St. Margaret's Hospital (Darlinghurst, N.S.W.) records, 1894-1998

MLMSS 6711/Boxes 1-5, 18-326
MLMSS 6711/Boxes 6X-17X

fonds

1894-1998

Architectural and Technical Drawings, Clippings, Textual Records

402272

66.00 metres of textual material (326 boxes, including outsize boxes) - printed, typescript
Architectural and Technical Drawings

St Margaret's Hospital was started in 1894 by a group of women living in an informal religious community in Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills. Leading the household of former religious sisters and women attracted to the convent life was Mrs Gertrude Abbott (formerly, Mary Jane O'Brien and Sister Ignatius of Jesus), a former Sister of St. Joseph. Mrs. Abbott remained in charge of the hospital until 1932. The household, established in 1872, had supported itself by needlework and lived as a contemplative community, but by the 1890s saw the need for practical service in the community. The primary aim of the hospital was to provide obstetric services to unmarried and destitute women. The hospital, which grew to occupy four terrace houses by 1898, continued in Surry Hills until 1909. During this period, the hospital began training other women in midwifery and infant care and expanded to open an outpatients clinic. The community leased and later purchased a former school in Bourke Street, Darlinghurst in 1910. The work of the maternity hospital and midwifery training was continued from this base until 1998. Following the death of Gertrude Abbott in 1934, and according to a prior arrangement, the Sisters of St. Joseph assumed control of St. Margaret's in 1937. The site was continually extended and rebuilt and specialist services and training courses added, including obstetric and gynaecology training of doctors. St. Margaret's Private Hospital was opened in 1946 to assist in the funding of the public facilities. St. Margaret's Children's Hospital operated from 1967-1979 for the specialist care of infants and children, particularly the intensive care needs of neonates. The site of the Children's Hospital, reused as the Gertrude Abbott Nursing Home, opened in 1982. St. Margaret's Public Hospital closed in June 1993, followed by the closure of the Private Hosptial in June 1998.

SERIES 1
St. MARGARET'S HOSPITAL ARCHIVES, ca.1970-1998
A. Guides and detailed lists of records of St. Margaret's Hospital, ca.1970-1998
Series Registration Forms, being printed forms with ms. entries in large ring binder. Details include: series number, box number, creator, series title, date range, description and accession number. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/1)

ca.1990; 'Procedures for Record Storage at St. Margaret's Hospital December 1990', being typescript procedures manual for control of records created by St. Margaret's Hospital. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/1)
n.d.; 'Register of Record Series and Current Series Registration', being loose sheets in ring binder with ms. entries, including: series number, series title and date range. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/1)
ca.1970-1990; 'Filing Index, 1970s and 1980s', being index of files of St. Margaret's Hospital created between ca. 1970 and ca.1990. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/1)
1992-1998; 'Box List and Accession Register 1992-1998', being loose leaf pages in ring binder with ms. entries including: temporary box list 1992-1998; accession register 1992-1998. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/1)
1987; Guides and related papers, being 'Guide to the Records of St. Margaret's Hospital Archives', compiled by Megan Birch, Mary Duggan and Margaret Murphy, 1987, along with working papers from which the guide was compiled; and 'A Guide to the Records of the School of Midwifery, St. Margaret's Hospital, Darlinghurst', compiled by Margaret Helen Woods, 1987, along with working papers from which the guide was compiled. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/1)

SERIES 2
St. MARGARET'S HOSPITAL, 1910-1967
A. Baby Books, 1954-1966
1954-1955; Baby Book, 1/5/1954-31/3/1955. Baby books may include: surname of mother, date of birth and sex of child, identity disc number of child, weight and length of child, head circumference of child and name of doctor. They do not include time of birth. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/2)
1955-1957; Baby Book, 1/4/1955-31/3/1957 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/2)
1957-1959; Baby Book, 1/4/1957-1/11/1959 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/2)
1964-1966; Baby book, 1/6/1964-31/10/1966 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/2)

B. Baptismal Registers, 1959-1967
1959-1967; 'Baptism book, General Labour Ward', 29/12/1959-11/11/1967 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/2)

C. Patient Financial Records, 1957-1964
1957-1964; Patient Financial Records, including accounts rendered, invoices, receipts and some correspondence concerning overdue accounts. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/3)

D. Patient Admission Books, 1910-1950
1910-1916; Patients Admission Book, 1/10/1910-19/8/1916, being the Register of admissions to St. Margaret's Hospital. May include patient's name, age, occupation, place of birth, religion and address, date of admission, treatment details, date of birth and sex of child. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/10X)
1916-1920, 1927-9 January, 1928; Patients Admission Book, 21/7/1916-9/1/1928 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/11X)
1921-1934; Patient Admission Book, 8/2/1921-25/9/1934 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/12X)
1934-1940; Patient Admission Book, 30/6/1934-1/7/1940 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/13X)
1938-1941; Patient Admission Book, 1/7/1938-24/2/1941 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/14X)
1940-1944; Patient Admission Book, 1/7/1940-30/11/1944 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/15X)
1944-1950; Patient Admission Book, 1/12/1944-31/3/1950 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/16X)


SERIES 3
St. MARGARET'S CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, 1975-1978
1975-1978; Register of Intensive Care Unit, including name of patient, register number, age and diagnosis. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/2)

SERIES 4
ALAN GRANT FERTILITY CLINIC, 1977-1985
1977-1985; Scrap book, being an exercise book with photocopies of photographs of babies whose parents attended the Clinic along with correspondence from mothers. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/3)

SERIES 6
St. MARGARET'S HOPSITAL DIVISION OF NURSING, 1958-1991
A. Nursing Ward Report Books, 1958-1969
1958; Nursing Ward Report Book, Fourth Floor Postnatal Ward, 5/3/1958-4/5/1959. Nursing Ward Report Books generally contain daily nursing report of each patient on the ward and are signed by the sister in charge. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/3)
1958; Nursing Ward Report Book, Fourth Floor Postnatal Ward, 7/7/1958-5/9/1958 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/3)
1958; Nursing Ward Report Book, Third Floor Antenatal Ward, 26/6/1958-13/8/1958 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/3)
1961; Nursing Ward Report Book, Second Floor Postnatal Ward, 20/7/1961-4/9/1961 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/3)
1961; Nursing Ward Report Book, Second Floor Postnatal Ward, 5/9/1961-24/10/1961 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/3)
1961; Nursing Ward Report Books, First Floor Postnatal Ward, 25/7/1961-11/9/1961 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/4)
1966; Nursing Ward Report Book, First Floor Postnatal Ward, 20/7/1966-29/8/1966 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/4)
1969; Nursing Ward Report Book, Labour Ward (7th floor), 18/7/1969-30/8/1969

B. Special Care Nursery Admission Registers, 1980-1991
1980-1982; 1985-1986; Special Care Nursery Admission Register, 1985-1986, along with Special Care Nursery Weight Statistics, 1980-1982. Admission registers generally record, date of birth, sex of child, classification, name and address, name of paediatrician, gestation period, type of delivery, diagnosis, whether under observation or intensive care, type of ventilation and date of discharge. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/4)
1986-1987; Special Care Nursery Admission Register, 7/7/1986-30/6/1987 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/4)
1987-1988; Special Care Nursery Admission Register, 1/7/1987-8/11/1988 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/4)
1988-1990; Special Care Nursery Admission Register, 9/11/1988-9/5/1990 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/4)
1990-1991; Special Care Nursery Admission Register, 10/5/1990-7/1/1991 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/5)
1991; Special Care Nursery Admission Register, 1/1/1991-31/12/1991 (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/5)

SERIES 7
St. MARGARET'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL AND NURSING STAFF, 1944-1986
A. Medical Records, 1944-1962
1944-1954; 1962; Medical Records, being a small sample of miscellaneous medical records of obstetric and paediatric cases including some records of infants with haemolytic disease. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/5)
1955-1962; Medical Records (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/5)

B. Unofficial Baptismal Registers, 1981-1996
1981-1996; Unofficial baptismal register, 5/1/1986-31/8/1996; along with Register of Baptismal Certificates posted to Sacred Heart Church, Darlinghurst, 2/3/1981-27/12/1984; 5/1/1986. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/5)

SERIES 8
St. MARGARET'S HOSPITAL SCHOOL OF MIDWIFERY, 1936-1945
A. Midwifery Nurse Obstetric Case Books, 1936-1945
1946-1945; Abdominal Examinations, recording student's name and date training commenced, patient's name, department, date of examination, remarks. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/6X)
1937-1941; Obstetric Casebook, recording patient and case details, may including name, age and religion of patient, gestation period, details of labour, sex weight and length of child. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/7X)
1941-1943; Obstetric Casebook Midwives (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/8X)
1939-1944; Midwifery Nurse Obstetric Record, recording student's name, age, address, date of entrance, date of certification, number of cases attended, remarks and signature of student. May also include patient's name, date of confinement and sex of child. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/9X)


SERIES 9
SCRAPBOOKS, ca.1897-ca.1902
ca.1897-ca.1902; Scrapbook of cuttings and photographs of actors, singers and entertainers appearing on Sydney and Melbourne stages. (Call No.: MLMSS 6711/17X)

Restricted - This collection contains confidential, personal and/or culturally sensitive information: Access and copying conditions vary depending on the type of material. Written authority from the Sisters of St. Joseph is required prior to access. Please contact The Archivist, Sisters of St. Joseph, 9 Mount Street, North Sydney, 2060; email: enquiries@sosj.org.au; Phone: (02) 9929 7344. The Library requires you to sign an ‘Undertaking with regard to access’ for this collection to protect the privacy of individuals. This form will be supplied to you prior to access. Guidelines for accessing sensitive collections

This material is held offsite and is usually available after 4pm on the next business day. Please submit your request through Ask a Librarian - Most of this material is held offsite. Material held onsite is as follows: MLMSS 6711/Boxes/1-5 and MLMSS 6711/Boxes 6X-17X

Reproduction Restricted

A detailed list of records and a guide to patient identifying records are available in the Mitchell Library Reading Room.

The records we hold are for the Catholic section of the hospital only, NOT the public section or the private hospital. These are available via the Records Office of the Prince of Wales Hospital (public) and St Vincent’s Hospital (private). Via: Prince of Wales Medico-legal officer, phone: (02) 9382 3003
St Vincent’s, see: https://www.svphs.org.au/privacy-policy
See also: Find and Connect: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/
Catholic records do not contain time of birth. They do contain: Name, address, age, married or single, birthplace, religion, date of admission, date of discharge, days in hospital, result of treatment (including 3 columns: DOB of child, male or female, a last column has an acronym that we do not have a key for).