In May 1918, Mrs Isabella Brockhurst applied to the Cranbourne Shire Council to register a private hospital. Dr Langley, the Shire Health Officer reported to the Council meeting that whereas the building is not large and the rooms small, the place is very clean, and the rooms are quite suitable for the purposes of a maternity hospital. In the hands of Mrs. Brockhurst it will be well conducted, and a great benefit to the district (1). The Hospital was called Kilora. It would be interesting to know who the first baby was born at her Hospital, the earliest birth notice I can find is this one of Mervyn Forster, born September 22, 1918. He was the son of Arthur John and Bertha May (nee Smith) Forster.
Sadly not all births had a happy ending and this is the notice for baby Leslie Westaway, who only lived 40 hours. Leslie was the son of Ernest and Theresa (nee Keighery) Westaway.
In February 1919, Nurse Brockhurst applied to register the building as a nursing home (2), I presume so she could broaden the scope of her services. The Hospital was advertised regularly in 1920 in the South Bourke & Mornington Journal. The advertisement was always on the bottom left corner of the front page.
On June 8, 1927, Isabella was appointed the Registrar of Births and Deaths at Cranbourne (5). She held the position until her resignation on November 24, 1931 (6). This means that she could have both delivered the baby and then registered the birth.
There was an article in the South Bourke and Mornington Journal in June 1927 saying that Sister Gould had taken over the Hospital vacated by Nurse Brockhurst (7), however there are still references in the newspapers of Nurse Brockhurst's Private Hospital after this so either Sister Gould did not stay long or perhaps it was still referred to by it's original name.
What do we know about Mrs Brockhurst? She was born Isabella Suriez around 1884 in the Falkland Islands, that very remote part of the British Empire in the South Atlantic Ocean. She is the first person I have ever come across born in the Falklands. Isabella was married to Frank Brockhurst on March 6, 1906 at St Stephen's Church of England, West Ealing, which is part of Greater London. He was a 23 year old Dairyman, born in Alton in Hampshire and she was a 22 year old Spinster. Her father's occupation on the marriage certificate was listed as Shepherd in the Falkland Isles (8).
Their daughter, Isabella Mary, was born November 2, 1906 at Godalaming, Surrey and their son Francis George (known as George) was born June 5, 1908, also in Godalaming (9). The family were listed in the 1911 Census at Godalaming - Frank's occupation was a Dairyman; Isabella's occupation was 'assisting in the business'. The household also had two boarders and a servant living with them (10).
I do not have a date for when the family came to Australia, but in 1914 they were listed in the Electoral Rolls at Tallangatta. When Frank enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on November 27, 1916, they were living in Cranbourne. Frank was not considered fit enough to serve overseas but spent two years with the Army on Home Service (11). The 1917 Electoral Rolls shows them at Spring Meadows in Cranbourne. They are also listed at this address in 1927 (12). Frank's occupation was a farm hand and they did not own the property.
There was a clearing sale of cattle and some equipment held at Spring Meadows in February 1920 and the owner was listed as George Lehman (13) and another sale in March 1928 when the property was auctioned. It was described as 327 acres, stocked 750 sheep and 80 cows were milked - a large concern in those days. Sel. Kennon Esq., was the owner in 1928 (14). This was Selbourne Kennon, of J. Kennon and Sons - the operators of a large tannery, leather manufactuary and wool exporters in Richmond on the Yarra River (15). With Frank's previous experience as a dairyman, he would have been a valuable employee. After the farm was sold, Frank and Isabella moved to Perivale, a house in Childers Street, Cranbourne (16). Perivale is less than two miles from West Ealing in England where the couple were married - perhaps that was the location of their first home together.
Whilst the family was at Cranbourne their daughter, Isabella Mary, known as Molly was married on March 30, 1929 at St John's Church of England to Fred Whiteway of Northcote. The Church was filled, the bride being very popular said the report in the Dandenong Journal. Iris Stick was one of Molly's bridesmaids and later in 1929 she married Molly's brother George (17). George enlisted in World War Two, on August 11, 1943. He was a Post Office employee in civilian life and served with the 2nd Australian Base Postal Unit, initially in Victoria but from May 1944 until September 1945 in Lae, New Guinea (18).
Frank and Isabella left Cranbourne in October 1931 - Much regret is expressed that Mr. and Mrs. F. Brockhurst, after a residence of 15 years in Cranbourne, are shortly leaving the district. Mrs. Brockhurst has conducted a private hospital for a number of years, and has won the affection of many residents. She and Mr. Brockhurst have taken an active part in local movements' for the welfare of the town and district. They have been especially interested in St. John’s Church of England, having been actively associated with the organisation of that church (19).
The next I can find of the Brockhursts was that in 1937 they were listed in the Electoral Roll at Maffra. Isabella died on October 6, 1954 at Maffra and Frank in September 1963. They were both cremated at the Necropolis at Springvale (20).
Small private hospitals, like the one operated by Isabella Brockhurst were the mainstay of medical care in the suburbs and country towns at this time - almost always run by women, and they dealt with births, deaths and everything in between - including illness, accidents and caring for people after operations
Other examples of small hospitals in this region are -
From 1911, Bush Nursing Centres were established in country towns. The Bush Nursing movement provided a country town with a qualified, experienced Nurse and the local community had to raise the money to fund the cost of the nurse’s salary, board, uniform and transport. The earliest Bush Nursing Centre in this area was at Koo Wee Rup which opened in July 1918. The Nurse treated patients in their home. On May 23, 1923 the Victorian Bush Nursing Centre, Fallen Soldiers' Memorial Hospital was opened in Koo Wee Rup. In December 1955, it was replaced by the Westernport Memorial Hospital. Pakenham Bush Nursing Hospital was established in 1926 and Berwick in 1940. The first large public hopsital in the area was opened at Warragul in August 1908 and Dandenong was opened in April 1942.
Trove List
I have created a list of articles on Trove on Isabella and Frank Brockhurst and the Hospital, access it here.
Footnotes
(1) Lang Lang Guardian, May 11 1918 see here.
(2) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, February 6 1919, see here.
(3) Arthur Branston - Weekly Times, July 19, 1930, see here; Dandenong Journal, February 9, 1949, see here.
(4) The Argus, July 4, 1913, see here.
(5) Victoria Government Gazette June 15, 1927, p. 1910 http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1927/V/general/79.pdf
(6) Victoria Government Gazette December 2, 1931, p. 3348
http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1931/V/general/278.pdf
(7) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, June 16 1927, see here.
(8) I found out Isabella's maiden name and birth place from the Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages. This led to their Marriage Certificate, which is available on Ancestry.com and their entry in the 1911 Census, also available on Ancestry.com and these documents contained the details in this paragraph.
(9) Isabella Mary's Baptism record in on Ancestry.com and that gave her date of birth. Francis' birth date comes from his Second Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947 at the National Archives. He enlisted in the Army on August 1943 and was discharged January 14, 1947. See Footnote 18.
(10) 1911 U.K Census is on Ancestry.com.
(11) National Archives of Australia - Applications to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force papers,
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=6535344&S=1&R=0
(12) Electoral Rolls available on Ancestry.com
(13) The Argus, February 21, 1920 see here.
(14) The Argus, March 14, 1928, see here.
(15) Articles about J. Kennon & Sons in The Australasian, August 25, 1923, see here and the Weekly Times of September 3, 1932, here.
(16) Dandenong Journal, April 11, 1929, see here.
(17) The wedding was reported in the Dandenong Journal, April 11, 1929, see here. George's wedding date is from the Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages. Molly and Fred had two sons - Raymond and Robert. Raymond sadly died in July 1942, aged 12 years old. George and Iris had one daughter, Valma.
(19) Dandenong Journal October 29, 1931, see here.
(20) Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust https://smct.org.au/deceased-search
