'Night refuge at the Immigrants' Home', c1873

Educational value

• This asset shows an aspect of the Melbourne Immigrants' Home - this institution provided short-term accommodation for immigrants from 1852 to 1911; nearly half a million immigrants came to the colony during the gold rush of the 1850s; many of them had little money and no accommodation upon arrival, while others returned from the gold fields empty-handed.
• It suggests that homelessness was a problem in Victoria in this period - the huge influx of immigrants created a massive housing shortage, which in turn allowed landlords to charge exorbitant prices for rents and lodgings; accounts from the period refer to large numbers of homeless and unemployed walking the streets of Melbourne and of new arrivals sheltering on the wharves at night.
• It indicates that the poor and indigent were provided with some form of welfare in this period - welfare was primarily supplied by church groups and charitable organisations, although the Victorian Government did contribute to the construction of the Melbourne Immigrants' Home, which was run by the Wesleyan (Methodist) Church; reformist Caroline Chisholm, who had established shelters for women in Sydney, actively lobbied the Victorian Government to establish immigrant homes.
• It shows that the accommodation in the Immigrants' Home was basic - the common room consists of bare walls and floorboards and high windows that do not provide a view to the outside, while the men sit on hard wooden benches; for a small fee, shelters of this type usually provided residents with a bed, a meal, hot and cold water and a candle.
• It suggests that residents were expected to work in exchange for their lodgings - picking oakum was a task commonly performed by men and women in poorhouses; oakum is the loose fibre obtained by unpicking old ropes; it was sold to the navy or ship builders, who mixed it with tar and used it for caulking (sealing the lining of) wooden ships; picking oakum was done without tools and was very hard on the fingers.
• It shows that wearing hats was the convention in this period - it was considered immodest to be bareheaded in public spaces such as the common room.
• It provides examples of clothing worn by lower- and middle-class men in this period - the men wear 'peg-leg' trousers, which sloped down from the waist to a close fit at the ankles, and shirts with ties or kerchiefs.

Year level

9

Topics Australian history