Victoria Convalescent Home

The Victoria Convalescent Home was a privately-run convalescent home for children, women, and men who had been discharged from hospital. It opened in Granton, Tasmania in 1891, and moved to New Town, Hobart, in 1895 before moving again to its final location in Lindisfarne in 1900. The home provided convalescent care to children with polio, as well as to sick children who it was believed would benefit from the quiet, rural location. It had associations with and received support from a number of charitable organisations, including the Ministering Children’s League, Hobart City Mission, the Tasmanian Society for the Care of Crippled Children, and the Queen’s Fund. Following the construction of Wingfield House in 1938, the Victoria Convalescent Home stopped taking in children. In 1959 it stopped operating as a convalescent home and became an aged care facility, which in 2020 operates on the same site in Lindisfarne under the name Queen Victoria Care.

The Victoria Convalescent Home opened in a rented house called “Ardilea” at Granton (also described as Bridgewater or South Bridgewater), Tasmania, in 1891. At its opening it was called The Convalescent Home, and took in women and children who had recently been discharged from hospital. In 1895 the Home moved to a property called The Bungalow, on Browns River Road in New Town (also described as Moonah), Hobart. At this time the Home began accepting men as well as women and children. In 1900 the home moved to a large property called “Beltana” at Lindisfarne, and was officially renamed the Victoria Convalescent Home.

The Victoria Convalescent Home could accommodate up to 12 children at a time. The children’s ward at the home was funded by the Ministering Children’s League, who paid for children whilst they were in the home and also gave support for other patients. Many children were sent to the home from the Hobart General Hospital (later the Royal Hobart Hospital). The Hobart City Mission also arranged the placement of children at the home, as did the Tasmanian Society for the Care of Crippled Children, which also assisted with the transportation of children to the home and helped pay maintenance costs for children whose families could not afford it.

Following the establishment of Wingfield House in 1938, which provided after-care to children with polio who had been discharged from hospital, The Victoria Convalescent Home stopped taking children. During World War Two part of the home was run by the Red Cross society as a rest and convalescent home for servicewomen. In 1959 the home stopped operating as a convalescent home entirely and was instead used as an aged care home. In 2020 Queen Victoria Care still operates an aged care facility on the Lindisfarne site.