Abstract
This article seeks to explore the experiences of those boys who, in late 1930s/ early 1940s Sydney, were considered, by the courts and the churches, amongst others, to be 'the "problem" children of this community'. The sources for this exploration are the records of the Metropolitan Children's Court, Surry Hills and the Christ Church St Laurence Boys' Welfare Bureau. Children's courts were established in New South Wales in 1905. From 1934 onwards all metropolitan cases were heard at Surry Hills. The Boys' Welfare Bureau was established in April 1936 by Christ Church St Laurence, an Anglican church situated near Central Railway Station, Sydney. The records of the Bureau and the Court provide insights into the ways in which both religion and the law attempted to shape the lived experience of these boys, in inner city Sydney, within the context of current ideas about juvenile delinquency and its treatment.
Highlights
On 25 September, 1940 Alan L___ of Erskineville, 16 years of age, appeared in the Metropolitan Children’s Court in Surry Hills, charged with making ‘use of language of an offensive nature... whilst using a public telephone’
Alan attended the clinic on 1 October, where he was examined and found to be below average height and weight for his age, but apparently free of physical defects and otherwise healthy
It was determined that he showed little appreciation of the causes or consequences of his behaviour
Summary
On 25 September, 1940 Alan L___ of Erskineville, 16 years of age, appeared in the Metropolitan Children’s Court in Surry Hills, charged with making ‘use of language of an offensive nature... whilst using a public telephone’. Some time in the few weeks Alan made contact with the Christ Church St Laurence Boys’ Welfare Bureau. The sources for this exploration are the records of the Metropolitan Children’s Court and the Christ Church St Laurence Boys’ Welfare Bureau.[5] The records of the Court and the Bureau provide insights into the ways in which both religion and the law attempted to shape the lived experience of these boys, in inner city Sydney, within the context of contemporary ideas about juvenile delinquency and its treatment.
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