The Hospital South of the Yarra: A History of Alfred Hospital Melbourne From Foundation to the Nineteen-Forties by Ann M Mitchell

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Minor wear to book corners. Interior and binding are excellent. Dust jacket has minor wear at corners. Fading of spine.

Commissioned by the Board of Management as part of Alfred Hospital's Centenary celebrations in 1971, this book is a tribute to all those whose work over the first hundred years has helped the Alfred to grow from small, if confident, beginnings to its present stature as one of the largest general hospitals in Australia.

It is the result of several years' search through the hospital and State Government archives, and in libraries including those of the University of Melbourne (Medical History Library), the Victorian Branch of the Australian Medical Association and the State Library of Victoria. The author, Ann Mitchell, also spent many pleasant hours with people who were willing to share their vivid recollections of the Alfred of former days.

Within a chronological framework geared to the "life" of the Alfred, relationships between that hospital and other hospitals are explored; as are those between hospital and government, hospital and neighbourhood, and within the hospital itself. Nor does the narrative lose sight of the particular men and women who have contributed to the corporate identity, for example, politicians James Service, George Fairbairn and Dr Stanley Argyle; doctors J. F. Hamilton Russell; benefactors Thomas Baker and the Michaelis and Hallenstein families; matrons Louisa Mann, Grace Wilson, and the first of the line, Haldane Turriff, who originally arrived in Australia under the auspices of Florence Nightingale.

The book is illustrated to a high standard from photographs and documents principally belonging to the hospital. The extensive notes include numerous brief biographies of individuals who have not found their way into the standard biographic dictionaries. The notes, therefore, enhance the value of the book as a work of reference and they have been indexed with the text. Appendices include staff lists from the foundation to the present day. There is a bibliography. (book flap)