CORBIN, LAURA MARY LOUISA (1841-1906), crèche founder, was born on 26 April 1841
in Adelaide, daughter of Alfred Hardy, town surveyor, and his wife Mary Louisa,
née Newenham. Educated at home by her mother, Laura was a constant reader 'with a
sweet disposition'. On 16 June 1869 at St Michael's Church, Mitcham, she married
Thomas Wilson Corbin, a medical practitioner; Bishop Augustus Short celebrated the
marriage. The Corbins visited England in 1872 and next year settled in King
William Street, South Adelaide, where Thomas practised near the city's poorest
quarter. 'Very beautiful', Laura bore six daughters and four sons. Continuing her
family's charitable traditions, in 1876 she joined Mary Colton and others on the
foundation ladies' advisory committee planning what became Adelaide's children's
hospital. She became deeply concerned at the plight of poor mothers, often widows,
forced to leave children at home alone, sometimes with tragic consequences, while
they worked at charring, laundering or office cleaning. In June 1880 an unnamed
lady, possibly Mrs Corbin, advertised and opened a short-lived English style
'crèche or day nursery' near Victoria Square.
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Australian Dictionary of Biography
Laura Corbin founded the non-denominational South Adelaide Creche or Day Nursery in 1887, to care for the children of women who had to work during the day. By the end of her life, Corbin had seen over 37,000 admissions to the creche. She had ten children of her own.
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Australian Women's Register
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