The Elizabeth Jenkins Connection
Elizabeth Jenkins was a local owner of several lots of land in the Collaroy area in the late 1800s. She was an enthusiastic, even eccentric, Christian very impressed by the Army’s approach. Her first gift to the Salvos was of a small farm at Dee Why and 400 pounds to build a Home of Rest for “sick or injured officers” (pictured right.) This building is now part of The Salvation Army Pacific Lodge Aged Care Plus Centre.
Later, she also gifted to The Salvation Army her “Homestead” property on the hillside overlooking Collaroy Beach. For decades it has been used as a conference and youth centre – The Collaroy Centre – which has been described as the best conference centre in the Army world. Nearby is The Salvation Army’s Elizabeth Jenkins Place Aged Care Plus Centre, a state-of-the-art centre that resembles a typical Australian home with tranquil garden areas throughout.
In earlier years the Homestead land was used as a Boys Home*, a shelter for “Inebriates” and several farming ventures. There was even a Salvation Army church located on the estate at one time.
In total, Elizabeth Jenkins gave more than 500 acres of land to The Salvation Army. Much of it has over the years been subdivided and sold as building lots with the proceeds financing Army work throughout Australia and internationally. Some of the subdivisions had Salvation Army street names although not all remain having been changed to suit the whims of the new residents. However, Jenkins Rd still exists and one small part of the suburb of Warriewood has Carpenter Crescent with Harewood Crescent and Arnott Crescent in close proximity.
* Around 35,000 children were cared for by The Salvation Army in Australia between 1890 and the early 1980s. While the recent Royal Commission into Intuitional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has highlighted significant failures in The Salvation Army’s management of children’s homes, for many young people they were places of caring, education and opportunity. Anyone wishing to make a complaint is invited to contact The Salvation Army’s Centre For Restoration: (02) 92669781
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