Archives NZ holds records about Christchurch Boys' Home / Stanmore Road Boys' Home from the 1930s onwards, with Oranga Tamariki as the controlling organisation for any restricted records. Oranga Tamariki holds records about 'Stanmore Road Boys' Home' from 1974-1985 and from 'Christchurch Boys' Home' from 1962-2016. Oranga Tamariki should also hold personal records on young people who stayed at the institution and whom Department of Social Welfare (DSW) had involvement with.
Gender: male
Age group: 10-16 years
Capacity::
Education Department 1972, Department of Social Welfare 1972-1988; State control
According to Archives NZ records, operated in the 1930s so it may have opened earlier than 1940. When it closed in 1988, its residents were moved to Kingslea.
From Oranga Tamariki: They amalgamated with Kingslea in 1988.
From Social Welfare Residential Care Report (MSD): Christchurch Boys' Home was a regional institution which provided " ... remand, observation and classification facilities as well as short term assessment and training as a preliminary to more permanent placement." [quote from Annual Report 1980, Christchurch Boys' Home Reports F5000004605259.]
More information on Christchurch Boys' Home:
Volume III - Social Welfare Residential Care 1950-1994 Report prepared for the MSD Historic Claims Team, October 2006: https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/contact-us/complaints/social-welfare-residential-care-1950-1994-vol-iii-part-1.pdf
Account from Stewart Best, former resident of Stanmore Road Boys' Home, in 22 February 2021 RNZ article: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/436861/my-experiences-make-me-good-at-what-i-do-now-former-boys-home-resident
Survivor account from Aaron in 13 February 2021 RNZ article (includes account of time at Stanmore Road Boys' Home): https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/436360/like-nothing-else-on-earth-abused-teen-s-time-at-rangipo
Survivor account from Jack Horton in 20 September 2020 Stuff NZ article (includes account of time at Stanmore Road Boys' Home): https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/122800643/abuse-in-state-care-jack-horton-reveals-details-about-his-dark-childhood
Brief description of Beck House in Appendix Three of book, The Road to Hell by Elizabeth Stanley (2016), Auckland University Press. https://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/press/all-books/pdfs/2016/Stanley_Road-to-Hell_blad.pdf (524KB)
Find out how to request Archives New Zealand records.
Stanmore Boys’ Home Menu Register 14 Oct 1936 – 3 Jul 1941 1936-1941 CH438 /7e
Stanmore Boys’ Home Daily Diaries 1946-1974 CH438 /2a-7a
Stanmore Boys’ Home Duplicate Daily Diaries 1947-1952 CH438 /7b-7d
Information provided by Oranga Tamariki to the Crown Response to the Abuse in Care Inquiry on 14 March 2024
Information provided by Archives NZ to the Crown Response to the Abuse in Care Inquiry on 14 March 2024
Volume III - Social Welfare Residential Care 1950-1994 Report prepared for the MSD Historic Claims Team, October 2006
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