been struggling this information. We would appreciate any information you are able to give us. Even if its someone else we can contact. Thank you very much. Ann Hunt and family.