Historical information

These items come from the estates of Dorothy and Agnes Ardlie of Warrnambool. Dorothy Ardlie (1910-1993) and her sister Agnes (1915-1993) were the daughters of law clerk Arthur Ardlie and his wife Ethel, the granddaughters of the prominent Warrnambool lawyer, William Ardlie and his wife Mary and the great granddaughters of John and Mary Ardlie, pioneer settlers in Warrnambool. All of the documents relate to St. Ann’s Convent/School in Warrnambool. The Sisters of Mercy established St Mary’s Wyton school in 1872 and the name was changed to St.Ann’s in 1888. Dorothy and Agnes Ardlie would have been particularly interested in the convent building established around the original building of Wyton as this building had been the home of John Ardlie and had been sold to the Sisters of Mercy by their grandfather, William Ardlie. Dorothy and Agnes Ardlie had been pupils at St. Ann’s School. Some of the documents relate to the orphanage established at St. Ann’s in 1881 when an extension was added to the convent for that purpose. The orphanage was closed when a similar institution, Nazareth House, was opened in Ballarat.

Significance

Thes items are of minor interest as material compiled by the Ardlie sisters, Dorothy and Agnes, residents of Warrnambool in the 20th century.

Physical description

.1 A sheet of paper containing a letter handwritten in black ink and an envelope with the address handwritten in black ink
.2 A sheet of paper containing a letter handwritten in blue ink
.3 A black and white photograph of St. Ann’s Convent
.4 Two sheets of blue paper with rough plans of St. Ann’s building interior
.5 A sheet of paper with a black and white sketch of St. Ann’s Convent
.6 A sheet of white paper with photocopies of two newspaper cuttings