Anzac Hostel, Melbourne

A nurse and three patients in a ward of Anzac Hostel, previously "Kamesburgh", a property purchased by the government in November 1918. The Hostel was established to provide a home for the care of totally and permanently incapacitated men. Their disability was due to war service and they required nursing care but no active medical or surgical treatment. To purchase the property the government used part of a generous donation from the Baillieu brothers; William Lawrence (1859-1936), Edward Lloyd (1867-1939), Arthur Sydney (1872-1943), Richard Percy Clive (1874-1941), Norman Horace (1878-1955), and Captain Maurice Howard Lawrence (1883-1961), all prominent Melbourne businessmen. At the time Anzac Hostel opened on 5 July 1919 it had a capacity of twenty-five beds and employed seven nurses under the charge of Matron Catherine Munro. The Australian Red Cross Society contributed medical comforts and amenities until the Hostel closed on 30 June 1995. The original building is now used as a school. A new Anzac Hostel was built on the original property's grounds and was officially opened on 27 July 1998. Please note the wheeled hospital beds.