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Home of Compassion Crèche
The first purpose-built crèche in the country was set up in Wellington by Mother Aubert's nuns.
Karitane nurses and babies in 1929
Karitane nurses and babies at Karitane Hospital, Whanganui in 1929
Family benefit cartoon
Cartoon about the 1926 Family Allowances Act
1926 - key events
A selection of key New Zealand events from 1926
1923 - key events
A selection of key New Zealand events from 1923
Kids at the Wilson Home for crippled children, 1943
Children with Polio lying their beds in the solarium at the Wilson Home for crippled children in Takapuna, Auckland, 1943
Domestic Purposes Benefit demonstration
Demonstration relating to the Domestic Purposes Benefit outside the Department of Social Welfare, Wellington in 1977.
Salvation Army Boys' Home in Eltham
Salvation Army homes were the only option for many 19th-century orphans and abandoned children.
The Newlands baby farmers
The sensational murder trial of Daniel and Martha Cooper revealed that the difficulties facing single mothers and unwanted children continued well into the 20th century.
Minnie Dean
In 1895 Southland's Williamina (Minnie) Dean became the first – and only – woman to be hanged in New Zealand. Her story exposed the stark realities of paid childcare and the lack of choice that many women faced in this period.
From childcare to baby farming
High-profile British and Australian court cases in the 1880s introduced New Zealanders to the sinister practices of baby farmers: paid caregivers who neglected children in their care, concealed their deaths or deliberately murdered the infants.
Baby farmers
Baby farmers were paid caregivers who allegedly neglected children in their care, concealed their deaths or deliberately murdered the infants. The most notorious was Minnie Dean, who, in August 1895, became the first (and only) woman to be hanged for murder in New Zealand.
Reporting the Daniel Cooper baby farmer case
In 1923 the New Zealand Truth featured dramatic reports of the trial and execution of Newlands baby famer Daniel Cooper.
Foundation of IHC
A meeting in Wellington set up an interim committee for the Intellectually Handicapped Children's Parents' Association (IHCPA), the forerunner of IHC.
Plunket Society formed
The Society for the Promotion of the Health of Women and Children was founded at a meeting in the Dunedin Town Hall. It came to be known as the Plunket Society after its first patron, Lady Victoria Plunket, the wife of the governor.
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