Herries Private Hospital facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Herries Private Hospital
Herries Private Hospital, 2015
Location	180 McLeod, Cairns North, Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia
Design period	1919–1930s (interwar period)
Built	1880s circa – 1920
Queensland Heritage Register
Official name: Herries Private Hospital
Type	state heritage (built)
Designated	28 July 2000
Reference no.	602137
Significant period	1880s circa, c. 1920 (fabric) 1920s–1930s (historical, social)
Significant components	toilet block/earth closet/water closet, air raid shelter, fence/wall – perimeter, residential accommodation – quarters
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Herries Private Hospital is a special old building in Cairns North, Queensland, Australia. It used to be a hospital where babies were born and people got medical care. Now, it's a private home. This building is important because it's listed on the Queensland Heritage Register, which means it's protected for its history. It was built a long time ago, around the 1880s, and moved to Cairns in 1920. Today, it is known as Herries House.

A Look Back: The Hospital's Story

Herries Private Hospital is located at 180 McLeod Street in North Cairns. It sits across from the Cairns Pioneer Cemetery. This wooden building was moved to its current spot in 1920. It originally came from Cooktown.

The hospital was owned by Janet Abercrombie Herries. She was a nurse and a midwife. Matron Herries ran the hospital from 1921 to 1938.

Janet Abercrombie Mackie was born in Scotland in 1869. She trained as a nurse. Because she was advised to live in a warmer climate, she moved to Australia. She worked as a nurse in North Queensland. In 1902, she married Robert Herries in Mossman.

The Herries family had four sons. In 1916, they moved to Cairns. Janet Herries leased a two-storey house on Bunda Street. In 1918, local doctors encouraged her to open a hospital. She opened one of the first private hospitals in Cairns at the Bunda Street house.

This hospital could care for about nine or ten patients at a time. It helped both mothers having babies and general patients. The hospital part was upstairs, and the family lived downstairs.

The land at 180 McLeod Street was bought in 1918 by Mr. Francis Albert Blucher. In 1920, the building was brought from Cooktown. It was put up again on the McLeod Street site. People think this building was once a fashion shop in Cooktown. It was called "Miss Timony's Premises." Its unusual front, which looks like a corner shop, supports this idea.

When her lease on Bunda Street ended in 1920, Matron Herries leased 180 McLeod Street. She opened her new hospital there in November 1920. The Cairns Town Council officially registered her private hospital in December 1921.

While Matron Herries lived there, the Cairns Post newspaper advertised the property for sale. It was described as a "two storey building" with "10 bedrooms." It was known as Nurse Herries Hospital. The ad said Nurse Herries was a good tenant and wanted to stay. Mrs. Charlotte Mary Cato bought the property in 1923. She later sold it to Mrs. Herries in 1924.

Herries' Private Hospital was very popular. Women traveled from places like Herberton and Mount Garnet. They came from the Atherton Tablelands to have their children there. Matron Herries was known for working very hard. She earned much respect from the Cairns community. Many older Cairns residents were born in her hospital. They feel a strong connection to the house.

The building had been damaged by a cyclone in Cooktown in 1907. In 1927, a cyclone in Cairns caused even more damage. A family member remembered the roof blowing off to the cemetery. After this, the upstairs verandah was enclosed with windows and wooden louvres. The roof was also lined.

Matron Herries retired in 1939, and the hospital closed. Her husband passed away in 1941. Matron Herries continued to live in the house with her son Charles until she died in 1958.

In 1986, during Cyclone Winifred, the front corner of the building was damaged. A builder suggested enclosing the open ground floor and upstairs louvres.

Charles, Matron Herries' last living son, lived in the building until he died in 1996.

In 2014, the owner, John Westwood, spent a lot of money to restore the property. It is now a private home called Herries House. Before this, some people thought it looked like an "eyesore."

What the Building Looks Like

Herries' Private Hospital is at 180 McLeod Street. It is surrounded by holiday apartments. Across the street is the McLeod Street Pioneer Cemetery.

Herries' Hospital is a two-storey timber building. It has a unique shape, like a rectangle with one corner cut off. This cut-off corner forms a shorter side. The roof is a hipped style, covered with corrugated iron. At the back, a skillion roof extends over the lower floor. This covers the kitchen and bathroom area. The building sits on very low stumps.

The wide front verandahs are now enclosed. The front verandah section and the main part of the house are made of weatherboard. The sides of the house, beyond the verandahs, and the back are covered with corrugated iron.

The front and sides have many casement windows. These windows have a large light blue glass pane in the middle. They also have two smaller plain glass panes above and below it. At the back, the ground floor has similar windows. The upper floor has three double-hung windows made of plain glass.

You enter the ground floor through a front door on the cut-off corner. The floor inside is timber and slopes in some places. Straight ahead is a narrow and steep stairway to the top floor. Behind the stairway are the toilet and bathroom. The downstairs area also includes the kitchen. The back door opens from the kitchen.

Upstairs, the floor is polished timber. Part of the front verandah is open, but the southeast corner has been closed in to create a room. The rest of the floor has a central room. There is another room behind it to the east and one beside it to the north. The room at the back left corner used to be the maternity room. The room on the right back corner was the operating theatre.

In the backyard, you can still see parts of an old outside toilet. There is also a trellis and a post that might have been for a washing line. You can also find the remains of an air raid shelter. This shelter is now used to store bricks. The only large plant on the property is a big fig tree in the backyard.

The property has different types of fences. The front fence has concrete posts set in a low concrete wall. These posts are connected by panels of metal pipes and wire mesh. There is a double gate at one end and a single gate at the other. The tops of the posts are painted pale green, and the posts are cream. This matches the house's paint colors. The lower part of the house is cream. The upper floor has faint traces of greenish paint.

Why This Place is Important

Herries Private Hospital was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 July 2000. This means it is recognized as an important historical site for several reasons.

• Showing Queensland's History: Herries Private Hospital helps us understand how Queensland's history unfolded. It is an example of a building moved from a declining mining town to a growing city. It came from Cooktown to Cairns. Its unique corner shape still shows its original use as a shop.

• Rare Features: This hospital has a rare feature: a private air raid shelter in its backyard. This shelter was built during World War II.

• Typical Private Hospital: Herries Private Hospital shows what a private hospital was like before World War II. Private maternity hospitals, run by midwives, were very common in Queensland. This building has stayed in the family of the nurse who ran it. Its current look also shows how verandahs were often enclosed after World War II. This was often done to protect against cyclones and create more space.

• Strong Community Connection: Herries Private Hospital is very important to many older Cairns residents. They were born in Matron Herries' hospital. Both she and the hospital are remembered with great fondness.

• Important People in History: The nurses and midwives who ran these hospitals were once vital for the health of Queensland's mothers. While many such hospitals no longer exist, Herries' Hospital is still strongly linked to these important healthcare providers.