Purportedly built in 1890.
During the 1900’s the building was renovated, requests for carpenters and bricklayers were advertised in August / September. Further work with bricklayers was done in October 1902, and tilers in November 1903.
A room was advertised in May 1913 and then in June 1913 is the first advertisement for Kiandra, a private hospital set up by Nurse Callaghan. The first advert looks for women to be trained in midwifery, then the following month in July 1913 it advertises for female clients looking for serviced accommodation (The Age). At this stage she was still known as Nurse Brooker which was the surname of her first husband whom she left, when she moved from Wagga Wagga (Oct 1913, The Age).
By 1938, one of the rooms was listed for rent to boarders. Unfurnished (The Age, 13 Sep 1938).
The house was then advertised in 1941 as a ‘Modern, newly furn. 2-room flat, all convs” (The Age, 19 Jul 1941). Which is interesting as the house is much larger in its current format. It was advertised again on 10 Mar 1942
56 Church St. North Fitzroy was where my nanna was born 04.07.1913.
I believe it was a home for unwed mother’s to give birth.
Her mother was Annie May Carroll. Nurse Callaghan registered her birth name as Catherine Carroll. Annie was unmarried and Catherine was adopted. Nurse Callaghan is named on her birth certificate.
Nanna was named Isabella Mary Pontin after her adoption. She married Albert Victor Norman Tulk in 1933.