diseases of the time and workplace accidents. In 1889, one of the sisters of the Abbotsford Convent in Victoria lost her hand in an accident involving laundry machinery. In 1942 14-year-old Doris Dyer lost her arm from the shoulder when she was caught in the laundry mangle at the Home of the Good Shepherd laundry in West Leederville, Western Australia (now the Catherine McAuley Centre). The asylums were initially established as refuges, with the residents free to leave. In the early 1900s, they reluctantly began to accept court referrals. "They took in girls whom no-one else wanted and who were forcibly confined, contrary to the wishes of both the girls and the nuns." A 1954 report of the Sun Herald of a visit to the Ashfield laundry found 55 girls there involuntarily, 124 voluntary inmates, including 65 mentally challenged adult women, and about 30 who were originally there involuntarily but had stayed on. The dormitories were described as seriously overcrowded. Notable residents of Magdalene asylums Sinead O'Connor See also Duplessis Orphans Monto Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation Workhouse References Citations General sources , also Oxford University Press, 2004 Further reading (another edition). It formed the basis for the 2013 film Philomena. . External links Magdalene Laundry Testimony – survivors artwork, Australian laundries Imprisonment and detention Laundry organizations Religious scandals