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1912 to 1952 - Living

Ted Rowe kew cottaegs 1920.jpg

Living in the cottages in the 1920s

Meals were served in the dining hall, that was set up with long tables and chairs.

"The food wasn't bad, could have had better, they don't give you much."

Ted Rowe,
Resident, memory from living in the cottages in the 1920s.

‘A Hillside of Sadness’

A Hillside of Sadness The Herald longer.jpg

Ones of the saddest spots in Melbourne today is a wide sloping hillside near the Yarra at Kew, where between 400 and 500 of Melbourne's mentally defective children occupy the ageing buildings of the Mental Hospital.

‘A Hillside of Sadness’
Rohan Rivett, The Herald, 28 September 1948, page 5.
Image courtesy of The Herald & Weekly Times Ltd; article used with permission of Mrs Nan Rivett.

Airing court Kew cottages.jpg

Women and girls in the 'airing court'

Reproduced courtesy of Kew Cottages Historical Society.

Beds on verandah Kew cottages.jpg

Beds on a veranda

Reproduced courtesy of Kew Cottages Historical Society.

Sitting on verandah Kew cottages.jpg

Sitting along the stone veranda

Reproduced courtesy of Cliff Judge, private collection.

Toilets Kew cottages.jpg

Toilets

Reproduced courtesy of Cliff Judge, private collection.

A Hillside of Sadness The Herald longer.jpg

‘A Hillside of Sadness’

Rohan Rivett, Herald, 28 September 1948, 5
Image courtesy of The Herald & Weekly Times Ltd; article used with permission of Mrs Nan Rivett

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