Florence (Fanny) Flood

Today has been an emotional day.  CCN and I returned to Abbotsford Convent but our visit today was very different from our first visit just over six years ago.  What I didn't realise at that time was that my Great Grandmother Florence (Fanny) Flood spent five years at the Convent from the age of 13 until she was 18.  Big Al, my older brother has been doing some amazing research into our family tree and it was only three weeks ago that he discovered the following entry in a Victorian newspaper and it referred to Fanny.

Frances Flood aged 12, was charged with being a neglected child.  The girl ran away from home on Saturday last, taking two shillings with her, and on Sunday night was found in the St.Kilda reserve in company with a larrikin.  The prisoner’s mother said the girl had behaved very well until she went to night school, since which time she had picked up undesirable acquaintances.  She (the mother) had no control over her daughter.  The prisoner was sent to the Industrial School, to remain there until 16 years of age. 
The Telegraph - St.Kilda, Prahran and South Yarra Guardian

Saturday 17th February 1883

It transpired that the Industrial School where Fanny spent her teenage years was in fact the Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne.  It was an emotional journey for me today as I walked through the area knowing what I know now.  I was treading the same flagstones that my Great Grandmother had walked on over a 100 years ago.  Fanny lived there from 1883 until she was released in1888.

It was a tough life for the young girl and we are still trying to establish what happened to her between leaving the Convent and eventually marrying my Great Grandfather Matthew Wall, one of the ShadowKatcher photographers.

Set on the banks of the Yarra River, on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people the heritage-listed site has a unique history.  An important meeting place for the Kulin Nation, the Order of the Good Shepherd established a convent on the site in 1863.  Over 130 years later, the site was sold and at risk of commercial development, before it was saved by a seven year long community campaign to create an arts, cultural and learning precinct.  

Now owned and operated by the not-for-profit Abbotsford Convent Foundation, the Convent is an engine room of creativity, home to over 100 creative and wellbeing studios, two galleries, cafes, a radio station, a school and an abundance of green open space.

I'm sure Fanny Flood would be delighted!!