Female nursing staff at the South Sydney Women’s Hospital, Camperdown, c.1906.

Gelatin silver print photograph, 138 x 87 mm, printed on Empire Post Card stock, blind-stamped lower centre ‘J. ROBINSON, CA[MPERDOWN?]; mailed by [Mr.] C. Devlin of Kogarah to Miss Katie Oakes of 15 Farr Street, Rockdale (now Banksia) on 18 September 190[6?]; the print has excellent clarity (every face can be seen in detail!), and is in very good condition.

The South Sydney Women’s Hospital was opened in Camperdown in 1905 as a maternity hospital intended primarily for underprivileged and unmarried women from Sydney’s working-class inner suburbs. It was founded by George and Louisa Ardill and the Sydney Rescue Work Society, having formerly been the Home of Hope for Friendless and Fallen Women, established by Ardill in 1890. The hospital also provided midwife training and acted as an adoption agency. It closed its doors in 1976, and the building has since been demolished.

This wonderful photograph – quite possibly a unique image – was taken in situ relatively soon after the hospital opened in 1905, and shows what is likely to be the hospital’s entire nursing staff.