Archives



Spencer Public Hospital

Spencer Public Hospital in Goldie Street, Wynyard, opened in 1918.Initially, it had a locally appointed board but, in 1929, the state government took the Hospital over along with the supervision of its board. In 1944, a new building opened for general hospital patients while the old buildings were retained for maternity care. In 1965, Spencer…

Burnie General Hospital

Burnie General Hospital, run by the government, opened in August 1951. Its maternity beds remained at the former Darwin Private Hospital, now a part of the new hospital. In 1965, the Burnie General Hospital merged with the Spencer Public Hospital in Wynyard to become the North Western General Hospital.

Darwin Private Hospital

Darwin Private Hospital, run by a group of doctors, opened in Burnie in 1933. It had 20 general and 10 maternity beds. The government bought Darwin Private Hospital in 1950 and it became part of the new Burnie General Hospital in 1951.

Mersey General Hospital

The Mersey General Hospital, run by the government, opened in 1958 at La Trobe. It was an amalgamation of the Devon Public Hospital in Latrobe and the Meercroft Hospital in Devonport. The maternity sections remained in Devonport. In 1995, the state government sold the Mersey to Health Care Australia P/L and it became the Mersey…

Queen Victoria Maternity Hospital

The Queen Victoria Maternity Hospital, initially run by its own Association and later by the government, opened in 1897. It provided maternity services to women in northern Tasmania. Adoptions took place from the Hospital. It closed in 1993. The Queen Victoria Maternity Hospital was an initiative of women’s groups, supported by Lady Gormanston, the wife…

Queen Alexandra Maternity Hospital

The Queen Alexandra Maternity Hospital (the Queen Alex) opened in Hampden Road, Battery Point in 1908. Initially, a private board ran it but in 1950 the government took over. In 1980, it moved to a new building in Argyle Street, adjacent to the Royal Hobart Hospital. Over its lifetime, many adoptions took place from the…

Karadi

Karadi opened in Launceston around 1960. It was attached to the Queen Victoria Hospital. Karadi was originally a hostel for the relatives of out of town patients. Later it housed expectant mothers from King and Flinders Islands. The Catholic Welfare Family Bureau used Karadi for single mothers and organised adoptions from there. It closed around…

Lying-in Home, Cascades

The Lying-in Home for single mothers opened on the site of the former Female Factory at Cascades in 1888. The government ran it assisted by a voluntary women’s visiting committee. In 1895, the committee of the Home of Mercy briefly took over the management of the Lying-in Home. That same year, it moved to the…

Female Factory, Cascades

The Female Factory at Cascades opened in 1827. It was run by the Convict Department. As a place of secondary punishment for convict women, it housed the babies that they gave birth to there. The Factory closed in 1853. The Female Factory opened in Lowes Distillery, which had been converted for that purpose. Many of…

Home of Mercy

The Home of Mercy, run by the Anglican Church, opened in 1890. It was a rescue and maternity home for single mothers, some of whose babies were adopted from the Home. After a number of sites, the Home moved to New Town in 1905 where there was a small babies’ and children’s Home attached. The…