Canberra history - The first Canberra Hospital

Awesome contribution, thank you!

I had a feeling there was another building near the old library. So it was the patents office?
One of my earliest memories is of being driven out to gawk at the new Scrivener Dam.

Wow! I never realised that the lake was so new when we arrived in ’69.

Hi wishuwell, you may be thinking of the Westlake Settlement which was a bunch of workers cottages and a tennis court around about where the yacht club now is. Whatever it is that your Mum was talking about must have been way back because the Hospital in my photo was built in 1914.
She could even be referring to “Springbank” which consisted of 3 houses on the flats near the old Acton racecourse. The Kay family lived in one of the cottages and they had dairy cattle there. Someone living there may have been a midwife. They all went under water in 1964.
There were also some workers cottages in Acton not far from the hospital.
Apart from that I can’t help any further.

old canberran the hospital I was refering to was in all possibility not called Canberra Hospital I only mention it because my grandmother and my mother (who was born in a tent at Fyshwick) would talk about it. It was among a number of Westlakes early sites now under water.

I was staggered when I heard they knocked down Cameron Offices. I was working at the NCDC when they were built back in the 70’s. Exposed concrete does get a bit grotty after a while though and they did look grotty. A good clean would have done wonders.

I think I’ve got a pic of the old Library somewhere. I know I’ve got one of the old Patents Office which was next door.

I liked the old library where the silo buildings are now (any pics of that?)
I wonder what Glebe House looked like. It might have made a lovely restaurant or function centre in Glebe Park. At least they kept the parkland, and did it up very nicely. I believe at one time it was intended for more office buildings.
Cameron Offices weren’t that old but they’ve been pulled down, unsightly and not functioning well or something. In 20-30 years will they be thinking of pulling down the museum because it’s considered unsightly by the standards of that era and it’s run out of space? Oh wait, didn’t they say it’s run out of space already?

old canberran said :

Hi Gardening Girl

Quote: Am I right in thinking that the old maternity and paediatric wing was originally the main building of the hospital?

As far as I can remember the new Nurses quarters on the East end of the main building eventually became the Maternity ward and paediatric wing, prior to that the maternity ward was in the main building. My 3 kids were all born there in the 60’s and the lake almost filled while my wife was in there with our 2nd child in January 1964. My mother passed away in that hospital as did my grandmother so it had memories for me as well. It was a very peaceful place sitting out on the verandah looking over the lake to Commonwealth Bridge. God knows why they blew the place up, I’ll never understand it.

We need another hospital because ours are always so full… I guess the government decided it would be better to build the museum to show canberra off! dont get me wrong the museum’s alright but they shoud NEVER have blown it up, but i guess the big kingstion for shore wouldn’t look as lardi f*cking dardi dar if the good old hospital was still there I have read the government notes on this, the reason why they tore it down was because it was so called unsightly… I guess we can all blame that freak kate carnell or whatever the bltches name was it was that mutts idea. I 100% believe she was the worst thing that ever happened to Canberra… what kinda people would vote for a drunken thing like her anyways? not that the people we have in power these days are much better anyways lol….

Hi Gardening Girl

Quote: Am I right in thinking that the old maternity and paediatric wing was originally the main building of the hospital?

As far as I can remember the new Nurses quarters on the East end of the main building eventually became the Maternity ward and paediatric wing, prior to that the maternity ward was in the main building. My 3 kids were all born there in the 60’s and the lake almost filled while my wife was in there with our 2nd child in January 1964. My mother passed away in that hospital as did my grandmother so it had memories for me as well. It was a very peaceful place sitting out on the verandah looking over the lake to Commonwealth Bridge. God knows why they blew the place up, I’ll never understand it.

I figure that little hospital wasn’t on teh banks of the lake, cos there was no lake when they built it! My father used to ride his bike across from ainslie to Manuka to go to the pictures, and just had to cross a smallish river/creek then.

I’m still bothered by what they did to the Royal Canberra Hospital. Thousands of us were born there, thousands of us died there. I can never understand why they cannot work with buildings they already have. There’s walls, floors, roofs. I cannot fathom why it’s “cheaper” to destroy a standing building rather than work with it.