The hospital was founded by Gertrude Abbott (1836-1934), the foundress of an unofficial religious community, reportedly out of the experience of a poor, pregnant girl being brought to her in 1893 by a local policeman. The following year she opened the hospital, initially located on Elizabeth Street in Strawberry Hills, as the St Margaret's Maternity Home. It was founded "to provide shelter and care for unmarried girls of the comparatively respectable class".[1]
From March to December 1894 Abbott admitted 9 married and 23 unmarried patients. In 1895 the hospital had 3 nurses trained as midwives, with 8 in training. In 1904, the hospital offered general gynecological services, and started an out-patients department, also with home visits by its staff.[1] In 1910 the hospital moved to its final location at 435 Bourke Street, Darlinghurst, in a large art deco building.[2]
Despite its religious name, Abbott established the hospital as nonsectarian, and was never under the authority of the Catholic Church. With the assistance of the members of her small community, she administered the hospital until 1924. At the time of her death at the hospital in 1934, St Margaret's was the third largest maternity hospital in Sydney. It treated 760 mothers that year, without any maternal deaths. In 1937, at her request, the hospital was taken over by the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, to which Abbott had briefly belonged.[1][3]
From 1961 to 1988, the hospital was a teaching hospital in obstetrics and gynecology with the University of Sydney. From 1988 until its closure in 1998 it was affiliated with the University of New South Wales.
Current status
The site of St Margaret's underwent a redevelopment into high density housing in 2004. Prior to the work commencing there were local community concerns regarding the scale of the development, a lack of community and the provision of open space. The redevelopment was managed by SJB Architects. Today the St Margaret's site includes 216 apartments across four blocks placed around a public square. There are several outdoor cafes, a supermarket, general retail and an underground carpark. Object Gallery occupies the original circular chapel designed and built by Ken Woolley in 1958.
^M. Press, Sunrise to Sunrise: The History of St Margaret's Hospital, Darlinghurst 1894-1994, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1994.
External sources
History of the University of Sydney
January 06, 2023
margaret, hospital, sydney, margaret, hospital, maternity, hospital, sydney, australia, opened, 1894, closed, 1998, geographylocationstrawberry, hills, 1894, 1910, darlinghurst, 1910, 1998, sydney, south, wales, australiaorganisationtypespecialistaffiliated, u. St Margaret s Hospital was a maternity hospital in Sydney Australia It opened in 1894 and closed in 1998 St Margaret s Hospital SydneyGeographyLocationStrawberry Hills 1894 1910 Darlinghurst 1910 1998 Sydney New South Wales AustraliaOrganisationTypeSpecialistAffiliated universityUniversity of Sydney 1961 1988 UNSW 1988 1998 ServicesSpecialityMaternity hospitalHistoryOpened1894Closed1998LinksListsHospitals in Australia Contents 1 History 2 Current status 3 See also 4 References 5 External sourcesHistory EditThe hospital was founded by Gertrude Abbott 1836 1934 the foundress of an unofficial religious community reportedly out of the experience of a poor pregnant girl being brought to her in 1893 by a local policeman The following year she opened the hospital initially located on Elizabeth Street in Strawberry Hills as the St Margaret s Maternity Home It was founded to provide shelter and care for unmarried girls of the comparatively respectable class 1 From March to December 1894 Abbott admitted 9 married and 23 unmarried patients In 1895 the hospital had 3 nurses trained as midwives with 8 in training In 1904 the hospital offered general gynecological services and started an out patients department also with home visits by its staff 1 In 1910 the hospital moved to its final location at 435 Bourke Street Darlinghurst in a large art deco building 2 Despite its religious name Abbott established the hospital as nonsectarian and was never under the authority of the Catholic Church With the assistance of the members of her small community she administered the hospital until 1924 At the time of her death at the hospital in 1934 St Margaret s was the third largest maternity hospital in Sydney It treated 760 mothers that year without any maternal deaths In 1937 at her request the hospital was taken over by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart to which Abbott had briefly belonged 1 3 From 1961 to 1988 the hospital was a teaching hospital in obstetrics and gynecology with the University of Sydney From 1988 until its closure in 1998 it was affiliated with the University of New South Wales Current status EditThe site of St Margaret s underwent a redevelopment into high density housing in 2004 Prior to the work commencing there were local community concerns regarding the scale of the development a lack of community and the provision of open space The redevelopment was managed by SJB Architects Today the St Margaret s site includes 216 apartments across four blocks placed around a public square There are several outdoor cafes a supermarket general retail and an underground carpark Object Gallery occupies the original circular chapel designed and built by Ken Woolley in 1958 See also EditList of Art Deco buildings in SydneyReferences Edit a b c Gertrude Abbott Australian Dictionary of Biography Retrieved 12 January 2013 St Margaret s Hospital 1894 1998 Find amp Connect Retrieved 11 March 2018 M Press Sunrise to Sunrise The History of St Margaret s Hospital Darlinghurst 1894 1994 Hale and Iremonger Sydney 1994 External sources EditHistory of the University of Sydney Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title St Margaret 27s Hospital Sydney amp oldid 1020296449, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
