By: Tanya L. Shaw
In the shadows of Australia’s history lies a chapter often overlooked: the silent suffering of thousands of children placed in orphanages during the Great Depression. These were not just orphans in the traditional sense but children forcibly separated from their families due to poverty, illness, and social stigma. Many of these children were sent to institutions not because they were abandoned, but because their families simply couldn’t afford to care for them. The emotional toll of being torn from loved ones left lasting scars on generations of children who faced unimaginable hardship.
Nellie’s Vow, a powerful memoir by Leonie Binge, brings these forgotten voices to life through the remarkable true story of the Peisley sisters: Nellie, Clare, Millie, and Kathleen.
The Great Depression of the 1930s devastated families across Australia. With unemployment reaching a staggering 30%, many parents could no longer afford to care for their children. For single mothers, the situation was even more dire, as society offered little support and even less compassion. Children were frequently institutionalized, not because they were unwanted, but because their parents were too poor, too ill, or too desperate to provide for them.
This was the fate of the Peisley sisters.
After the sudden death of their father and their mother’s mental decline, the girls were scattered by circumstance. Nellie, the eldest at just eleven years old, made a vow to protect her sisters despite the cruel reality that they would spend years in the care of the Narellan orphanage. The book is a moving portrayal of the emotional and physical hardships children endured in these institutions and the love that helped them survive.
Orphanages of the time were cold, authoritarian environments. Though some nuns and caretakers showed kindness, many were harsh, distant, and overworked. Children were given little affection, minimal education, and were expected to conform to strict discipline. Emotional needs were rarely met. Bonds with siblings were often severed or ignored, and letters from parents, if they came at all, were sometimes withheld. In these places, children became numbers in ledgers, stripped of their individuality.
But even in the bleakest conditions, the human spirit can endure and even bloom.
Nellie’s Vow doesn’t just chronicle tragedy. It reveals resilience. Through powerful storytelling, author Leonie Binge shows how Nellie’s quiet courage helped her sisters through abandonment, trauma, and years of institutionalization. As readers, we are invited into the halls of the orphanage, into the loneliness of separation, and into the small moments of hope that become lifelines.
What makes this story truly extraordinary is its emotional depth. Clare, Leonie’s mother, went on to raise her own children with warmth and love despite the lack of it in her own early years. That’s the miracle of Nellie’s Vow, how one child’s promise created a legacy of healing and strength across generations.
By learning the history of children like the Peisley sisters, we not only honor their struggles but also recognize the systemic failures of the past and the resilience of those who lived through them. Their stories urge us to ask hard questions: How do we care for the vulnerable today? Are we truly listening to the voices of the forgotten?
History is not just in textbooks. It’s in families’ memories, in the strength of those who survived, and in the stories passed down. Nellie’s Vow is one such story. It is a tribute to the children whose voices were silenced and a call to ensure that no child is ever forgotten again.
Step into the past. Read a story of heartbreak, courage, and the vow that changed everything. Pick up your copy of Nellie’s Vow today and be inspired by the strength of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable adversity.
