Tresillian Family Care Centres - The History of Tresillian

Our Beginnings
On 4th November, 1918, the NSW Minister for Health called a meeting in the Sydney Town Hall, of all representatives working in midwifery, infant health and other community organisations to discuss how the different agencies could work in a more co-operative way.
At the time, there were more babies dying from ill health in Australia, than men killed in the trenches at World War I. Maternal health was a major issue.
The Convenor, His Excellency, the Governor of NSW, decided to officially launch the “Society for the Welfare of Mothers and Babies”.

The Early Days
In 1919, the Society was incorporated by an Act of Parliament stating that “The aims of the Royal Society for the Welfare of Mothers and Babies are to save baby life, improve conditions of life of children up to school aged and ensure proper nursing and health conditions for mothers before and after birth”.
Tresillian’s first President, the Honourable S R Innes-Noad, ML, reiterated this in his first Annual Report: “The war has forcibly brought home to us the fact that our babies are our best asset; for the tiny fingers grasping at thin air today will become the virile hands that will shape the destinies of tomorrow. No sacrifice can, therefore, be too great, nor effort, too strenuous, to promote the well-being and the happiness of mothers and the care of their little ones”.

Where did the name Tresillian come from?
The Royal Society for the Welfare of Mothers and Babies established Baby Health Centres at Woolloomooloo and Surry Hills in 1919.
Then in 1921, the first Family Care Centre or “Infant Welfare Training School” opened in a grand old house in Petersham.
The building had been named “Tresillian” by the previous owners who originated from the village of “Tresillian” in Cornwall, England. From that moment on, the Royal Society for the Welfare of Mothers and Babies was often referred to as “Tresillian” and now it is more commonly known as Tresillian Family Care Centres. As the demand for services grew, Tresillian expanded its services and opened more Centres.

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